Auto Advice From An Auto Expert

Are you planning to replace your battery? Work on your brakes?  If you are then I am sure that you will have to get your hands dirty.  But that's not the only thing that you should think about.  Working on a vehicle especially if it involves having to turn on the engine is potentially dangerous.  Thus, there are things that you have to have in mind when working on your vehicle.

And according to this site, here they are:

•    Don’t smoke when working on any fuel related components (fuel filter, carburetor, fuel injectors, fuel pump, fuel tank or fuel lines). Better yet, don’t smoke at all. It’s bad for your health!
•    Have a fire extinguisher nearby just in case. The fire extinguisher should have a "B" (liquids & grease fires) and "C" (electrical fires) rating.
•    Don’t smoke or get any sparks near the battery. Batteries contain hydrogen gas which is very explosive.
•    Never crawl under an improperly supported vehicle. In other words, don’t trust a jack alone to hold the vehicle up.
•    Always use a pair of support stands positioned underneath the vehicle to keep it from falling on you. Make sure the support stands are of sufficient strength to hold up the vehicle’s weight, too. Don’t use blocks of wood, boxes, wheels or bricks for supports because these may slip or collapse and allow the vehicle to fall.
•    Never disconnect or unplug any electrical connector while the engine is running or the key is in the "on" position (unless specifically instructed to do so as part of a diagnostic procedure in a shop manual). Unplugging connectors while current is flowing through them creates a voltage spike that can damage sensitive and expensive electronic components.
•    Watch out for the drive belts, pulleys, fan and other moving parts when working under the hood if the engine is running.
•    Watch out for hot stuff, too. If the engine is running or the vehicle has been driven within the past half hour or so, the engine, radiator, exhaust manifolds, catalytic converter, muffler and pipes will be hot.

So there you are, have a good one.

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