Basic car maintenance course

[Madgwick 10]

Does anyone know of any basic car maintenance courses running in Sheffield? I have been on the Sheffield College website and they do run courses but they are full-time and I am looking for an evening course.

Cheers

[mart 71]

It depends just how basic.

 

I know such courses used to exist back in the day when you could actually work on a car with a bit of basic knowledge. These days, unless the car is quite old it is difficult to work on them (under the bonnet) as there are a lot of electronics. Often the car has to be plugged in to a diagnostic device to identify the faults.

[Madgwick 10]

I know nothing! so would like to know my way around, under a car bonnet and how to do basic car checks. It would also be useful what to look out for when buying a car.

Any suggestions?

[newstar 10]

For basic car checks such as checking engine oil, brake fluid etc, you can look at the 'tell me show me' which is used for driving tests. Copied a link which might be of help.

 

http://www.driving-test-success.com/showme_tellme/show_me_tell_me.html

 

With regard to knowing what to look for when buying a car, lets say for example your deciding to buy a Ford Fiesta, you could go onto some Ford forums and ask what to look for and what are the common faults. Also look for something with service history, well looked after...

 

Cars these days are more complex so the course might not deliver what your looking for.

Edited February 13, 2011 by newstar

[smithy266 21]

have a look at a Haynes manual for the car you have: all of the jobs are rated by varying numbers of spanners. Might spurr you on with a bit of confidence to carry out some basic things. There is always this forum if you get stuck.

[BigAl#13 10]

Car maintenance on a basic level is pretty simple and generic across all platforms, agreed you will need to have some sort of diagnostic tool if you wish to get further in to the causes of more substantial problems, but then again diagnostic tools are very model specific now a days, so unless you are planning to buy one for each grouping of cars I wouldn't worry too much.

 

Remember general maintenance is not all engine related, the biggest issue on engines is fluid maintenance (oil change, coolant flushes) and filter replacement (air/oil/cabin/fuel) but the bigger issues are things which wear quicker. I.E. brakes, bushes, suspension components, which with a bit of savvy can all be changed at home.

 

College courses "should" concentrate on these things more. Generally though the best way of learning is to grab a haynes (or if you have a german car a bentley manual as they are soooooo much better) and just get stuck in.