Über die Autorinnen und Autoren

Julie Sussman and Stephanie Glakas-Tenet, authors of the national bestseller Dare to Repair and Dare to Repair Your Car, have been featured on the New York Times, Washington Post, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon bestseller lists. They have appeared on Good Morning America, Today, The Early Show, and FOX & Friends, and have hosted their own PBS special. As spokeswomen for the Lowe's and Habitat for Humanity Women Build program partnership, the authors have committed themselves to helping address the crisis of substandard housing by engaging women in the construction and maintenance of Habitat homes. In addition, they have partnered with the U.S. military and Lowe's to provide Dare to Repair clinics, teaching home repair and car care to military spouses managing the home front.

Julie Sussman and Stephanie Glakas-Tenet, authors of the national bestseller Dare to Repair and Dare to Repair Your Car, have been featured on the New York Times, Washington Post, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon bestseller lists. They have appeared on Good Morning America, Today, The Early Show, and FOX & Friends, and have hosted their own PBS special. As spokeswomen for the Lowe's and Habitat for Humanity Women Build program partnership, the authors have committed themselves to helping address the crisis of substandard housing by engaging women in the construction and maintenance of Habitat homes. In addition, they have partnered with the U.S. military and Lowe's to provide Dare to Repair clinics, teaching home repair and car care to military spouses managing the home front.

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Dare To Repair Your Car

HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Chapter One

Hood and Trunk

Popping Open and Closing the Hood and Trunk

You can open a jar of pickles with one twist, a container of crescent rolls with one bang, and plastic packaging with one pull, but you're all thumbs when it comes to opening the car hood. Not anymore.

We can't possibly begin this book without the first basic step -- learning how to open the hood and trunk. It may sound (and is) easy, but there are a few things to keep in mind before exploring the great beyond.

Note: If you're opening the hood after the engine has been running, be careful because the engine and other parts will be very hot.

Exterior Latch

Older cars typically have just one release mechanism for the hood, located on the exterior of the car. The mechanism may not be visible, so stick your fingers under the edge of the hood, in the middle of the front of the car, and feel for the latch. Move the latch and lift open the hood.

Some cars also have a thin metal prop bar that lays flat on the front of the engine. It acts as a kickstand so after you've lifted the hood, you just prop up the metal bar and let it rest in its designated spot on the interior of the hood.

Interior and Exterior Latches

Note: Some interior hood latches look and feel like the parking brake release mechanism.

Most car manufacturers install two release mechanisms -- one interior and one exterior -- to ad as a theft deterrent, and more important, to prevent the hood from opening while driving.

If your car has two release mechanisms for the hood, you have to release the interior one first, and then the exterior. The interior release mechanism is located on the driver's side, below the steering wheel and to the left of the pedals (typically, there's an illustration of an open hood on it). Pull up on the latch to release. This will only open the hood enough for you to find the exterior release.

The exterior mechanism may not be visible, so stick your fingers under the edge of the hood, in the middle of the front of the car, and feel for the latch. Move the latch and lift open the hood.

There's no need to slam down the hood of the car. Instead, just guide the hood down a few inches above the front of the grille and let it drop. The metal used on newer cars is much thinner than the metal found on its older counterparts; therefore, when you close the hood, be careful not to use the palms of your hands to force it down because you could leave permanent indentations. If your hood uses a metal prop bar for support, be extra cautious once the bar is removed because the hood will come down fast.

A trunk typically has one release mechanism, which can be opened with a key, a remote entry, or an interior latch. Follow the same guide -- lines for closing the hood as for closing the trunk so that you don't dent the metal.

Excerpted from Dare To Repair Your Carby Julie Sussman Copyright © 2005 by Julie Sussman. Excerpted by permission.
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