Car Girl

My husband is a car guy. My brother is a car guy. Between the two of them and my own interest in internal combustion engines, things that go fast, and not getting screwed by a dishonest repair shop, I know a little bit about cars.

I feel like I should share the knowledge I have. See, I know what it’s like to hear an odd noise and worry, to not know how to do fix something that seems simple, or to have questions about your car and not know the answer and not know who to ask.

I’ve got some post ideas from MJ and others. I might not get to some of them until spring, because I’ll want to take pictures and show you what certain things look like and it’s too cold to be standing around outside with a camera right now, but I’ll get to them, I swear. I may need to do some research for some of them (read: corner my husband and make him explain things CLEARLY, without using TECHNICAL JARGON).

Here’s the list of potential posts:

• What happens under the hood: the inner workings of an internal combustion engine

• Diesel versus gasoline

• Two-wheel drive, four-wheel drive, all-wheel drive, front and rear

• Fluid basics: oil, antifreeze, brake, power steering, transmission, windshield washer

• Jump starting (the great Minnesota pastime)

• Tire maintenance – putting air in, letting air out, changing a flat, when to get new tires

• Changing a headlight bulb

• Changing windshield wipers

• Changing oil, a.k.a. how to save yourself $20 and a lot of heartache

• Manual transmission basics

• Brakes

• What’s that smell?

• What’s that sound?

• What to do when you can’t fix it yourself; taking your car to a shop and not getting screwed

Any suggestions for additional posts or other questions you’d like to see answered?