I’m most impressed with you Motorgirl, I wouldn’t have the first idea how to do any of those things. As you do not drive or own a car it’s very cool you can and do do those jobs on friend’s cars 
I like to feel like I’m contributing, especially since I can’t take a turn driving. 
ETA - I was probably better (faster) at these tasks when I was younger, though. I have gotten prissier as I get older, and care less for getting grungy. (and fewer of my friends have unreliable vehicles)
I air up my tires myself, although I hate it because I never have quarters for the air machine and it makes my hands grubby as hell (and of course air isn’t free anywhere around here). Also I never learned how to read a pressure gauge, but I just go by feel to figure out when they’re low and eyeball it when I fill them, and I’ve always done ok. They check my tires and air them up where I get my oil changed, so I don’t have to mess with this often–thank god.
However, I just discovered there’s a gas station near me with a fancy air machine that 1) takes debit cards, 2) Has an electric pressure gauge, and 3) All you have to do is tell it what your air pressure needs to be, and it will fill up every tire to that point automatically! So I’m going to start going there when a tire gets low.
Well, yeah, but you would have to screw up by a rather large margin, wouldn’t you?
I used to without a problem until I moved to Oregon. Where apparently all the freakin gas stations want money to use their air machine. I refuse to do it on principle and thus I haven’t done it myself in six years. A couple a times a year though, I use my dad’s air pump at home to fill them up. It’s slow as mud but free.
Some stations here want money, some don’t. It’s weird. Personally I think at least if you fill up gas, you should get free air - there should be a way to scan your receipt, or something.
I also put air in my bike tires AND use the bike pump to put air in our hand cart tires at work. As to the grubby hands, this is a brand new car (bought in May) so I keep a thing of wet wipes in the car at all times.
And you would have to screw up by a large margin. My car takes 32 PSI. I read a report where they filled up a Honda Fit tires (same as mine) to, I think, 45 PSI. No exploding tires.
Sure, the fitting would have to get stuck on the valve stem hard enough that you couldn’t pull it off, or you’d take a cell phone call and forget about it, something like that. It’s not very dangerous if you just pay attention.
For those with cars older than 2008, tire pressure monitoring systems are now standard on 2008 and newer USA cars. It will flash a light on your instrument panel and bug you if the pressure is low in one or more tires. That is generally a good thing but of course like anything else, it isn’t perfect.
I know how to do it, but my car hasn’t needed it done since I bought it, so I don’t.
I also know how to put chains on and how to change a tire, although apparently since they’re screwed-on mechanically it takes a lot more strength than a human being has - or a very, very long lever. According to the gentleman from Highway Aid who helped me last time, “those fuckers… hnggg… always set the blasted machine to the highest damned setting… grrrnnngggg… instead of to what the automaker says!” - cleaned-up version, said while hanging/bouncing on the end of a 7-foot pole he was using as a lever.
In Dad’s car, I could check fluid levels and refilled them more than once. Haven’t done it to the Yaris, as they’ve never been low enough between law-ordered checks to need it.
I’m about as prissy as it gets and even I regularly fill my tires with air/ check the pressure/ etc. I can change my own tire, too.
Seriously, if hair teased, nails done me can do those things, there’s literally no excuse for anybody else (I mean, short of a disability or something). I am horrified when my friends (usually female) brag that they don’t know how to even put air in a tire. :eek:
Same here. I’ve heard some people like to inflate them to 40-45, even over 50 psi for fuel efficiency at the expense of having a much harder ride. Me? I just inflate them to 32 or 33.
I find I have to inflate my tires every 2-3 months or so to even them out. But that’s how it’s been with all my cars. Sometimes, I get a little lazy and go an extra month or two, but my tire pressure needs adjusting at least three times a year.
Air is not free here (at least not that I’ve seen), although it seems almost every gas station has air, and a lot of them have pressure meters built into the hose. I don’t ever recall being at a gas station in Illinois, Indiana, or Michigan, and not being able to find an air hose.
I regularly check the pressure in my tires, and I put air in the tires of my car myself. I’ve even done it with a bicycle pump.
Not uncommon really if you use the car tire air stations to fill up your bicycle tires. Which is why it’s not such a great idea.
I don’t have a car now, but when I did, I aired up tires, changed tires, changed the oil & filter, flushed the radiator, changed spark plugs, and replaced what I believe my brother-in-law said was the idler pulley. Those last three were only one time jobs, of course.
Interesting. I’ve always hated paying someone to do something I can learn to do myself. Seemed like a waste of my money, especially when about half of the fee for an oil change was labor. I found out very quickly just how little labor was involved in that particular job.
I’ve known a few women who never checked or filled their own tires, but I’ve never known one that lacked the capacity somehow. I also know quite a few women who are as comfortable working on their cars as stereotypical men, and some men who aren’t. I don’t think there’s a lot of significance to a gender disparity in this area in the modern world, maybe just a little holdover from the old days.
I’ve got one of those portable pumps to do it a few years back, and been doing it ever since.
I try to check the tires once a month on both the car and pickup and yes, I fill both when needed. I also use my own air compressor. I even turn it on myself.
I haven’t changed the oil in my car or truck, even through I have changed the oil in an airplane. That sort of convinced me that I’d rather pay someone else to do that job, but if I had to I could.
I also recently learned how to replace a busted tail light in my car, too.
Of course I do. What kind of pre-Madonna won’t?
(emphasis mine)
lol. I don’t even know how to make a joke out of this. Does anyone want to help me out here? Did Madonna come along and make people forget how to put air in their tires, so pre-Madonna individuals would be more likely to be able to do it? And what does Madonna have to do with filling tires anyway.
I sure hope it’s a joking jab at those who don’t know the expression is prima donna…
That’s oil life, not oil quantity. But don’t worry, when you see the oil pressure light come on, you’ll know your oil is low. Of course, it may be too late to prevent damage by then. Pull the little dip stick and check the oil.
See Sick Ate beat me.