While working on your car it is important that you take safety precautions. You don’t want to have an accident during that process. Make sure you always wear eye protection, especially when you are working with the battery or anything that many be pressurized. This can include your fuel line or the radiator.
A good pair of gloves can help protect your hands. You don’t want your bare hands to touch toxins. They can include used oil or acid from your battery and even antifreeze. If you are going to have your car up on a jack stand or ramps, you need to make sure they are able to hold the capacity of the weight of your vehicle. If you jack the vehicle to get underneath it, you always want jack stands too. Make sure the emergency brake is set and the car is in park. This will reduce the risk of the vehicle rolling over you.
When you are going to be working underneath a vehicle, always remove the keys from the ignition. As a safety precaution, place a piece of tape over the ignition. That will be a red flag to anyone who may get into that vehicle and try to start it up without realizing that you are working on it.
If you will be around anything flammable such as fuel lines or you are using solvents which are flammable including penetrating oils never smoke around them or have them present with any open flame. You want to have proper ventilation in the area where you work as well. It is a good idea to have a fire extinguisher handy.
Use tools that are designed for the specific type of job you are doing. If you use them in other ways it could cause damages to your vehicle or to your body. Make sure any products that you add to your engine are properly labeled so that you don’t accidentally put in the wrong item. Don’t leave used fluids out in the open where children or pets could get into them. Store them in a secured container and dispose of them at a sight in your area as soon as you can. Used oil and antifreeze can be very toxic but they have a sweet taste so you don’t want to leave them where anyone would be tempted to get into them.
Be careful where you place your hands in the engine of a vehicle. This is especially true if the vehicle is running while you are looking around it. The engine can be very hot after the vehicle has been on so don’t reach in there until it has completely cooled.
Whenever possible try to work on your vehicle in a well lit location. Try to get it to your driveway or your garage. If you have to work on a vehicle on the side of the road you want to have the hazard lights on. You also want to have reflective triangles that you can display so that other people know your vehicle is there and they can drive by at a slower speed or change lanes.
With the right safety in place, you can take care of wide range of vehicle maintenance and repairs on your own. However, you can’t be oblivious to the fact that accidents can occur. If you don’t know the right way to do something then you need to learn before you attempt to do it. Try to have someone helping you when you work on a car just in case there is any type of accident. At the very least, someone should be aware of where you are at and what you are doing.