Having a job is expensive. If you spend all your time working for 

someone else, you don't have any time to learn to do things yourself.

-- Charley Groden in the 2003 film, "Off the Map" 

In 1991 I purchased a new Honda Civic LX. For years I left repairs like timing belt replacements and diagnoses of no-start conditions to the dealer and other shops. Sometimes I doubted the quality of the work. In the summer of 1999 I learned from the net that the cause of some no-start problems my Civic was having was its main relay. An independent shop said it was too busy to take my Civic. Still a kind technician there came out to the parking lot with a flashlight. The technician pointed out the main relay's tricky location. I googled and found a certain well-known online Honda parts site. I bought a new main relay and installed it. The no-start problem went away. 

I began performing increasingly more difficult maintenance and repairs. My tool inventory expanded. At times I have fabricated tools that are customized to my vehicle's needs. 

I owned two other Honda Civics: A 1993 Civic DX (bought used with 185k miles on it), and a 2003 Civic LX (bought used with 86k miles on it). I discovered that the 1993 Civil DX had a swapped, Japanese Domestic Market (JDM) engine in it. 

In August 2018 I bought my current ride, a 1998 Toyota Rav4. The Rav4 has front wheel drive and a manual transmission. When I bought the Rav4 its body had 270,000 miles on it. Receipts left in the Rav4's glove compartment show that a previous owner had installed a JDM engine in 2013. The former owner said the JDM engine had only about 35,000 miles on it. 

I am a retired mechanical engineer. I worked in power plant design and operations. I like mechanical projects involving strength of materials calculations. I like troubleshooting electrical problems. I rely heavily on OEM service manuals, rav4world.com, toyotanation.com, youtube videos, and Haynes and Chilton manuals. As a senior citizen I often break up my vehicle's projects over several days. 

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