My car is in the shop and its costing me a hefty chunk of change to fix. I want to learn the basics of car repairs so I can do some basic maintenance first to save money. Any books, YouTubers, or online resources I can use to learn about cars? I'm looking to learn first about things like the parts of cars and what their purpose is and then going deeper.
Is alldata for newer models? I have a 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix. Only just hit 100,000 miles.
ChrisFix on YouTube is gonna be one of the best sources. He does have sponsors and will sing their praises but it’s not annoying.
Otherwise, vehicle specific forums can have really good advice.
As far as general car knowledge, browse Wikipedia. Engines and drivetrains are complex machines but basics are straightforward.
ChrisFix is pretty good, also just searching youtube for the thing you want to replace and the type of vehicle will pop up a video of the most basic stuff. I second getting a Haynes or Chiltons manual for your vehicle, and an OBD2 scanner. Personally I've got a cheapo bluetooth that I've used with decent results, but also an Autel ap200 that came with one free vehicle type subscription. For most cars you can pretty much just google the codes off the cheapo, honestly. The more expensive vehicles like Benz and BMW are where you need the special code readers and databases. Typically you'll find some forum or something out there that covers maintenance of the type of vehicle you've got. You can probably find a playlist on youtube of a basic car maintenance school. There's plenty of stuff like that out there.
OH! Find a pick and pull type junkyard and you can typically find replacement parts for your interior pretty cheaply. But, you can also use the vehicles there to practice taking parts off and putting them back on. Also, breaking into them. ;)
I just realized we have a !cars@hexbear.net. it's not too active, but maybe we can make it so.
