I know that there are video tutorials about fixing your car scattered on the web. But it would be nice if there were a single website that would achieve, or at least strive for, completeness of coverage of the topic. The “completeness” could be defined both by car brand (e.g. we get tutorials of doing operation X on all 50 common brands) and by set of operations (e.g. all essential engine maintenance). Having a large community could have the added benefit of members generating useful info via forum discussion (whether in wiki discussion page or in StackOverflow format) as well as potentially supporting a marketplace for paid services, e.g. bounties for creating some tutorials.
Well, reality is usually never as nice as what hypothetically could be done, but is there anything even remotely approaching Wikipedia type of community in the video tutorials space?
I guess that means you better get started, it would be a very popular site. Probably the number one auto site out there… If it was kept clean, accurate, and reliable… Lots of money to be made with that plan. I say go for it
The problem I have observed over my nearly forty years of doing auto repair professionally is some variation of “it’s all the same.” They do Operation X on their car and blithely assume that doing Operation X is the same on all cars. They see that Function Y is done this-a-way on, say, American cars and figure that Function Y is done that same way on Asian and European cars. In general, the folks who are motivated to write the self-help books, write the magazine and newspaper articles, produce the how-to videos, etc., just don’t have broad enough knowledge of the subject to even know that significant differences sometimes exist, much less know what those differences are. In a similar though less problematic manner, they don’t KNOW when there are no significant differences.
The amount of knowledge and information it would require to make this project more helpful than harmful is staggering.
I, for one, would love such a site, especially for minor repairs. So often I find myself saying “Is this something worth doing myself, or not”. Time is generally not the problem as the more expensive the potential repair would be, the more willing I am to devote an entire weekend to doing it.
I would love a site that would tell you right up front:
How long will this repair take?
How much will the replacement parts cost?
What tools are needed, and do you need some specialized tool that the average home doesn’t already own? And is it worth investing in that tool in general, or is it some stupid “You need this $500 tool to remove this single specialized part, and that’s all this tool is good for” versus a “This $500 tool is used in 50 other repair operations on this car you will likely perform”
How much risk is there in doing this repair in terms of both safety and if you do it wrong? Obviously, if I replace an air filter wrong, the car will still run just fine, versus changing the brake lines, which have some more severe consequences if I do that wrong.
Finally, it would be nice if there was a “is it worth it?” feature on the site for a given repair. For example, yes it is totally worth it to change your own pads on a disc brake car because a brake shop will universally rip you off based on fear and recommend ridiculous extra things you don’t need. I defy the average American to get out of a brake shop for less than $250, whereas the parts and brake pad spreader cost $35 and the whole thing takes about 20 minutes once the car is jacked up and the wheels are off. Let’s also not forget that brake pads are also guaranteed for LIFE! That’s right - if I buy a $30 set of pads and keep the receipt, I can get new pad for free FOREVER for that same pad. I’m not sure why that is one of the only products in existence like that, but it is. That too is something the brake shop will conveniently never tell you. If a repair requires you to pull off major components of the engine just to get to the part, even if it is a quick fix, I would argue that would fall under the “Not worth it” category.
There is a website that has been created that covers most of what your talking about plus things that can be added. We came up with this idea a few years ago. The site is called wikituneup. I do not want to get in trouble and I am not trying to advertise here. Please email me and we can discuss further. I would love to have you visit our site.
Wikituneup has been created to give a person free repair information and with our motto “the free service manual” that explains itself. We currently have 1634 repairs posted and this number is growing everyday. It will take time to build a community. We have 10 full time mechanics approving al repairs being posted. Please let me know by email what you think.
This type of site has alot of information that needs to be entered. it will take time to grow. We feel it is growing very quickly now. There will be a time soon where you will have options to look up average pricing and time to complete the repair.
Please let me know what you think of our new logo! We just had this designed and placed on the site a few weeks ago… Email me if you have any questions dave@wikituneup.com.
I would think some sort of content aggregator type site would make more sense than trying to make a single Encyclopaedia Automotica. There are enthusiast sites for practically every type of conveyance ever made*, and these usually have great illustrated or video tutorials as well as information about common problems, parts suppliers and-- the mother lode-- a .pdf scan of the factory manual. It would be great if there were a central directory of these forums that could direct you to some of these (sometimes they’re hiding in other sites or low on search engines for whatever reason) and/or maybe centralize and standardize some of that information.
I visited wikituneup and stumbled onto directions for changing brake pads (on a Ford SUV, but that’s not significant). I haven’t carefully ruminated on every detail there, but two things jumped out at me.
One was the recommendation to lube the caliper slides with lithium grease. Lithium grease is not a good choice for this because it can’t stand up to the heat that brakes sometimes generate. Ford’s official recommendation is to use silicone grease, which can take the heat. Even better is to use synthetic brake grease which can not only take the heat but can also retain additives. I don’t know any knowledgeable pros who would use lithium grease on brakes.
The other was the statement that the rotors should always be resurfaced or replaced. That was the common wisdom 20 years ago, but we’re way past that. Routine resurfacing of rotors is not necessary and compromises rotor life and performance. If there’s no warpage or deep scoring, and they’re thick enough, it’s fine to reuse them as is. That’s the official position of most vehicle manufacturers. There is far more to be gained by using premium grade pads and NOT resurfacing rotors than by resurfacing rotors that don’t require it.
I’m an auto service pro with 38 years experience, ASE Master certification, and lots of reading and study under my belt. While some of my colleagues may disagree with some of my positions, I do know what I’m talking about, and have sources to back it up. Already I’ve seen that wikituneup can’t be trusted to give the best advice, and that’s just on one basic item. Lord knows how much other substandard info is on there.
Your reply is great. However this is the point of a wiki. if you are aware of these 2 problems than you could have edited them to be more accurate. Everybody does things differently. Wikituneup has been created so that the world can get together and edit each fix to be one main general fix. It is going to take time but once the member base increased and people start discussing minor errors will not exist.
I feel like the 2 examples you quoted above are your opinions and that is awsome however with the amount of products available on the market people are not going to use the same for every repair.
If you send me the way you think both repairs you quoted above should be completed I would be glad to edit them to make them more accurate for you.
Its just a type of site where we all need to come together and work together and create the most cost efficient and most effective fix for repairs on cars.
Again your feedback is much appreciated…Check your private messages…
RE Gary T’s point and irpudge’s response, in light of GreasyJack’s proposal. You gotta admit guys - touche
Not that I have anything against the notion of aggregators per se. But I think that long term successful systems have to integrate features of various predecessors - in this case, integrating both some aspects of aggregation, of youtube and of wiki. And maybe of some other systems that do not as easily spring to mind.
Personally, I’m impressed that Gary T said you don’t need to resurface the rotors. My understanding is that this is common knowledge and is one of the first ‘extras’ that you get automatically tacked on with a BS brake job. Thanks for being the first honest mechanic I’ve heard from!
Another site similar to what you have been discussing is WikiAuto.com. Same idea I think, a Wiki setup to provide instructions and details on car repair specific to make model and year.
