My DIY tools for basic maintenances

[JazzGD1]

I just bought a 10 years old honda Jazz GD1 2008 last month Feb 2018.

I am learning how to DIY following basic maintenances:

1. Change engine oil.

2. Change CVT transmission oil.

3. Change coolant.

4. Change spark plugs.

After searching/watching/reading a lot of from google/youtube/forum, I bought following tools to help me DIY basic maintenances:

1. Hydraulic Floor Jack - 2 ton ($36) to jack up the car.

2. RhinoGear 1199099 ABMI Ramps ($40) to ramp up the car.

3. Fumoto F106N M14-1.5 valve ($27) to replace engine oil drain plug.

4. Fumoto F104N M18-1.5 valve ($27) to replace CVT transmission oil drain plug.

5. Lisle 24680 Spill-Free Funnel ($20) to change coolant and eliminate trapped air pockets in coolant system.

6. Magnetic Spark Plug Socket ($5) to change spark plugs.

[olduser1]

You can find a free manual here for your Fit
http://www.hondafitjazz.com/manual.html
I would recommend sticking to Honda Oil filters the blue ones change evry 7.5k miles with a quality oil.

I dont get the Fumoto valve thingy but that's your choice, enjoy driving your Fit

[JazzGD1]

You can find a free manual here for your Fit
http://www.hondafitjazz.com/manual.html
I would recommend sticking to Honda Oil filters the blue ones change evry 7.5k miles with a quality oil.

I dont get the Fumoto valve thingy but that's your choice, enjoy driving your Fit

Wow, thank a lot for free service manual. That service manual is the document that I searched for long time but could not find. Very helpful document.

For the Fumoto valve, I chose it because of following benefits:

1. Easier for a newbie like me to change engine oil.

2. I can change engine oil more often, 6 month interval.

3. I can change engine oil when the oil is very hot (i.e change oil immediately right after the car just finished running for 100+ km). Hot oil will flush all dirty particles in engine out easier than cool oil.

[JazzGD1]

For changing tire, tire puncture and rotate tires maintenance, I bought following tools and always keep them in my car.

1. Portable Car Impact Wrench 12V 380N.m ($55)

2. Portable Air Compressor Heavy Duty 12V 150 PSI Pump ($34)

3. Tire puncture repair tool kit ($5)

[JazzGD1]

Chain wrench for open oil filter ($10). The tool can be used for other piping/plumbing jobs.

[culzean]

You can find a free manual here for your Fit
http://www.hondafitjazz.com/manual.html
I would recommend sticking to Honda Oil filters the blue ones change evry 7.5k miles with a quality oil.

I dont get the Fumoto valve thingy but that's your choice, enjoy driving your Fit

Wow, thank a lot for free service manual. That service manual is the document that I searched for long time but could not find. Very helpful document.

For the Fumoto valve, I chose it because of following benefits:

1. Easier for a newbie like me to change engine oil.

2. I can change engine oil more often, 6 month interval.

3. I can change engine oil when the oil is very hot (i.e change oil immediately right after the car just finished running for 100+ km). Hot oil will flush all dirty particles in engine out easier than cool oil.

Personally I would not trust a valve that could drain the oil out in an unscheduled way 

I always change my oil when hot after a decent drive and never had a problem with hot oil,  worst part is getting the under-tray off. 

As for using an impact wrench regularly, it is something I would not do,  especially with a locking wheel nut. Impact wrenches are pretty brutal,  and 380Nm is way too much for 1/2" UNF wheel nut, which is normally around 100Nm, a bit less if copper grease used to lubricate thread.

I bought one of those hydraulic trolley jacks as well,  but found I could not use it because on our tarmac drive the main body of trolley cannot 'roll' to equalise the movement as the lever arm lifts, due to rough surface and wheels digging in, it needs to be used on a flat smooth floor like concrete or as the lever lifts due to offset pivot point the cradle moves in relation to jack body and  if the main body cannot move the lever tries to move in relation to car body instead,  and the higher you go the more it moves, trying to dislodge itself from the car body (which actually caused the jack to 'tip up' and pivot around the wheels.  The standard scissor jack has a cradle that stays on centre as it lifts. 

