Want to service my car myself

justsaynokids

Hi everyone , as the title says I want to try and service my own car , I know the basic things like spark plugs , brake fluid , oil , oil filters and such but what else should I look at ? It is a 17 year old corsa that wasn't very well looked after by its previous owner so I'd like to pretty much change pretty much everything I can myself before sending it to a mechanic where they can do the real work . So anybody able to Tell me what I should look at what fluids and filters etc . Thanks

Atlantic Dawn

Looks on oil makers websites to get spec and amount of oil needed for the car, castrol.co.uk is good for this. I normally go for genuine filters that I would get from main dealers parts departments.

justsaynokids

Atlantic Dawn wrote:

Looks on oil makers websites to get spec and amount of oil needed for the car, castrol.co.uk is good for this. I normally go for genuine filters that I would get from main dealers parts departments.

Will do thanks , but do dealers stock parts for cars that they stopped making so long ago ?
Or is it kind of one size fits all ? I know I know literally know nothing about cars at the moment but we all have to start somewhere.

justsaynokids

I just checked castrol and it says I need 0w/40 but when I looked it said it's for diesel , I have a petrol corsa.

Atlantic Dawn

justsaynokids wrote: »

Will do thanks , but do dealers stock parts for cars that they stopped making so long ago ?
Or is it kind of one size fits all ? I know I know literally know nothing about cars at the moment but we all have to start somewhere.

Yes there will be no problem getting them, they should have then in stock, normally filters would be the same across a couple of models.

justsaynokids wrote: »

I just checked castrol and it says I need 0w/40 but when I looked it said it's for diesel , I have a petrol corsa.

Check again, there should be a petrol model matching, you might be selecting the diesel model with the same cc.

Cee-Jay-Cee

justsaynokids wrote: »

I just checked castrol and it says I need 0w/40 but when I looked it said it's for diesel , I have a petrol corsa.

For a 17yr old Corsa pretty much any oil will do. Just get Castro GTX 10W40 and a filter.

Pull the spark plugs out of it and see what they are and get the sane again.

Change the air filter and fuel filter if you know how.

justsaynokids

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote:

For a 17yr old Corsa pretty much any oil will do. Just get Castro GTX 10W40 and a filter.

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote:

Pull the spark plugs out of it and see what they are and get the sane again.

Cee-Jay-Cee wrote:

Change the air filter and fuel filter if you know how.

Thanks I plan on doing all that , I was going to this weekend but my daughter has been in hospital getting tonsils removed so it was understandable y put on the back burner , I will give updates of the work I have done when I start.

pedro7

Have a look at your coolant. With the engine COLD, have a look at the colour of the coolant, if it's not green or red change it. If there's any sign of rust change it.
It's fairly easy to do, get a good flush chemical and use as directed, these clean gunk and corrosion out of the system. The green glycol coolant is probably ok for your corsa. But red long life OAT stuff will be better but more expensive. Get some demineralised water if you can, after you flush the system clear, fill it with the demineralised water and run it until hot, let it cool, drain it and then add your coolant. You won't have to do it again for years.

I've also found HUGE benefits to doing the gear box oil. For some reason it never seems to get changed until there is an issue. Be careful and make sure you get EXACTLY the right oil. Some have additives to protect certain metal costings in certain gearboxs. Changing the oil is easy usually. Locate and open your fill hole before opening the drain!

The fuel filter is another one that tends to get ignored by mechanics, can make the engine run a bit smoother plus a touch more responsive! Remember to depressurise the fuel line first. Pull the fuel pump fuse and run the engine until it stalls, then try start it 2 or 3 more times.

Hope that helps! It can be great fun tinkering with this kind of stuff 😎

pedro7

Just thought of another one! 
If your car has a distributor rather than coil packs, its worth setting the ignition timing right. You'll need a timing light and a the correct settings for your engine.  Again, makes the car more efficient and can give you a boost in responsiveness and power. Be sure to clean the distributor of corrosion. It can be cheap on some cars to change the cap and rotor arm.
A Haynes manual is extremely useful for a DIY mechanic. Worth every penny!

filbert the fox

pedro7 wrote: »

Just thought of another one! 
If your car has a distributor rather than coil packs, its worth setting the ignition timing right. You'll need a timing light and a the correct settings for your engine.  Again, makes the car more efficient and can give you a boost in responsiveness and power. Be sure to clean the distributor of corrosion. It can be cheap on some cars to change the cap and rotor arm.
A Haynes manual is extremely useful for a DIY mechanic. Worth every penny!

Hold on, what's the OPs good mechanic left with now? "before sending it to a mechanic where they can do the real work"

cletus

Just out of curiosity, if you're a novice to car servicing, do you have all the requisite tools for the job