13 Super Simple Car Repair Hacks

In most homes, the garage doubles up as an additional storage area, making parking substantially difficult. You don’t want to hit something and damage the car’s body and pile onto the cleaning work you will have to do.

You can avoid this situation by suspending a tennis ball from the ceiling at the spot at which you want to stop backing up into your garage. The minute you hit the ball, you know you can’t back in any further.

A small crack on the windshield is soon going to turn into a big one if left untreated. Don’t just let it be – cover it up with clear nail polish. It hides the crack and prevents it from spreading by acting as a barrier between the screen and direct sunlight.

Small bumps and dents are part and parcel of driving a car. They’re so common that you can get one from any situation – like backing your car into your garage. Use a hairdryer and an air duster to fix it. Heat the dented area with the dryer for a minute or so then immediately spray it with the air duster. Most small dents pop out easily this way.

The hair dryer heats the body, which causes it to expand, and the duster or canned air then cools it down immediately, causing it to contract. The pressure then causes the dent to pop out.

You can also use a regular plunger to pull out a dent. Place the plunger over the car’s body, ensuring it is securely sealed and then pull it up. The pressure relieves the dent almost immediately.

Scratches can be very displeasing to look at, but not all scratches warrant a trip to the workshop. You can simply use nail polish to cover it up, and it works perfectly well. If one coat doesn’t do it, you can always double coat it for better results, and the scratch will be as good as gone.

You don’t have to get new tires to get better traction during the winter season. Not everyone has the budget for it. You can lower the air pressure a notch, and your tires will have a better grip over the slippery roads.

If your car is stuck on a snowy patch, you can use your car mats or cardboard pieces to get you out. Lay them in front of the tires and drive over them to get you out of the snow.

Fuel leaks are dangerous and can leave you stranded before you know it. The minute you notice the fuel tank draining at a faster rate than it should be, put a piece of gum in the mouth of the fuel tank and use that to cover minor leaks. Make sure to clean the area first of all grease and dirt, or else the gum will fall off.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. You could be out on the highway or stuck on a lonely road when one of the following problems may arise. Here are some unconventional car repair hacks that can help you make it through for the time being. But don’t rely on these hacks for long and find a mechanic as soon as you can.

If your radiator is leaking, you should add a mixture of coolant and water. If you don’t have coolant on hand, you can add plain water, but you will have to add a lot of it as it boils and evaporates pretty quickly.

For times when you don’t have any usable fluid at hand, you can always rely on your body fluids. As we said, desperate times call for desperate measures, and we only recommend using urine as radiator fluid if you have no other option at all.

If you have pantyhose at hand, then cutting a leg and wrapping duct tape around it can serve as a temporary belt. Make sure to go over the leg with a lot of tape and join the two ends together to make do momentarily.

Again, this is a hack for when you are stranded and in dire need of an instant solution.

Broken pipes are perhaps one of the most common problems that car owners face, especially with old cars on long routes. Here, a box of Pringles and duct tape can be your saving grace and serve as a temporary connection. Use the Pringles to connect the surviving pieces of the pipe to each other and join them with duct tape.

The cold season always brings with it substantial problems and increased maintenance requirements. Here, we mention some car hacks for winter that can save you a lot of time.

Fogged up windows can be very irritating, but they also aren’t something you’d want to visit the mechanic for. Using shaving cream can defog your windows and do so without streaking your mirror. Simply spread an even layer on the inside of the window and wipe it clean with a piece of cloth after a few minutes.

Iced-up windows can be tough to thaw out, especially first thing in the morning. If you don’t feel like scraping the ice off your windows, then you can create a vinegar solution with one part water and two parts vinegar. Spray it all over the windows and watch the magic happen.

However, you must keep it away from the car’s body as the solution can damage the paint.

Put on a pair of socks on each of your windshield wipers to prevent them from freezing overnight. It can save you the hassle of having to thaw them every morning to prevent them from sticking to the windscreen until the sun comes out.

Squirting a little bit of hand sanitizer on the lock can help clean the ice off it. The alcohol melts the ice almost instantly, which makes this hack very useful. You can also use cooking spray on the door and the locks to prevent them from freezing again.

While not all of these are repair hacks, they can help you save big on maintenance and repair work. Whether it’s the end of the month or a rough financial patch, or maybe you’re just in a sticky situation, with these hacks, you don’t have to worry about the added pressure of saving some extra cash for repairs.

These super simple car repair hacks can help you make it through during emergencies. But do keep in mind that these are temporary short-term solutions. You should take a trip to the mechanic to get belts and leakages repaired as soon as you can. Neglecting them for long can substantially damage your vehicle.