Cannot Into DIY?

"For Sweden" (rallybeetle)
04/08/2014 at 22:33 • Filed to: DIY, Range Rover, Land Rover, Brakes

Reading Doug DeMuro's column, All I could think was, why not DIY? Is there a point where the labor costs become irrelevant compared to the parts cost? I'm biased, as I do almost all my own maintenance. Except automatic transmissions, as they run on magic.

DISCUSSION (24)

Nick, Drives a Cobalt LT > For Sweden
04/08/2014 at 22:36

Doing brakes on my car on my own comes to around 800 bucks

Pay a shop to do it and I can get it done for 200ish cause they do a deal 100$ per axle with machining of rotors.

I still do them on my own, but its cost effective to take it to a shop

Mathias Rios > For Sweden
04/08/2014 at 22:36

Agreed. I'm thinking with the carmax though, that DIYing voids the warranty.

As someone who does all wrenching themselves, the prices he listed for a brake job were INSANE.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > For Sweden
04/08/2014 at 22:36

He lives in an area with no salt, so disk brakes are easy. My last brake job though, took me and my dad about 20 hours.

For Sweden > Mathias Rios
04/08/2014 at 22:38

I didn't think about a voided aftermarket warranty

For Sweden > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
04/08/2014 at 22:39

My last brake job though, took me and my dad about 20 hours.

On what? A G 6x6?

Leadbull > Nick, Drives a Cobalt LT
04/08/2014 at 22:46

So, you'd rather do your own work, than let someone else do it for $600 less?

Am I missing something here?

doodon2whls > For Sweden
04/08/2014 at 22:47

I do all of my own work on my cars, motorcycle, and other power equipment. So long as I can make the time, I will do it because it is good therapy for me. Also - because I do my own work, I don't feel bad paying for proper replacement parts from the original equipment manufacturer or high-end aftermarket manufacturer, AND (big one) I know it's done right in accordance with the factory service specifications. There are few things I hate more than paying a premium for service only to be disappointed. There is rarely a good resolution (in the customer's eyes) to a dispute with a dealership unless you invest a lot of energy (and possibly money in a lawsuit)..

Automatic transmissions = sorcery.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > For Sweden
04/08/2014 at 22:47

1996 BMW 328i. Some rotors were damn near fn 5 force fit to the hubs. 2 of those damn Allen bolts holding them on would not be budged even by 520 ft-lbs. Then, they first gave me the wrong calipers, I ordered in the right ones, and the shipped Volvo S60 calipers. Finally, bleeding the system took forever do to the clutch sharing the reservoir with the brakes, so I had to go under the car and hand bleed the slave cylinder.

It was an ordeal.

Nick, Drives a Cobalt LT > Leadbull
04/08/2014 at 22:49

Only reason I did it on my own on this car is the trust thing.

I don't trust leaving my car at dealers, I've seen what they have done in the past with my cars.

This one was at a dealer once and I get a text asking if it was me tearing up the highway.....nope some tech in my car.

For Sweden > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
04/08/2014 at 22:51

You should have taken the hint and bought the rest of the Volvo.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > For Sweden
04/08/2014 at 22:53

No thanks, those parts were about double the price of mine.

Doug DeMuro > Mathias Rios
04/08/2014 at 23:24

This is one of my major concerns. FYI I actually screwed up — the brakes were like $900, and then it was $700 or so for the car's 75k "major" service (new fluids, oil change, etc etc etc). So it wasn't that bad. I forgot I did the two services together.

Another thing, and I know this is sacrilege here at Jalopnik, but I truly love this car. I have every single service record in a neatly organized stack, and I have all the repair orders entered, by hand, into a little notebook. I know the dealer is expensive, but I want this thing running 100%, all the time. I've never done this sort of maintenance before with any vehicle, but I want to preserve this one as long as I can.

It's a "Porch-uh" > Mathias Rios
04/08/2014 at 23:30

I'd be surprised if that were the case here. Most warranties are only voided if you do something yourself (or even pay somebody) that causes a problem. For example: you can't put in a new ECU map, which runs the car lean and blows out the head gasket, and expect them to pay for a new engine.

