Well I was nearly home when the radiator decided to spew its guts all over the windscreen, well at least the engine did't get hot.
Only last month I coughed up $700 for a clutch repair and sure pulling gearboxes out is not easy, but he charged me more for the parts than auto pro would of.
Well I'm poorer this time so I'll shop smart online and geez 10 minutes later I'm ordering a new radiator for $120 delivered, wow.
Now at a $100 an hour I think I can managed changing it myself.

Tell us your story of 'do it yourself' jobs.

A suspension upgrade and both drive shafts in my Hilux.

I would do the suspension again no problem at all, but the drive shafts took me the entire weekend and would be worth whatever extra money it would cost to get a pro to do it.

There was method in my madness though. I was doing a trip to Cape York then back home through Alice then the Great Central Rd on my own. I figured if I was going to bust stuff underneath, I would be better off not learning how to fix it on the side of the road.

I replaced my radiator a few years back and it was a pretty quick and easy job!

Saved a heap of coin as well, pretty pricey to get it done at the garage.

A not so pleasant job was unblocking the septic tanks that had been infiltrated by tree roots...

Gizmo said..

So why did it fail?
Split hose?
Waterpump?
Thermostat?
Thermostat housing?

Come back when you've finished and let us know how you went..... Often with repairs you are often looking at the 'fuse' or the 'weakest link' rather than the problem.
(Experience from repairing lots of stuff)

The plastic top gave out on a hot day towing a load and the thermal fan does not work as I find out on the side of the road waiting for it to cool down before adding water. It does have a fan on the water pump too that has kept it going I guess. I'm told the plastic gives up after a time and its not worth gluing at $120 for new unit.
Thanks though,I will check out the rest while I'm there.

Car servicing is a big waste of money as far as I can tell.

I change my oil and filter every 10,000 and that is it for car maintenance as far as I'm concerned. Takes about 15 minutes, and most of that time is changing into a set of grubby clothes to slide under the car. I always use fully synthetic oil, and 350,000 km later it's still running like brand new. That's Toyota for you. Given the average cost of a service, I think I've paid for my next car already.

Did a set of rings, big-end bearings and cam chains on a bike once, but that wasn't so bad 'cause I could lift the alloy block onto the workbench with my bare hands. Was under $200 for parts at the time, but I imagine the labour cost would have been huge if it was done by a mechanic.

Fitted a tow bar myself to save $80 a couple years ago. Ended up I only had to do up 4 bolts into existing holes!!!

I've done a bit of DIY over the years on my wrx and taxi. Replaced or changed the usual stuff you blow money on to make a car faster, only to fix it when it breaks.. Turbo's, fuel pumps, intercooler, radiator, clutch, suspension parts, fluids etc. have a couple of mechanic mates who'll help out after work.

Cars a such a WOFTAM lol

Never yet spent money on a Jap car, apart from upgrades I wanted to spend.
Since we got a VY Commodore for the missus, fark me it is a $500+ problem every 6mths. POS.

Agree with Harrow, servicing is a waste of money. There is no such thing as tuning an EFI car.
If you change fluids yourself it is $60 every 6mths, then do a a preventative tranny service, squirt of grease in driveline nipples and cooling system every 3yrs.
Cannot believe those who spend $150 for an oil change and 100 point "safety" check often, and $2K (plus!!) on a service once a year. Unless one owns a Holden or Ford made in Australia, in which case it seems that the $2K every year is a necessity just to keep the bugger rolling.

Mark _australia said..

Never yet spent money on a Jap car, apart from upgrades I wanted to spend.
Since we got a VY Commodore for the missus, fark me it is a $500+ problem every 6mths. POS.

Agree with Harrow, servicing is a waste of money. There is no such thing as tuning an EFI car.
If you change fluids yourself it is $60 every 6mths, then do a a preventative tranny service, squirt of grease in driveline nipples and cooling system every 3yrs.
Cannot believe those who spend $150 for an oil change and 100 point "safety" check often, and $2K (plus!!) on a service once a year. Unless one owns a Holden or Ford made in Australia, in which case it seems that the $2K every year is a necessity just to keep the bugger rolling.

Once you've had Jap, you'll never go back.

On new vehicles the dealers have you by the nuts, you gotta pay for regular servicing or your warranty is useless. Plus dealer servicing may be more expensive but the resale value of a 5 year old vehicle with full service history will be way more than the same vehicle with backyard servicing.

^^^ In my case - self employed, so paying for someone (that knows more about cars than I will ever do) to service my (aherm) 'work vehicle' makes more sense than me stuffing it up.

This is off the car topic but the original question did ask for any DIY jobs that saved money...

My toilet got blocked and we didnt have much money at all. Wife pregnant and off work. It was either unblock it or wait until pay day and get plumber... Well I manned up and pushed my hand down there and pushed it through...

I used to get a bit queezy gutting fish but now I rip them apart like it is nothing because that experience changed me. Saved a lot if cash though!!

So, are you saying that you gut a fish by shoving your hand up its clacker?

I changed a blown light bulb the other day. Certainly beat paying a sparky $90 call out to do it.

Then I changed a tap washer (that is illegal isn't it??) and saved another $90 on a plumber call out.

I am on my fifth house renovation. I reckon I have saved $50,000 with DIY and made about $300,000 profit.

Sold a property couple of years ago, person to person. No agent, no solicitors and no contract. Saved my self about $1,500 and saved the buyer about $3,500.

Mowed the yard myself the other day. Saved myself $50 by not paying somebody else to do it.

Did the grocery shopping myself today and only spent half as much as my wife does.

I reckon you can make a fortune with all these savings from DIY.

Sailhack said..

^^^ In my case - self employed, so paying for someone (that knows more about cars than I will ever do) to service my (aherm) 'work vehicle' makes more sense than me stuffing it up.

I service my car, the missus's car, my sisters car, my brothers car, my twins car, my road bike, 2 dirtbikes and my twin's dirt bike.

Why?

It's cheaper to do it yourself using the best oil (you know, the $90 a bottle stuff) available and knowing the job is done correctly.

just fixed kitchen oven that failed a while ago. my wife threatened me that she would get a brand new one + new hubby too.
that was easy fix thanks to utube and eby.
had to order a part from u.k. for $80 incl. shipping, because in oz same part is $170, wtf ?
as for "diy car fixing", imo falcons are the best.
fordforums is great source of tech and "how to" info + in melbourne the Indian students crash taxi falcons on regular basis making sure there is no shortage of as new cheap parts from wreckers.

^^^How the heck would you convince the missus to let you send the kids down into the septic tank?