Things you should be able to do on your own
Imagine a scenario where you are on the road and all of a sudden, you realise one of your tyres developed a puncture yet you are not in a good financial position to call a mechanic to fix it. Would fix it?
Alex Lujja, a mechanic at Alliance Motors, Makerere, says like in your home, just like there are certain things you can fix for yourself, so should you be able to fix some on your car. Among them is having the knowledge of changing car tyres.
Changing a car tyre
Assuming you get a flat tyre on a highway or deep in the village where there are no garages. Such an issue should not force you to park and wait for a mechanic from the nearest town to help you change your tyre to proceed with the journey. You should be able to know where a car jerk is placed and how the wheel spanner is rotated to change the tyre yourself,” Lujja reasons.
Changing the car battery
Most of the motor vehicle batteries on the Ugandan market, Lujja opines cannot be used more than six years. A time comes, he says when a battery has to be changed either when it has stopped working or when it needs replacement.
“Changing a battery is as simple as starting the engine of your car. As long as the battery is of the same size as the one you are replacing and when you know how to align and tighten the terminals with pliers, that is what matters most,” Lujja advises.
Cleaning or removing dirty air cleaners or filter. For a car engine to run well, there has to be consistent supply of clean air from the air filter to the engine. Edgar Kaweesa, a mechanic at CKK Garage in Wandegeya says when your air filter is clogged with dust, it makes the engine run on a lot of fuel.
“After driving in a dusty road, when you park at a fuel station, you should be able to inspect your air filter and rid it of dust using a tyre pump without paying a mechanic to do it,” Kaweesa explains.
While Lujja says changing your old windscreen rubber stripes requires only new ones, Kaweesa says changing your car engine oil when the engine is cool doesn’t require a mechanic as long as you are using the same type and using a funnel so that it doesn’t spill.
Other things that you can fix by yourself on your car, according to onecentatatime.com, an online blog that guides on how to fix your car yourself to save money, include changing headlight bulbs, blown fuses, window belt strips, among others.
FACT BOX
Carbon dioxide is a colourless, odourless physiologically important gas produced by the body as a result of cellular metabolism. It is widely used in the food industry, fire extinguishers and in the chemical industry. Carbon dioxide detectors are used to measure the amount of the gas in an area.
