That’s a lot of push pins, plastic rivets, or whatever they’re called. Lubricating the sliding surfaces with a small film of silicone grease will help with reassembly, and subsequent sticking. If needed, there also are special pliers for handling these.
When purchasing replacement rivets, I prefer the type that pop up with a quarter twistnof a Phillips driver. When out of warranty you can consider cutting an access port and making a cover for it, to preserve proper air flow, etc.
I agree with this
That’s assuredly false. A high quality result is 100% dependent on your own abilities, and this is true for so many DIY type tasks not including automotive. I’m sure my oil change abilities on my cars is equal to that of my mechanic since I’ve done them so many times. I’m sure he could’ve diagnosed and fixed my water outlet issues on my old Focus far quicker and with an equal or higher level result than I did (as I had to redo the job 1.5-2 years later, though diagnostics were far quicker the 2nd time around, I’ll admit that).
I’m on the fence about “to DIY or not to DIY”, but myself I value not only the result, but the learning experience as well
I’m also very much onboard with @Mustangman on keeping a sense of perspective where to DIY and where to draw a line and say “that’s too much”
back to original question on this thread: yes, I do DIY on the oil changes, and rationale here is very simple: not only it allows to make sure the job is done 100% right, but I also have a chance to take a look on the oil coming out - both condition wise and volume wise, so it lets me monitor how the engine is aging and to draw conclusions on when it is above where I want to keep a car
so, since I’m expecting that I will DIY-maintain my cars, I’m taking a quick look to make sure it is reasonably doable… although so far I did not see anything as stupid as this 2020 Sentra design
Sad how people think DYI will void a warranty. You save the receipt for the oil and filter, log the service in the maintenance schedule book in the glove box, you’re protected by state law which says the dealer does not have to do the service. Cutting access holes in the pan and making doors will not void a warranty, Having worked at many dealerships, I can tell you this is not something they worry about.
I have to hand it to Subaru, our Outback has the filter on top facing down, unscrew and no mess. The car’s high enough to crawl under and the oil plug isn’t blocked by a shield.
Our '07 Mazda3 was a nightmare, my '16 Tacoma is awful - 4X4 pickups have removable shields that weigh a ton.
I fully understand why a pro-mechanic would prefer to outsource their own home etc maintenance problems. When you work all day long doing that sort of thing, the last thing you’d want is continue doing the same thing once you get home at the end of the day. Let somebody else repair the rain gutters. I did hi-tech work involving really sophisticated vdo equipment for a living, but my home tv is a simple picture-tube type 21 inch job. Great picture. If I want a bigger picture, I just sit closer … lol …
For those of us diy’er inclined who have never been pro auto mechanics, it’s sort of fun to see if we can do something that seems really mechanically complex. The harder it is to do, the more fun it is to try to figure out how to do it in your driveway. If it wasn’t fun, most of us anyway, we wouldn’t do it.
I was s DIY out of necessity. When I was growing up, we did much of our own repairs to save money. This stuck with me as an adult and the DIY got us through our lean years.
One event that changed my outlook on DIY was a colleague that taught at the university where I taught and had attended the same elementary and junior high school I attended. His back yard adjoined my back yard. This colleague and friend was in the industrial technology department and knew how to do many repairs around the house and to his cars. I was replacing a water pump on my car and was turning the air blue. My friend came over and said, “Triedaq, why are you doing that? You obviously don’t enjoy that kind of work. There are a lot of people that enjoy fixing things and do it for a living. Do what I do. I look at a repair job and if looks like it will take me more than 20 minutes, I hire someone to do the job”. I decided my friend was right. A skilled mechanic, for instance, would change out a water pump in half the time it would take me. A professional painter could not only get the job done in much less time, but the job would look better than what I could do.
I got rid of the ramps I used to raise the car to change oil. The Toyota dealership is about a mile down the road. I would drop off the car just before work and my wife would be right behind in the other vehicle and we would ride to work together. Now that we are both retired, we still drive to the dealer in two cars and leave the one that needs to be serviced.
I had a drain leak under the sink. I looked at the job and the trap and drain pipe had disintegrated. I looked at what was involved in the repair and decided it would take more than twenty minutes and a trip to Lowes. I called a plumber. He found the garbage disposal had also rusted away. I had replaced the garbage disposal myself 15 years earlier. I was glad to have someone else do the work.
People like me have physical limitations such that doing even simple DIY work on cars is not feasible. However, in my case I’ve learned quite a lot here in this forum about how to best go about keeping my car well maintained without falling prey to unneeded upsells.
I do regularly check my oil, fluid levels, and the tires for pressure and any apparent undue wear. On my current 2014 Camry I can easily replace both the cabin and engine air filters and have done so. Otherwise I pay a professional.
One important thing I did was think about ease versus difficulty of work on the car when deciding which car make, model, and trim level to buy. So I evaluated not only the anticipated performance and longevity of which car to buy but also the cost to maintain it, right down to the comparative costs of tire sizes and car insurance between trim levels.
