what are good safety practices when working on the car (engine)?

for instance, is it common to remove the negative lead to the battery? does this avoid shock or avoid accidental starting (for whatever freak reason considering the key is not in)?

also, what do you do if you have an autostarter?

 

http://autos.yahoo.com/maintain/repa...ques135_0.html

 

Never run with scissors!

 

removing the negative cable on the battery prevents a short circuit because when doing electrical work you never know if you might accident connect a hot source to the chassis.
if you have a remote start, make sure your battery is disconnected is even more important since you dont want to accidentally sit on the remote and start the car while you're working under the hood

 

thanks guys,

the battery starts the car so if it's disconnected, the car shouldn't start, right?

also, on my old 2003 accord, when i tried to disconnect the negative terminal, there would be some smoke and it would freak me out...is that normal? is there a safer procedure for disconnecting the terminal? i just loosen the lead pull it out of the way. anything else?

 

correct, by disconnecting the battery from the car, the car will not be able to start.

and yes, loosen the leads and then pull up/off quickly!
it will spark a little, just dont be a pussy! lol

 

get jackstand, wheel cock/block, and another person to watch for just in case.

 

Jack stands, yes. I almost died installing my jpipe... Never again without stands.

 

I lol'd

 

damn dude!!!!

 

Geeze! Nick, you installed your j pipe w/o jack stands? that's nuts smh-id never climb under a car that's supported with only a jack.

 

I had jack stands but they were too high to fit with just the oem jack, since i dont have a hydraulic jack. Uninstalled without them, and my car fell while i was pushing the new pipe in place. Indeed scary. Ebrake didnt help for shit.

 

glad we didnt have to make an obituary thread for you.

I'm sure you've learned your lesson
Dont drink and drive!!

 

probably the one time i was happy i didnt have coils. Skinny ftw

 

omg, your tires were on!?
LUCKY ASSS! !!!!!!!

angels were looking over you that day

 

Wow- just reading this is scarry- support the car at all times when working under

 

I got chills just reading Nick's experience. I always use jack stands when I work under the car. Even then, I don't feel completely safe. The stands can fail, who knows. My better half thinks I should buy a lift, which can serve dual purposes (lift and storage for another car). I am a miser, so I have refused.

 

I honestly dont see how a good jack stand can fail. even at the raised notches, the WORST that can happen is the notch snaps and it falls to lowest setting, which is still high enough to save your life

 

yeah, the way the jack stands are designed......they wont fall lol

unless you're being a fucking idiot and place the stand at a wrong angle or completely not putting the stand underneath the car.....

 

So wait, the car fell completely off the jack and didn't crush you? How f'ing skinny are you?

I miss having a 4wd truck. No jacks, ramps, stands necessary.

 

I used to never use jack stands and still don't as much as I should but it's usually when only the car will be damaged and not myself. The eye opener was when the jack failed and I was basically bench pressing an Opel GT. Luckily it had no engine and my arms were locked out. Screaming for help was very hard but luckily someone heard me. My hands were cut and bruised badly as was my back and one side of my chest was bruised. I could barely get around for a couple weeks and the car did not technically fall on me. I've never had a bruised muscle from exertion before. If it were a TL I would have been dead. Now, if I'm doing the brakes I'll at least slide the wheel under the car.

 

I agree. It's not as high as a truck but the fiancées Murano is so nice to work on. No jack required. I did the oil, CVT (Redline ftw lol), differential, transfer case, coolant, PSF, and flushed the brakes. That would have sucked if I had to move the jack and jack stands around that many times.

 

Post what types of Jack stands you guys are using.. I run into the problem where I need to jack the car 4 feet in the air to slide in stands just to do tires when i really only need about 2inches off the ground to remove and install a different set.

 

^I'm using regular-degular 2 ton jack stands that i bought from autozone or a parts store like harbor freight.

I also have a harbor freight ground jack that lifts the car in seconds.

 

I use one of the Sears aluminum jacks and their smaller jack stands which are nice because you don't have to jack the car up super high to use them. I would be using larger jack stands if I were doing something that required more height but these are perfect for oil changes and such. The jack is nice too, it's even got LEDs on the pad which I thought was cheezy at first but it really helps line up the pad with the jack points.

 

I just have 2.5 ton craftsman jackstands, I did pick up a new jack a few weeks ago at harbor freight, its a 3 ton low profile one. I had a coupon and got it for $70. Iv been really happy with it.