I can't even get a chain wrench on the Civic oil filter, I had to get one of those 14 sided cups that fit onto a 1/2" socket wrench drive.

[sparky Paul]

I'm with culzean on the sump drain cocks, ok on racing cars, but I don't fancy the idea of them where there is the possibility of road debris hitting them.

If you want a quick way to change hot engine oil, get a vacuum pump - they do work, and modern cars are designed to have the oil changed this way, with the lowest part of the sump under the dipstick tube. I only drop the sump plug every 3-4 oil changes, but the oil is actually cleaner afterwards when the old oil has been removed by the pump.

A pair of metal ramps are cheap, and usually bigger than the plastic moulded ones.

Power impact drivers are fine for undoing things, but an extending wheel wrench and a torque wrench would be cheaper and more useful.

Those type of puncture repair kits are at best only an emergency solution. They are actually illegal here in the UK, the best way to repair a puncture is to take the tyre off and plug it.

You might also want to think about some more general engineering tools if you don't have them, screwdrivers, ball pein hammer, spanners, and a socket set - a cheap one will do, but throw the cheap ratchets away and replace with decent ones.

[JazzGD1]

1. The valve has locking system requires a double-action mechanism to open it. However, if you worry about the valve could drain the oil out in an unscheduled way then you can use black electrical tape to tape a few rounds around the valve to add one more lock for the lever. If you worry the valve being hit by road debris then you can add a custom plastic to cover the valve.


2. How much is a vacuum pump? $40? Is vacuum pump also called oil extractor? What are benefits of using vacuum pump to change engine oil?

http://www.sealey.co.uk/pdfs/instructions/TP6901_V2.pdf


3. I also want to learn DIY change brake fluid maintenance. However, change brake fluid maintenance is too advance maintenance for me. I am afraid that I don't know how to test and deal with brake fluid low pressure and trapped air pockets in brake system.

Can vacuum pump also use for extract brake fluid? Can I just use vacuum pump/oil extractor to extract old brake fluid out and pour new brake fluid in?

[JazzGD1]

I already have a socket set. But I do not have a torque wrench. How much is a torque wrench? $100+ for a good torque wrench? Can I use manual torque wrench to open wheel nuts that were tighten by workshop service staff using air impact wrench? Nowadays, all workshops are using air impact wrench and the wheel nuts may be tighten too tight.


I had a bad experience with using car manufacturer's provided tools to open wheel nuts. One late night few years ago, I went to car park to drive home and saw one of my car's tire was flat. I spent one hour trying to open wheel nuts to change spare wheel but could not open any of wheel nuts. I had to ask one young guy just pass by to help me. That young guy also had hard time with the wheel nuts. He spent half hour with a lot of sweats and I paid him $50 to just open 4 wheel nuts.

I put spare wheel in, drove home. Next day, I drove to workshop to fix the puncture tire. To my surprise, workshop staff just used the tire puncture repair tool kit to fix my puncture tire. I did not expect simple fix like that. The staff told me the fix is depended on puncture. If the puncture is small hole and on bottom of the tire then it is ok to just fix like that. If the puncture is big hole or long hole and on side of the tire then can not fix, have to change tire. I paid $10 for that simple fix. Total lost $60.

After that bad incident, I bought the portable impact wrench 12 V + portable air compressor pump 12 V + tire puncture repair tool kit and always carry these emergency tools in my car. I have peace of mind, driving car across border into foreign country without worry about tire puncture any more.

[culzean]

I already have a socket set. But I do not have a torque wrench. How much is a torque wrench? $100+ for a good torque wrench? Can I use manual torque wrench to open wheel nuts that were tighten by workshop service staff using air impact wrench? Nowadays, all workshops are using air impact wrench and the wheel nuts may be tighten too tight.


