Hooked on car maintenance and DIY

I have recently signed up for a course on Engine Servicing at ITE College West. It had been a long time dream of mine to learn more in depth about fiddling with something I have been interested in since I was a child. Turning 18 years old and getting my car license was probably one of the most memorable milestones in my life. But it was not enough. I didn't just wanted to drive, I wanted to get involved with the parts and components that makes it run.

I must say that learning how to service doesn't always translate well into the actual job of servicing your own car because you have to invest in a considerable range of tools to dismantle any part of the car. So, I really have to find a good brand of tools and buy a set for my own use. In addition, I learnt that not everything can be done by the mechanic himself as certain things require professional services from other industries such as metal works.

Well, honestly, the engine is the last component I would want to touch because it is the messiest and also, if you have to do engine servicing other than your periodic oil or spark plug change, it does mean that the problem is rather serious. My car is fortunately not that old to require such endeavors.

These little bulbs keep the controls nice and bright at night

What triggered my DIY spirit was my annoyance with the blown bulbs of my air-con control cluster. Although I knew the car well enough to operate the knobs in the dark, it did not feel good. Immediately, there was a problem - I did not know how to open the panel nor was I sure that blown bulbs were the culprit. Thankfully, I was not the only person with this problem and there were several videos on youtube showing how to remove the panels. Although they were filmed on cars of other models, it turned out that there is some similarity in removing those pesky panels. After that was done, changing and buying new bulbs was easy.

Beautifully bright controls after changing those bulbs.

I bought my replacement bulbs from one of the old auto supplies shop at Sin Ming area and got them at a fairly reasonable price of $1 each. Entering an auto supplies shop felt like I was entering a fully stocked stationery shop when I was in Primary school. The range of items were simply bewildering. I could just stood admire all the different products if it wasn't so awkward.

In total, I changed 6 bulbs on my aging car. 2 for the air-con control cluster, 2 pole lights and 2 at my rear license place. The 4 latter bulbs were easy accessed as they are external bulbs.

Bought a box of 10 W5W bulbs for $10. Just bring down your old bulb to confirm the size when you buy the new ones. These bulbs last about 6 months to a year so it makes sense to stock up a little.

So, I really recommend you to try this yourself some time. While not all servicing jobs are feasible to do on your own, simple things like changing bulbs can be rather satisfying and fun.