Haynes has always been all about helping you, the home mechanic, to carry out your own repairs on your vehicles. That's the entire reason for Haynes' existence. So, here, we celebrate those who use their spare time and Haynes Manuals to repair and improve their pride and joy.
DIY champion: Wilmer Caraang, Collinsville, Queensland, Australia
Vehicle: 2000 Nissan Patrol
Queensland, Australia. Not what you’d tend to call a place for the faint-hearted. It’s rugged, and bits of it feel like they could rival the Moon for remoteness.
You need to be tough to survive there – and so does your car.
That’s why lots of people are happy that they’ve chosen a turn-of-the-millennium Nissan Patrol to get around. It’s big, it’s comfortable, and the mechanical bits are about as simple as a knife and fork. When fixing it, the phrase: “If at first you don’t succeed, get a bigger hammer” often applies.
One person who knows this is Queenslander Wilmer Caraang.
For a long time he’s owned a Nissan Patrol that was first registered in 2000, and until recently it had taken everything life in the wilds of Australia could throw at it. Until one day. A bad day.
Wilmer started his Patrol, and the noise he heard wasn’t the usual thrum. Oh no. There were clanks. And clonks. The motor would barely run, and the dashboard lit up like the bridge of the Starship Enterprise after a particularly bruising encounter with the Klingons.
There was only one thing for it – break out The Big Tools, read the Haynes Manual, and start to strip down the engine. That’s what Wilmer did, and the deeper he got the worse the news became. Off came the cylinder head, and of course this was cracked.
And below there was one piston that had a big crack in it. But it wasn’t alone. Two others were cracked, too. Ouch.
But Wilmer wasn’t fazed – he’s from Queensland, remember? Tough.
He also knew the Patrol was tough, so he invested money in new parts, and spent the next few evenings replacing the broken bits and rebuilding the motor.
Once the fluids were in, Wilmer started it up and the familiar thrum was back. The Patrol was ready to cover another six-figure mileage.
Wilmer says: “Thanks very much Haynes. The manual was vital in providing me with details of specs, and for giving me easy-to-follow procedures when dismantling and reassembling everything.”
Doing it himself provided Wilmer not only with a huge feeling of satisfaction, but it also filled him with relief, because a car can be a real lifeline in the wilds of Australia.
And that’s why we want to hear your stories of the frustration, anger, joy and unadulterated relief you experience while getting your car or motorcycle back on the road. We don’t just want to hear about the full-on strip-downs and rebuilds, we also want to hear from those of who get satisfaction out of simply servicing and maintaining your pride and joy, and how you’re using Haynes to help you out.
Just send us a few details about yourself and your vehicle to yourrepairs@haynes.co.uk
Tell us about any issues you’ve encountered or any problems you foresee, plus a few pictures, and we’ll feature you on our website and social channels.
After all, spending time fixing your car or motorcycle means you won’t spend so much of your hard-earned, on top of which a job well done feels great every time you start the vehicle thereafter. So, let’s spread the word that DIY is AOK.