I had a bad experience with using car manufacturer's provided tools to open wheel nuts. One late night few years ago, I went to car park to drive home and saw one of my car's tire was flat. I spent one hour trying to open wheel nuts to change spare wheel but could not open any of wheel nuts. I had to ask one young guy just pass by to help me. That young guy also had hard time with the wheel nuts. He spent half hour with a lot of sweats and I paid him $50 to just open 4 wheel nuts.

I put spare wheel in, drove home. Next day, I drove to workshop to fix the puncture tire. To my surprise, workshop staff just used the tire puncture repair tool kit to fix my puncture tire. I did not expect simple fix like that. The staff told me the fix is depended on puncture. If the puncture is small hole and on bottom of the tire then it is ok to just fix like that. If the puncture is big hole or long hole and on side of the tire then can not fix, have to change tire. I paid $10 for that simple fix. Total lost $60.

After that bad incident, I bought the portable impact wrench 12 V + portable air compressor pump 12 V + tire puncture repair tool kit and always carry these emergency tools in my car. I have peace of mind, driving car across border into foreign country without worry about tire puncture any more.

I have one of these in the car and have never had a problem with getting any wheel nut undone, even on other peoples cars.  Just use short (fully collapsed) length to tighten and fully extended length if required to undo the nuts.   My local ATS tyre depot uses air impact wrench to undo nuts quickly, but torque wrench to tighten them.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Draper-Redline-67641-Extending-Wrench/dp/B010NCWY6W/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1522337209&sr=8-3&keywords=wheel+nut+wrench

I have one of these tyre repair kits under the seat of my motorbike (with 4 CO2 canisters) - it actually uses a mushroom type plug with no adhesive required - the CO2 canisters will introduce a 'blast' of pressure into tyre to re-seat it on rim if needed.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/STOP-SUPER-POCKET-TYRE-PLUGGER/dp/B003VE2UZK/ref=sr_1_3?s=diy&ie=UTF8&qid=1522337507&sr=8-3&keywords=stop+n+go+tyre+plugger

[sparky Paul]

Those extending wrenches are just the job.

With regard to torque wrenches, you can pay hundreds of pounds, but you can buy cheap ones for as little as 20GBP. In my opinion, a cheap torque wrench is better than no torque wrench, but in most cases, a spanner and common sense will suffice.

Is vacuum pump also called oil extractor? What are benefits of using vacuum pump to change engine oil?

http://www.sealey.co.uk/pdfs/instructions/TP6901_V2.pdf

Yes, that's the sort of thing. You can buy a basic manual one like the Sealey over here for about 30GBP. The advantage of using these is mainly convenience, you don't have to go crawling underneath to undo the sump plug. In my experience, they leave very little oil behind on modern cars, and the fresh oil looks nice and clean.

3. I also want to learn DIY change brake fluid maintenance. However, change brake fluid maintenance is too advance maintenance for me. I am afraid that I don't know how to test and deal with brake fluid low pressure and trapped air pockets in brake system.

You can't use the vacuum oil extractor for brakes.

Changing brake fluid is not difficult, and you will find the various techniques described online and in service manuals. If you can get hold of one where you are, the Haynes manuals are good for a beginner.

If you have the use of an assistant, a set of brake spanners, a bottle and a piece of clear pipe is all you need to change the fluid. To do the job without an assistant, a vacuum brake bleeding kit is the best  thing to use. You can find perfectly usable cheap ones over here for around 20GBP or less.

