How's your car knowledge?

Nick333 said:
This. I can sort out most carburetor cars. On fuel injected cars I can wiggle cables and hum.

When I see guys with flashy, new, German cars on the side of the road with their head under the bonnet I chuckle. Ja right, boet.
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When I see guys in their old carburettor cars that needs to be revved just so they don't die at the traffic lights I don't chuckle, I feel sorry for them.

I don't undersatand a thing about carburettors, they always sound like they idle too loud to me, not that I understand anything about injectors but it looks like injectors just work, until the day they don't.
 
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10 for theory / 1 for practical - I have a full understanding of the functions in a car, i.e. I know pretty much exactly how everything in them works at a theoretical level because I've always been curious about the machines around me, down to getting a handle on exactly how automatic transmissions, fuel injection systems, etc etc work, but zero practical experience of actually working on anything - e.g. I know exactly how a gearbox and clutch works, but don't ask me to remove one from a vehicle and disassemble it with any hope of ever getting it back in working condition.
 
thechamp said:
When I see guys in their old carburettor cars that needs to revved just so they don't die at the traffic lights I don't chuckle, I feel sorry for them.

I don't undersatand a thing abour carburettors, they always sound like they idle too loud to me, not that i understand anything about injectors but it looks like injectors just work, until the day they don't.
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Carbies are like women, they need loads of attention a lot of the time, and if you do it right you'll be handsomely rewarded.
 
Oh yeah, brakes I could probably do as well; used to on my old Ford.
Speaking of which, that Tonic had so much space in the engine bay - you could almost stand in the dang thing while you were doing any repairs. At the very least you could reach most anything you needed to reach.
These days with the plastic engine covers and the rest of it, there's no room to move.

Cars seem to be more reliable these days (that or we simply replace them more often) so the need to open up your bonnet appears to be reducing.
 
Sepeng said:
Oh yeah, brakes I could probably do as well; used to on my old Ford.
Speaking of which, that Tonic had so much space in the engine bay - you could almost stand in the dang thing while you were doing any repairs. At the very least you could reach most anything you needed to reach.
These days with the plastic engine covers and the rest of it, there's no room to move.

Cars seem to be more reliable these days (that or we simply replace them more often) so the need to open up your bonnet appears to be reducing.
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That is my irritation, every time I have to buy a car the first thing I look for is clearance and space in the engine bay, on my car you have to remove an engine mounting, lower the engine just to remove the auxilliary belt, fwd cars are notorious for this especially the ones being made nowadays.
 
thechamp said:
When I see guys in their old carburettor cars that needs to revved just so they don't die at the traffic lights I don't chuckle, I feel sorry for them.

I don't undersatand a thing abour carburettors, they always sound like they idle too loud to me, not that i understand anything about injectors but it looks like injectors just work, until the day they don't.
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I've got nothing against fuel injection. It's efficient and reliable - you're probably right about carburated engines idling too high by comparison. I just have no clue where to start looking when it fails.

As for carburetors, when they start to give k@k I'm inclined to just replace the buggers. They're generally not that expensive and they're tuned properly out of the box. I've wasted way too much time rebuilding, cleaning, and having mechanics trying to retune them unsuccessfully.
 
thestaggy said:
I can change oil, spark plugs, air filters, brake discs and pads. I've replaced an alternator. I've taken my throttle body apart to clean it. I successfully stripped my front bumper to replace a headlight (excellent car design, btw).

So 3, 4?

Biggest limitation in my opinion for the average Joe is not having the right tools and equipment. If you have the facilities, with a bit of research (manuals, Youtube, etc) you could get quite a bit done.
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That's at least a 6 in my book. :)

As for me, I have the theoretical knowledge of how to do the simple things, but the furthest I've gone was to change a tyre. I just don't trust myself. So I'd say in practical terms I'm a 2.

edit: reading the other replies I think I have a case of Dunning-Kruger. Make that a 1! :D
 
thechamp said:
That is my irritation, every time I have to buy a car the first thing I look for is clearance and space in the engine bay,
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Oddly enough this is still the thing we do whenever someone comes round with a new car, open up the bonnet to admire the plastic covers everywhere. Mate got a new 4 series, it's not like before when you'd see 6 shiny cylinders, now it's 4 tiny ones hidden somewhere.

