Servicing your own car???

[ARRH]

Hi all.
Just wondering if someone can give me some tips on servicing my car? What I usually do is change the oil filter, the oil and the radiator fluid, and thats about it!
Is there anything else I can/should do? I have a 1992 Ford Telstar GL, it's a 2.0L Manual. Thats about all I know. It's not flash, but it gets me around. I don't really know much about mechanics, but is there anything else that I could do that would be good for it?

Cheers!
Alexander

[mazak]

air filter and fuel filter. check for cracked vacume lines.these are easy tasks,that are easy to do .

[merkerguitars]

Changing transmission fluid is a big one.

Brakes are usually pretty easy to do yourself.

Find out how to pull diagnostic codes, so if i a bigger problem arises its easy to troubleshoot/fix

Spark plugs/wires, easy to do yourself

Thats all I can think of for now

[shakran]

Go join a car club. You'll pick up a LOT of how-to knowledge just from hanging around the car freaks, and they're usually pretty fun to boot.

[Plaid13]

I wouldnt suggest doing brakes or trans fluid yourself. Brakes are easy to do if... you know what your doing but if you make a mistake someone could get hurt. Find a friend that knows what they are doing to show you how to do it. Transfluid i wouldnt do myself just because... its a pain in the butt and you dont need to do it that often at all. Changing your own trans fluid can end up being a big mess if your not careful. Some have a drain plug so you can drain the fluid easy enough and that helps a ton. But most dont and you need to drop the trans pan to drain it. You need to take the pan off anyway to change the trans filter. Basicly for something you do every 40k or so just spend the $50 and pay someone to do it Unless you really enjoy working on cars and dont mind having trans fluid running down your arm. But... you can grease it. get a grease gun and learn where the grease fittings are on the car. will make your suspension last longer. Of corse the real lazy stuff like checking your air in your tires and checking the belts. just look at the belt and make sure they arnt frayed or cracked every now and then. Fuel filters are iffy depending on your skill. Sometimes they can be hiddin in some pain in the butt spots and its really just so much easier to pay someone to do it that does it all the time and has a nice lift or a pit to work in below the car. No idea where the fuel filter is on your car though. I suggest you buy a shop manual for your car or... go to the library and at least look through one. It should list the basic matiance stuff you can do easy. Chilton and haynes are the two big makers of those shop manuals should be pretty easy to find. They will also tell you how to figure out what wrong if anything starts to happen with the car And how to check things like balljoint wear and things like that. Stuff you wouldnt want to fix yourself most likely but you can at least get a idea of whats wrong with it before paying a shop to fix it. Never hurts to have a little extra info at hand before trusting someone with your car.

[Aro23]

since you drive a manual get the clutch checked out too if they are low or a little spongy