with 4 cars in the family my new hobby is working on cars.

This is a honda pilot we have only had a month and the ac quit working and headlight assembly seal was bad allowing moisture in. Luckily it was a 2 for. I needed the front bumper grill and various other parts off to fix both. I've almost got it back together now. Picture is when I got it taken apart last night. Pretty easy to work on really and probably saved at least a few hundred.

I saved $500 this week replacing an AC servo motor on the wifes car. I was rotating the tires on it last night and broke two wheel hub studs off when hand tightening. Known issue with Mfr. Did all but the pressing myself to get it done for $50 instead of $300. I'd like to stop having so many opportunities to save money though.

Yeah me too. I'm in the garage now on break. Almost done.

Yes. AC is very easy and often overlooked by shade tree mechanics.Nothing to it. Get a good set of guages and a vacume pump, and you can fix most all of them. O haven't taken a car to the shop in about 10 years. Try to do it all myself when I can.

Ah, done finally

The wife and kids can ride in comfort once again.

Jason, I cheated a little on the ac. I replaced the discharge hose that was leaking and took it over to my brothers (without the front of the body and bungees holding loose plastic parts from getting caught in the wheel) and he has a vacuum and coolant and gauges, so he helped me with that part, but your right, if you have the gear it's not hard.

Actually I haven't sold the last car which is fully functional so we had that to drive last week. It's very nice having a spare car. In fact I'm debating just keeping it around. It makes it possible to take your time on repairs.

Yup. Quite a bit of satisfaction when you fix your own stuff. The wallet likes it too.

I saved about $300 just before JIBE replacing the window motor in my Element... SUPER easy, only took about 1 hour... y'all are right,... very satisfying... am I right that Hondas are typically easy to work on.

Quote: Originally posted by soliver

I saved about $300 just before JIBE replacing the window motor in my Element... SUPER easy, only took about 1 hour... y'all are right,... very satisfying... am I right that Hondas are typically easy to work on.

This is my first Honda so I'm new at working on them but it was much easier than what I expected. Also, another cool thing is the oil filter points down and is right next to the drain plug so changing oil should be easy. That's next on the list.

And there is a "youtube " video to show you how to do anything to any vehicle.

i own 3 cars the oldest being a 1930 chevy that i restored myself doing everything but chrome.
paint, engine, trans work, interor, wiring everything.
next is a 1985 chevy that is all stock. never restored.
a 1994 dodge my everyday driver. that i painted 3 times because i never clean it.
nobody touches my cars nobody!!!!!!!!

I've also saved the family $$$ by DIY repairs on our cars - how come none of this dough ever makes it into the kite fund...?

all buttoned up! the right tools , like the right kite gear, definitely can make a difference, great job man