Slightly related, my pet peeves on a new car are:
only one reverse light
spacesaver spare wheel (like me an old fashioned full size with matching mag)
 
garp said:
10 for theory / 1 for practical - I have a full understanding of the functions in a car, i.e. I know pretty much exactly how everything in them works at a theoretical level because I've always been curious about the machines around me, down to getting a handle on exactly how automatic transmissions, fuel injection systems, etc etc work, but zero practical experience of actually working on anything - e.g. I know exactly how a gearbox and clutch works, but don't ask me to remove one from a vehicle and disassemble it with any hope of ever getting it back in working condition.
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Brother? :p
 
Nick333 said:
As for carburetors, when they start to give k@k I'm inclined to just replace the buggers. They're generally not that expensive and they're tuned properly out of the box. I've wasted way too much time rebuilding, cleaning, and having mechanics trying to retune them unsuccessfully.
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If you can afford it.

Poverty and necessity forced me to completely redo the twin Dellortos on a 4th-hand student-special Alfa Giulia Super. New jets and needles, a leaking float resoldered, all venturis, nozzles and bleeds flushed and pipe-cleaned, new O-rings and gaskets. Three weeks of endless hassles getting them tuned and synced. Fortunately a few years of fiddling with Mikuni and Amal carbs on bikes helped, and from then on other carbs were a cinch.
 
I'd say 5.

Service and general maintenance (brakes, shocks, CVs etc) are no problem.
I know how most components work and learnt a bit over the years to diagnose a few common issues but there is A LOT I have to leave to the experts.

With newer cars, I just get lost with all the electronics.
 
Theoretically, I'd say an 8, but practically, probably closer to 5 or 6.
I've rebuilt a bike engine (with the help of my dad), service my car/bike myself and have done a couple of other odd jobbies on my car/bike.
 
Not scared to attempt anything mechanical, well maybe not a cambelt, but when it comes electrical issues, I leave it to others.
 
Depends on the car.
On the once-stolen Nissan 1400 skedonk driven by my brother, I am on about a 6. Then again you only need a hammer to service that car.

On my Toyota though, I would rather take it to the mechanic. So I would be on a 3.
 
Many years ago I would have said about a 6-7. I worked at an engineering place in Sutherland where rebuilding engines, (Perkins, ADE etc), were the order of the day. This included everything that had an internal combustion engine such as tractors, lorrys, water pumps, bakkies, generators among others. Everything mechanical was included such as the gearbox and braking system. Auto electrical work was also done (alternators, general wiring and lights). We even worked on and did repairs to the old-school "windpompe".

These days I could probably still do the necessary fault finding and diagnosing, but I would rather pay an expert to do any work that needs to be done. I do not have all the necessary tools and work-space to even attempt anything starting to become a bit intricate and complicated.
 
And here I was clicking this thinking it would be some type of quiz. Oh well, I'm a solid 2/10.
 
Older cars - probably 9
Newer cars - probably 8

Like some others I’m more familiar with old cars, becuase when I started driving I did all my own work. Looked after my two sisters cars as well, and the girlfriend and then wife. Happy to pull out the motor and strip and rebuild, have stripped and repaired alternators and starter motors, carburettors, balanced carbs. Used to be able to change the clutch on my Datsun 140y in under 90 minutes, on my own. Not much experience with stripping gearboxes though, luckily never needed to.

As I got older and less poor, I ended up with company cars and so stopped doing my own work. I’ve done most of my own repairs on my C class Merc though, and know that model well, but less familiar with other new cars.
 
Most likely a 5 for me, I do various bits and pieces myself but leave a lot of the technical jobs to professionals or friends that have more experience than me.
 
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