Since brakes are outside the warranty they can't dictate who works on them.

Some times I really want to spend a day not dealing with my two small kids so I tell my wife I need to do the work or we will have to skip our mortgage payment this month. Other times I would rather have fun at the beach than spend all day cursing at German engineers for placing a bolt where there's no way to get human hands and normal tools.

Mathias Rios > Doug DeMuro
04/08/2014 at 23:49

I can understand that. I think your next car, or if you have some extra budget, would be a nice classic that is in a sorry state. Think about all the posts you could make about fixing a car yourself! Do you wrench at all?

If you don't that would be even more hilarious for your posts, haha.

JoelA237 > For Sweden
04/09/2014 at 02:06

I used to love wrenching on cars, fixing, modding etc.. Now it's just a pain in the ass. I found a nice small repair shop locally who does great work at a great price.. No more busted knuckles or flipping out because your only car is in pieces scattered across the garage floor and you just snapped a very large important bolt in half and its 2 am, and your tired, and you are out of redbull...

For Sweden > JoelA237
04/09/2014 at 02:27

I agree, but Douglas has two other cars and doesn't have to rely on the Range Rover as the DD. Luckily.

Bowman > For Sweden
04/09/2014 at 02:53

I do as much repair work as possible on my own cars for two reasons.1 Money I really can't afford to have a shop charge me $340 bucks to change a tensioner and idler pulley .When I got the bearing for $4 bucks for a pair and three hours later she is good to go.2 On the rare occasion when I have to take it to the shop because the repair requires special tools or skills I have always gotten my car or truck back with loose or missing bolts or sub par parts used but have been billed for oem parts.I love my cars so I maybe more picky than others about what parts are used and care taken in reassembly.

willconltd > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
04/09/2014 at 10:47

You must be new. E36 is easy. Just pull the allen screws, put the wheels back on (obviously do this one wheel at a time) a little loose, and then back up the car and jam the breaks. That frees the rotors every time. Then I don't know what you are doing to bleed the brakes, but it takes me about 10 minutes to bleed the system after the wheels are off. And I assume they were off for the break job. I always replace the allen screws, scrub the hubs, and lightly coat them with an extremely thin smear of anti-sieze before sticking the new rotors on. Then do the same for the wheels and the lip on the hub so they don't get stuck on.

thebigbossyboss > For Sweden
04/09/2014 at 11:56

Im my opinion, it really depends on the job and how soon you need to car to be operable.

When my fuel pump went, it was moving week. I needed an operable vehicle, so I just brought it to the mechanic. Especially since J body fuel pumps require removing the gas tank.

For Sweden > thebigbossyboss
04/09/2014 at 12:02

True, but if Doug needs to haul something, he has a Cube. If Doug just needs to drive somewhere, he has a Ferrari (!)

thebigbossyboss > For Sweden
04/09/2014 at 12:03

Yeah, if I had a 2nd car it would be a lot easier to wrench myself. That's for sure.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > willconltd
04/09/2014 at 12:16

Dude, I've done several brake jobs on many cars. My E36's were just so corroded that we had to bust out the torch and the deadblow hammer, buy a new larger impact gun, and then finally drill out the allen bolt on the driver's front. The brakes bled just fine, it was just the clutch slave cylinder got a little bit of air in it and it stopped working.

That's what happens when the previous owner used no anti-seize and then many winter's worth of salt.

willconltd > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire
04/09/2014 at 13:06

Ha. So its the previous owners lack of maintenance that screwed you over. On the slave cylinder, because the bleed screw is poorly located, I bleed it normally, and then I reverse bleed it with a modified harbor freight oil can ($4) and pump fresh fluid back in through the bleed screw. Surprisingly this makes a noticeable difference on the clutch feel. You should try it next time.

CyanogenModFTW > For Sweden
04/10/2014 at 01:52

In the rust belt it can be 30 min, or days... It depends on whether you need to press out, or drill out the slider-bushings, for example. I have had to use angle grinders on cars under five!! years old before. Better bring TWO cans of PB Blaster, a torch, impact tools, a dead blow hammer, a large pry bar, a BFH, and a day to let the PB soak. This is how many a brake job is approached up here.