26. Car mechanics

I think that as a nerd, particularly a woman nerd, I miss out on some things that are perceived as stereotypically masculine. In short, I don’t do guy things. I don’t know how football works, what kind of beer is good, or how to control my diaphragm for a nice extended burp. I am actually a bit jealous about the last one on the list. My brother always beat me at burping contests when we were younger… and last month.

But what I became painfully aware of today was that I don’t understand cars. When I took mine in for an inspection today, the mechanic told me that I had $1000 worth of repairs needed under my hood before I could pass. It was pretty stressful to hear, but what could I do? I told them to fix it and held back my plans for a season pass to Kennywood, saving up for a 3DS, and eating out. 

But it made me wonder if I should start learning more about cars and how to fix them. My first knee jerk reaction is to say “no way.” there’s a difference between dabbling in writing or music and mechanics. One means I have embarrassing first drafts of stupid cross overs in my hard drive. The latter means that my super expensive Ford 500, which I need for work and my internship, becomes an exploding deathtrap. I would be furious with myself if I tried to do something and wound up having to get it towed because I screwed it up.

While I can’t fix engine mounts or tighten fan belts (or whatever you’re supposed to do under there) I suppose there are a few things I can do. I can check and fill my tires, can replace windshield washer fluid, and even give a car battery a jump. But maybe I should take it to the next level. I want to be at least a little knowledgeable about one of the biggest investments of my adult life.

There seems to be a lot of useful articles online for how to check something over, but not necessarily how to fix them. For example, there’s the guide on the accessory belt, which drive a lot of the car’s mechanics. It powers the alternator, the cooling system, power steering, and water pump. Usually when it’s bad it makes a squeaking noise when accelerating. If I’m lucky, the belt is visible when my hood is up, and I can do a visual check on it. If the belt seems oily or cracked, it might need to be replaced. If it gives more than a half inch when pressing on it, it might need to be adjusted. But while I’m now armed with this knowledge, that doesn’t necessarily mean I can fix it. It just means I save the mechanic a half hour when I take my squeaky car into the dealership. I suppose it’s something, but not as hands on as I was hoping for.

Perhaps this means I should start slow. I know there’s one thing I can always try to do myself: changing the oil in my car. But when I found a guide to it on Wikihow, I was actually surprised how complicated it seemed. I thought it was as simple as just taking out the old oil (without making a holy mess all over the driveway) and putting new stuff in. But there’s a filter I never knew about. From a quick google, many people say that every time you change your oil, you need to change the filter too. I suppose just carefully unscrewing an old filter and putting in a new one isn’t too bad though. However, one thing that doesn’t help is that the driveway and parking lot in my apartment complex is on a pretty steep slope. Unless I can park at a friend’s place, I might just have to pony up the money to get my change at the dealership.

But overall, I think learning more about my car is a good investment. I’ll just take it slow and browse through the wikihow pages when I have free time… wait, free time? What’s that? I haven’t seen that in the past two months…