The DIY Thread

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BlueSteel

Honored Member
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I imagine a lot of us are avid DIYers at home, and I was thinking that perhaps a thread dedicated to DIY projects/advice might be appreciated here. I'm envisioning a thread where we can share past, current or upcoming DIY projects and give/receive advice, or just inspire some ideas for those who regularly partake in the sweet satisfaction of completing a DIY project.

I'll start.

DIY SERPENTINE BELT REPLACEMENT?
I was at the mechanic yesterday getting my car's oil changed and A/C system recharged, and they brought to my attention that the serpentine belt was basically hanging on by a thread. Upon being quoted $288 to replace it, I decided to Google it, and I learned that it's actually a pretty easy task I could do myself. I found the right part for my car (Toyota Highlander) and ordered it for $48 from Advance Auto Parts, arriving this week. Saving myself 240 bucks feels pretty good.

Anyone else with experience changing out their serpentine belt? Any tips or anything I need to watch out for? Am I nuts for not letting the mechanic do it?

Thanks in advance!
 
BlueSteel said:
I imagine a lot of us are avid DIYers at home, and I was thinking that perhaps a thread dedicated to DIY projects/advice might be appreciated here. I'm envisioning a thread where we can share past, current or upcoming DIY projects and give/receive advice, or just inspire some ideas for those who regularly partake in the sweet satisfaction of completing a DIY project.

I'll start.

DIY SERPENTINE BELT REPLACEMENT?
I was at the mechanic yesterday getting my car's oil changed and A/C system recharged, and they brought to my attention that the serpentine belt was basically hanging on by a thread. Upon being quoted $288 to replace it, I decided to Google it, and I learned that it's actually a pretty easy task I could do myself. I found the right part for my car (Toyota Highlander) and ordered it for $48 from Advance Auto Parts, arriving this week. Saving myself 240 bucks feels pretty good.

Anyone else with experience changing out their serpentine belt? Any tips or anything I need to watch out for? Am I nuts for not letting the mechanic do it?

Thanks in advance!
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I assume your vehicle has a tensioner. I changed the belt myself because I was the only one at home, but it definitely helps to have someone available to hold the tensioner when taking the belt off and putting new one on.

Other than that, it's generally a really easy job.
 
I do as little of that stuff as possible. I hate mechanics and plumbing and spent the best part of 40 years doing about everything else involved in the trades. So, I can be a resource to tell you how we used to do it in the old days. We all know I'm not ashamed enough about my opinion on anything to keep from sharing it.

In all seriousness, there's new stuff and techniques from the last ten or so years I don't know about.
 
I'm interested in building an indoor golf simulator. I look at prices online and they run the gamut from like two grand to 60 Grand. Anyone done it?
 
BlueSteel said:
I imagine a lot of us are avid DIYers at home, and I was thinking that perhaps a thread dedicated to DIY projects/advice might be appreciated here. I'm envisioning a thread where we can share past, current or upcoming DIY projects and give/receive advice, or just inspire some ideas for those who regularly partake in the sweet satisfaction of completing a DIY project.

I'll start.

DIY SERPENTINE BELT REPLACEMENT?
I was at the mechanic yesterday getting my car's oil changed and A/C system recharged, and they brought to my attention that the serpentine belt was basically hanging on by a thread. Upon being quoted $288 to replace it, I decided to Google it, and I learned that it's actually a pretty easy task I could do myself. I found the right part for my car (Toyota Highlander) and ordered it for $48 from Advance Auto Parts, arriving this week. Saving myself 240 bucks feels pretty good.

Anyone else with experience changing out their serpentine belt? Any tips or anything I need to watch out for? Am I nuts for not letting the mechanic do it?

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
I've changed the serpentine belt on multiple cars. My advice is to make sure you have the tools and the space in the engine compartment to work.

While most are achievable, some, it's better to pay someone.

One other piece of advice. TAKE PICTURES before you start. Take an over all picture and pictures of each pulley. Keep them in the same orientation so that you have a reference when you put the new belt on.
 
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BlueSteel said:
I imagine a lot of us are avid DIYers at home, and I was thinking that perhaps a thread dedicated to DIY projects/advice might be appreciated here. I'm envisioning a thread where we can share past, current or upcoming DIY projects and give/receive advice, or just inspire some ideas for those who regularly partake in the sweet satisfaction of completing a DIY project.

I'll start.

