As our Feature Editor Ali wrote just a few blogs ago, "Just knowing that your knowledge and hard work is what makes your ride tick is a level of pride that only someone with a wrench in his hand can describe." Turning a wrench can be fun, a learning experience, and also save you gobs of money.
There's also nothing like doing something yourself, and getting the job done right, right? Recently I had a custom-built engine installed in one of my vehicles. Yeah, I know, I let someone else do the work. Heck, they offered and they were experienced. However, less 800 miles later I found coolant shooting out the back of the block, so I ripped it apart found a torn crushed gasket under the intake manifold (photo). I removed the manifold very carefully so I could see what the problem was, so this gasket was not torn from removing the manifold.
I just read something on the news about the top 10 least expensive cars to own. One of those rigs is on my shopping list! I thought to myself "I don't have time to fix this." I called the dealer and they wanted $100 an hour to repair. Hmmmm, they are the ones that installed the first manifold gasket, so out came the tools. I completely understand that nobody's perfect, and that we all make mistakes, but this was my high-end engine with a lot of time and money invested in it. This vehicle gets around 10 miles per gallon when the cost of fuel is now between $3.90 and $4.00. The intake gasket kit was $65.00, RTV sealant, coolant, and assorted parts were around $51.00, I broke the throttle cable when I disassembled the engine, and that was $89.00 at the dealer. I'll be doing all the wrenching on this vehicle from here on out, and this vehicle won't be driven too much unless fuel prices are slashed in half, and that's not going to happen any time soon. So where do I get a maintenance-free, 45-mpg vehicle?