hey /o/ I want to learn more about cars. I dont really want

yeah the one called "cool cheap pile of trash on craigslist that doesn't/barely runs and the owners manual and lots of google"

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I asked this board the same question a couple years ago. Since then ive done tons of shit to my car. I think the best way to do it is just get a car, and work on it, starting out small. Buy tools as you need them. Guides and tutorials on how to do shit will be all over the internet, you can pirate service manuals, look on owner's forums, youtube, etc.

I'd say engineering explained does some good videos on the very basics of how engines, drivetrains and other stuff work. Dude has a BSc in mechanical engineering I believe.

https://www.youtube.com/user/EngineeringExplained/playlists

>>14589155
>I want to learn how to wrench

depends what you define "wrench" as

>>14589155
First you need to get familiar with the basics: how engines work, how suspensions work, how everything attached to an engine works and possibly even some physics related to a car's behaviour on the road.
Wikipedia is a great place to start without being drowned under complicated concepts and math.

Once that is done, you can start looking at the citations Wikipedia uses, there are some good reads among those and you can learn a lot.

If you are feeling more old school, you can go to a library near a college and ask for basic engineering books about ground vehicles (usually the basic books cover both cars, trucks and maybe even trains, then you can specialise in cars with further readings), from there the paths basically split in 3 directions: engine, chassis and suspension, all of them have plenty of specialised books and loads of things to learn. This is advanced stuff, good if you plan on being serious about learning cars or you just want to really know what happens around you when you sit in one.

Learning how cars work is not strictly necessary for basic wrenching, I knew plenty of mechanics that barely knew the difference between diesels and gasoline engines apart from "diesels don't have spark plugs", yet they were still proficient at their job; but that knowledge may make your learning process faster, since you know what to expect when working on certain things.

Anyway, the ultimate guide for wrenching is the workshop manual that every manufacturer wrote for every car they sell. It contains everything: basic explanations of the various systems and subsystems, detailed instruction to remove, fix and replace everything on a car, wiring diagrams, diagnostic help, troubleshooting charts, you name it.
If your car is relatively recent (like '05 onwards) then manuals are all online and difficult to get, but before then, manuals were all on CDs and paper and you can easily find a torrent or a PDF for all of those.

>>14589166
not OP, but following this train of thought, am i smart in buying a sub-$1k shitbox that's in decent shape?

>>14590432
Buy it in whatever shape you feel comfortable fixing.
If you are just starting, stick to a reasonably good car that only needs ordinary maintenance done so you can learn gradually as problems and more advanced maintenance jobs pop up

>>14589155
service manual.

Google.

/thread

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>>14590450
>underrated post of the year
>this post x1000
>should be a part of sticky

>buy shitcans with over 100K miles
>have to judge initial quality of vehicle
>have to know how parts go bad, why they do so, and where they're located
>takes time to fix, during which vehicle is inoperable
>this is bad if it's your only vehicle
>takes extra time to learn install procedures and techniques if you don't have prior knowledge

>buy new (or newish) vehicle
>first things that need to be done (unless lemon) are general maintenance
>great start, learn where stuff is
>its decrepitness will increase with your knowledge
>best way to get into vehicles

>>14591833
>tfw you live in a country where it's literally impossible to buy a car for less than the equivalent of $1k unless they give it to you for free, in which case you only have to pay hundreds for taxes and documents.

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>>14591848
>tfw no face

that sounds like a bad country anon. you should just lie and slip the p/o money for the "free car"

>source: lowered vehicle registration costs in kommiefornia for "gift" vehicles

>>14591869
Nope, there is no difference here if you pay for a car or of you get it for free, you still have to pay for a bunch of taxes and documents (and the tradition is that the buyer pays for those, even if it's not an actual law) and the amount is based on the power of the vehicle.
There is also the fact that this is a country (Italy) with some of the highest insurance rates in Europe, and probably the world, so I probably have to correct my statement: even if you get it for free and include insurance in the initial costs, you will never spend less than 1k for a vehicle here.
Shit sucks.

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>>14591886
>italy
I've driven there, and I totally understand why insurance is high.

>driving on highway doing 100kph
>cop flies past doing 140-145 kph
>a bunch of tailgating bmws behind him
>obviously not gov't vehicles
>too mafia for me

>taxes and fees
>bigger vehicles cost more
this is anywhere, really.
>be me, buy $200 car
>sweet deal!
>takes $400 to repair
>smog test is $50
>registration is ~$90
>insurance for 1/2 year: $120
>still came out under $1K goal

>>14591963
Also insurance scams are so fucking rampant here, raising the prices even more.
Some companies are even outright closing offices in some parts of the country because there are too many scams there and they prefer not having clients at all than having to deal with their shit.
Think about that, insurance companies are total Jews, yet they prefer to abandon a region completely, shit is out of control

>>14589155

>buy car needing work
>buy haynes manual for said car
>get stuck in
>?????
>PROFIT!!

>>14589155
buy a beat to shit 240sx or civic and download the factory service manual

you'll learn shit real quick

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>>14591994
>abandon a region completely
>too many scams
lel one of the first things i was warned about driving in italy is the weird no-drive zones and how you're timed while you're in them, and racking up fines of 800 euro was commonplace.
>even the cops are in on it

>I've been to China too
>same problems as Italy and Oregon
>ambiguous road markings, poor road quality
>vague/nonexistent signs
>terrible and ineffective police

>but in china you can totally hit pedestrians legally
>if they look at you they give up right of way
>this means they saw you, and your vehicle
>in china bigger things have right of way
>mfw chinese people dart into traffic without looking both ways
>chinese driving upside: smoking in taxis
it could always be worse/better, anon.

>>14589155
Well the repair manual for your current car would probably be a good start

>>14592087
I've been in China too (not driving, just on taxis), that's bad, but that is mostly a 3rd world country, you won't expect the same shit on a "developed" nation.

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>>14592182
It's an extrapolation, and obviously they're different, but they have some of the same underlying problems
>Oregonians+ strict US federal road laws= slow drivers
>Italians+ lax road laws and harsh penalties/taxes= aggressive drivers
>Chinese+ NO road law enforcement (unless convenient
>based freestyle driving where pedestrians can't look at you


>you won't expect the same shit on a "developed" nation.
>Oregonians are the harbringers of highway doom
>mfw i see Oregon plates
>slow, indecisive, brake checking kings
>due to some of the worst signage I've seen in EU, Western US, or central China
>ODOT a shit
It totally happens.

>>14592374
Where have you driven in Italy? Because the average driver changes wildly from North to South.

Generally speaking:
North is more controlled, high rate of aggressive highway driving (plus aggressive foreigners that know they can't get fined with foreign plates and can do what they want with speed cameras), city driving is aggressive too, but people generally follow the rules there.
Massive police presence

South is more "relaxed", less aggressive but the amount of people who genuinely don't know the basic driving rules is incredible. City driving in big cities is basically surveilled anarchy (no turn signals, intersections are "first come, first served" areas, unregulated parking, etc), highway driving is more relaxed and there are a lot less foreigners.
Police presence is a joke, insurance scams are the norm, a lot of people drive with no insurance at all.

There are exceptions on both cases of course, but the trend is real