[JazzGD1]

I have one of these in the car and have never had a problem with getting any wheel nut undone, even on other peoples cars.  Just use short (fully collapsed) length to tighten and fully extended length if required to undo the nuts.   My local ATS tyre depot uses air impact wrench to undo nuts quickly, but torque wrench to tighten them.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Draper-Redline-67641-Extending-Wrench/dp/B010NCWY6W/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1522337209&sr=8-3&keywords=wheel+nut+wrench

I have one of these tyre repair kits under the seat of my motorbike (with 4 CO2 canisters) - it actually uses a mushroom type plug with no adhesive required - the CO2 canisters will introduce a 'blast' of pressure into tyre to re-seat it on rim if needed.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/STOP-SUPER-POCKET-TYRE-PLUGGER/dp/B003VE2UZK/ref=sr_1_3?s=diy&ie=UTF8&qid=1522337507&sr=8-3&keywords=stop+n+go+tyre+plugger

You are living in UK where all local workshops is following best practice of changing tires/wheels. i.e only use air impact wrench to open wheel nuts, but use torque wrench to tighten them.

I am living in country where all local workshops did not follow best practice of changing tires/wheels. Their staff is lazy, they used air impact wrench to do both open wheel nuts and tighten them. Once wheel nuts were tighten by air impact wrench, I doubt we can open them by torque wrench.

I also checked your amazon torque wrench link. The torque wrench costs about $15, so cheap. One customer review was not good.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/customer-reviews/R30QSZ0RB9KLYO/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B010NCWY6W


I checked my local hardware websites, good torque wrench costs about $100 ~ $200, more than double of my portable impact wrench's cost.


So buying torque wrench or portable impact wrench to open wheel nuts is dependent on which country we live and also dependent on we are young man or old man or woman. Young man may not need portable impact wrench to open wheel nuts but young man will buy portable impact wrench for his wife. I learned best practice from your post. Next time, when I DIY rotate wheels/tires maintenance, I will use impact wrench to open wheel nuts and use car manufacture provided wrench to tighten them.

I checked your amazon tire repair kit link. It costs $53, too expensive, more than half price of a new tire. Even though it can fix puncture on side/rim of the tire, I will not buy it. If puncture on bottom of the tire, I will use cheap tire repair kit $5 to fix the puncture. If puncture on side/rim of the tire, I will change new tire for safety.

[culzean]

Sorry JazzGD1 we do not know which country you live in,  can you put a flag below your Avatar ? - otherwise we assume you live in Britain (except for $ prices on the tools you bought).

[JohnAlways]

I have rarely been to a UK tyre fitting establishment that actually torques the wheel nuts up. They have always used air ratchets and then put the torque wrench on them to make sure they are tight enough. This didn't then stop over-tightening just checks minimum tightness. Loose wheel nuts are now mostly a thing of the past but stretched and cracked wheel studs aren't.

[sparky Paul]

I am living in country where all local workshops did not follow best practice of changing tires/wheels. Their staff is lazy, they used air impact wrench to do both open wheel nuts and tighten them. Once wheel nuts were tighten by air impact wrench, I doubt we can open them by torque wrench.

I also checked your amazon torque wrench link. The torque wrench costs about $15, so cheap. One customer review was not good.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/customer-reviews/R30QSZ0RB9KLYO/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B010NCWY6W


I checked my local hardware websites, good torque wrench costs about $100 ~ $200, more than double of my portable impact wrench's cost.

An impact wrench and a torque wrench are not really comparable, they are two different beasts.

The one culzean linked to at amazon is just a wheel brace, not a torque wrench. I have a couple of this type, one I've had for 25+ years - I would think that the broken one in the bad review was either defective or has been grossly abused. This type of extending brace works well because you shouldn't be able to over-tighten when closed, and it gives you the extra leverage to undo tight nuts when extended.

A torque wrench is not essential for wheel nuts, so long as you are sensible when tightening them up, but they are useful when doing other work on the car, especially around the suspension. For that, a cheap one will do, something like this type if you can get one locally

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Silverline-633567-Torque-Wrench-28-210/dp/B000LFTSG6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1522402731&sr=8-3&keywords=torque+wrench

I use a nice torque wrench I've had for many years, but I have used these cheap ones before and they are fine - certainly better than nothing. You can find them here for less than 20GBP. Look after it, and they don't go out of calibration for years.