For most people such details don’t seem important. But I have quite limited physical abilities and income so such decision details are important. So I checked with the mechanics at the independent shop I use, mechanics at dealerships I shopped, and for advice here on the forum.
There is no one size fits all approach to DIY versus pay someone else to do it for most such tasks in life.
Here’s why I still “do it yourself” when it comes to my cars. It’s a hobby and it’s relaxing. Sure, I might save a few bucks and I would like to THINK I do a better job than most people, but it’s really the satisfaction of getting my hands dirty and accomplishing something that makes me happy. Plus I have my kids work on their cars now, with my supervision, so they are learning all about basic maintenance and being handy.
This past weekend I helped my youngest son change his oil, spark plugs, coil boots and gaskets, and rear struts. We probably saved him over $500 (which he most assuredly needs to save) and he learned a LOT about his car. Bonus, his car rides like new and the engine purrs like a kitten (we pulled out factory original nickel plugs with 140,000 miles that had a .070 gap when it should have been .043). It was hot, sweaty, hard work and he felt so good when we got done and made his car drive and perform so much better. Totally worth it!!!
Lastly, continuing to work on my cars means that I have an endless supply of horror stories to regale people with.
@Marnet I agree with your way of making purchases for ease of repair. I had to replace a washing machine. I went to an appliance store that had a service department. My parents had done business with this store for years. I knew the head technician in the service department. After the sales person had shown me the different models, I asked her to get the head technician from the service department. She obliged and when he came into the sales area, I said, “Bill, which machine should I buy?”. He told me which machine was the most serviceable, so that is the one I bought. I also sought his advice when the air conditioner that was mounted through the wall in my house gave out. He came to my house to see which one would be the best. I gave him the key to my house so he could replace the air conditioner while I was at work. When I came home for lunch, he and another serviceman had finished the installation and had my vacuum cleaner out to sweep up. A couple of weeks later, I was walking through Sears and saw the same air conditioner that I bought except it had the Kenmore name instead of Whirlpool and the carryout price was $20 more than I paid my independent appliance store for the air-conditioner with installation.
When I was buying a new minivan, I asked the independent shop where I was a customer about reliable makes. The mechanic recommended the Toyota Sienna, so that is what I bought. The independent shop has since changed hands. The mechanic who recommended the Sienna now works at the Toyota dealer, so that is where I now go for service.
In the '60s and probably into the '70s, Proctor-Silex made a line of small kitchen appliances that were called the Lifelong appliances. We had one of their percolators, but they made several other items including (I think… ) a toaster, a blender, and an electric can opener. The concept was that each appliance had several “modular” parts inside, thus making it easy for essentially anyone to repair them. The plan was to have hardware stores stock these modular parts.
My parents’ P-S Lifelong percolator never needed repair, so I can’t verify either the parts availability or the ease of repair, but the bottom line is that these small appliances were discontinued after only a few years, due to low sales. I thought that it was a great concept, but–unfortunately–too few people thought as I did, so the entire line was dropped from their sales lineup.
@VDCdriver remember the Proctor-Silex coffee makers, toasters, etc. that had easily replaced modules. I guess we were beginning the era of throw away appliances and even though the Proctor-Silex appliances could easily be repaired without tools, people just didn’t have the patience to order the part.
Back in the 1950s, Setchell-Carlson company made a television where there were sub chassis that were hooked together with plug- in cables. When the television had a problem, the owner called the Setchell-Carlson store. The technician told the customer which sub- chassis to pull out and bring to the store. The sub-chassis was either repaired on the spot or the customer was sent home with a loaner sub-chassis. If the technician came to the house, he could pull out the sub-chassis that needed repair without having to take the television back to the shop.
These were the days before printed circuits and solid state components. However, today’s flat screen television sets have three components; the power supply board, the driver board, and the LED display. However, I would bet that if the TV goes out, it is just thrown away rather than being repaired.
@Triedaq I think you meant to aim that at @VDCdriver 
But you’re right - the TV would get thrown away. Oftentimes these days it’s more expensive to fix a TV than it is to get a better-performing new one.
@shadowfax I made the correction. At my age, I get things mixed up. My doctor said that I still have all my marbles, but they roll awfully slowly. Thank you for your patience.
No worries! If I’m half as with-it as you are when I’m retired, I’ll be grateful.
You mean the stories that when you tell the grandkids they look at you like you lost it.
If Proctor-Silex was discontinued they made a comeback or someone bought the name I bought a P-S toaster oven 3 or 4 years ago it works great although it will be a throw away when it quits working.
@Renegade I think Proctor-Silex just discontinued the modularized appliances. They continued to manufacture the conventional toasters, coffee makers, etc.
Sorry I misunderstood I thought VDCdriver meant they were no longer around.
They are.
Thank you I learned something new today.