 

I've got some aluminum stands from Harbor Freight which are nice and light. Just need a good jack to go with them. I generally just use some plastic ramps from wal mart. I do have a Craftsman aluminum motorcycle jack which is nice and light and has held up well for the last 7 years or so. It is from their professional line, so I'd assume their auto jacks are decent quality as well.

 

Hf 18 dollar jackstand ftw

 

Same here never used them years ago when I had my Mazda (considering its weight was about 1 ton). Luckily, I never had an issue, but now I use them all the time.

 

holy crap, justnspace made a mention about pulling the negative lead off the batter fast and don't worry about the brief spark, next thing you know, i'm scared witless about doing anything under the car

jack stands...fail? i'm still getting my feet wet with this as a hobby, how long can I hold off from having to go under the car. i'm feeling uneasy, even with jackstands

 

Just place the stands at the appropriate place ( the tabs behind the front wheels and in front of the rear wheels) the car will be rock solid, give it good shove if you want, i normaly do, the car is not going anywhere.

 

1. Take pictures before working on something for the first time! If you mess up you have something to refer to.

2. Before draining ANY fluid, make sure you can open the filler bolt/cap first!

3. When jacking up the car, use the E-brake, wheel chocks, jack stands and a proper jack on a LEVEL surface! Without all of these you should NEVER get under the car.

4. When removing tires always hold them from the sides and never from the 10 o-clock position to the 2 o-clock position. In case the car falls for whatever reason it won't chop your hands off.

5. Always have the proper instructions and tools before starting the job.

6. Keep tons of zip-locks and post its and a pen and label all screws and bolts. It'll help a ton so you don't loose anything.

7. Wear some gloves, it'll help keep your hands clean.

8. Don't fiddle with stuff you don't know about, read and understand first so you don't screw it up!

 

+1 I used to blow cv shafts on my 2500 chevy all the time off roading, I could swap them out in the driveway with no lifting. I also had a 3" lift which helped, but it also contributed to the constant front end issues.

 

Making sure you're on level ground is key.

Getting ready to do my pressure switches and my TL slipped forward off the OEM jack (wheel was an inch off the ground, then fell to the ground with lug nuts cracked loose).

I was JUST about to remove the lug nuts.

 

Nice list. If only I listened to #8. I rarely ever look on the internet, I have to teach myself to do something new.

One other thing, most self energizing drum brakes like 99% of the drum service brakes out there and most drum emergency brakes like ours do not hold well in reverse.

Park in the auto stops the ring gear from moving but if one tire comes off the ground and can rotate, the other tire on the ground is completely free to rotate. Park is not acceptable for holding the car in place if one wheel is going to be off the ground.

 

The factory jack is more for emergencies and very unstable. I would never use it for anything else. At least it's the screw type and not the old school ratchet type that was just trying to kill you every time it was used.

 

+1

2 years ago, I used to wonder why my wheels can spin freely when the front of the car was in the air. I used to think something was wrong with my car. Then someone, I think it was you, IHC, who told me it has to do with the differential in the transmission. After some research, I understood it. At park, the wheels can spin opposite directions, so it really puts meaning when they say the tires keep your car from moving. If one side had no traction, it'd roll freely in park.

 

JACKSTANDS!!!!!! Reliable and real floor jack, no scissor jack. And as an extra back up any tires u takeoff, lay them flat under the car for extra security anytime u need to be under the car.... Your life is more important than a wheel... Had a friend die while working on his girlfriends turbo rsx, he was only person at the shop and the jack slipped so be careful

 

x10000000000000

I worked on my S4 one time to replace the Leak detection pump which is up inside the left rear wheel well.

I didn't have a jack stand or jack at the moment but figured it's an easy task so I don't need it. ( used the OEM scissor jack )

Luckily I placed my stock wheel under the car because the jack failed on me.
If I didn't place the wheel there, I'd be missing part of my leg right now.

Never again will I work on a car without jack stand.
I have a jack stand in my car if I ever need to replace a flat tire.

Again,. NEVER EVER EVER work on your car without jack stands.
You can end up dead or lose a limb.

 

An OEM jack is sufficient to do work on your car as long as you have jack stands.

If you need to use the oem jack - just use it to raise the car. Then place jack stand under frame, then lower the car on the jack stand so it's not resting on the oem jack. You can then remove the oem jack once the car sits on the jack stand or just keep it under there.

In the event your OEM scissor jack DOES fail while lifting the car, you are not under your car and the worst thing that happens is that your car drops down to the ground.