DIY SERPENTINE BELT REPLACEMENT?
I was at the mechanic yesterday getting my car's oil changed and A/C system recharged, and they brought to my attention that the serpentine belt was basically hanging on by a thread. Upon being quoted $288 to replace it, I decided to Google it, and I learned that it's actually a pretty easy task I could do myself. I found the right part for my car (Toyota Highlander) and ordered it for $48 from Advance Auto Parts, arriving this week. Saving myself 240 bucks feels pretty good.

Anyone else with experience changing out their serpentine belt? Any tips or anything I need to watch out for? Am I nuts for not letting the mechanic do it?

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

Just curious. What model is your highlander?
 
As a byproduct of being poor when I was younger, I've done hundreds of DIY projects. I've completed most every repair possible on a car, and most everything involved in building a house. I suck at drywall and I've realized that my time is worth money and some projects are better left to the professionals.
 
UNCatTech said:
As a byproduct of being poor when I was younger, I've done hundreds of DIY projects. I've completed most every repair possible on a car, and most everything involved in building a house. I suck at drywall and I've realized that my time is worth money and some projects are better left to the professionals.
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That's how I was about cars. I could take a side job and pay for the work in the time it would take me to do it myself, get a lot more satisfaction out of what I was doing and offend the English language and any sensitive ears considerably less.
 
I like outside projects that are more labor intensive versus things that require skill. Happy to pay someone for paint, drywall, automotive, etc.

But I did have this sloped natural area where pine needles kept sliding down onto my driveway. It was a pain to keep it looking nice and hard to keep plants alive there. So I dug out some flat spots, put down gravel for drainage and built two small dry stacked (no mortar) stone walls for a terraced effect.

IMG_1373.jpeg

Pretty pleased with the result.It’s now a bit more landscaped and I’m in the process of putting in a lot more native plants. Most fun I’ve had in years, honestly.
 
nrsair said:
I like outside projects that are more labor intensive versus things that require skill. Happy to pay someone for paint, drywall, automotive, etc.

But I did have this sloped natural area where pine needles kept sliding down onto my driveway. It was a pain to keep it looking nice and hard to keep plants alive there. So I dug out some flat spots, put down gravel for drainage and built two small dry stacked (no mortar) stone walls for a terraced effect.

IMG_1373.jpeg

Pretty pleased with the result.It’s now a bit more landscaped and I’m in the process of putting in a lot more native plants. Most fun I’ve had in years, honestly.
Click to expand...
I'm not doing any intensive landscaping but I've spent the last three years clearing and planting about a third of an acre with native plants and turning it into a pollinator garden. The first year was almost all clearing, last year was a third and this year is mostly planting and routine weeding. Most of the flowers will be fully mature next year and the shrubs and trees a year or two behind. It's been good for me. I've enjoyed the planting and I'm probably in the best shape I've been in in almost ten years.
 
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nrsair said:
I like outside projects that are more labor intensive versus things that require skill. Happy to pay someone for paint, drywall, automotive, etc.

But I did have this sloped natural area where pine needles kept sliding down onto my driveway. It was a pain to keep it looking nice and hard to keep plants alive there. So I dug out some flat spots, put down gravel for drainage and built two small dry stacked (no mortar) stone walls for a terraced effect.

IMG_1373.jpeg

Pretty pleased with the result.It’s now a bit more landscaped and I’m in the process of putting in a lot more native plants. Most fun I’ve had in years, honestly.
Click to expand...
Very nice, my next project is to fix the area around the drain in my yard.
 
nrsair said:
I like outside projects that are more labor intensive versus things that require skill. Happy to pay someone for paint, drywall, automotive, etc.

But I did have this sloped natural area where pine needles kept sliding down onto my driveway. It was a pain to keep it looking nice and hard to keep plants alive there. So I dug out some flat spots, put down gravel for drainage and built two small dry stacked (no mortar) stone walls for a terraced effect.

IMG_1373.jpeg

Pretty pleased with the result.It’s now a bit more landscaped and I’m in the process of putting in a lot more native plants. Most fun I’ve had in years, honestly.
Click to expand...
Nice work, and I’m with you. I can do some basic indoor DIY projects like replacing a kitchen faucet, but much prefer the lower consequence outdoor/landscaping stuff.

We had some mold in the shower a few months ago that needed some demoing and re caulking to fix. Probably not the most difficult thing in the world for someone handy, but for something like that I’d rather just pay someone that actually knows what they’re doing to make sure it’s fixed correctly vs. trying to do it myself.
 
I'm going thru a divorce (wife is staying in the house) not totally moved out yet, but I inform my wife that a red-light on the wall's garage door-opener indicates that batteries need to be replaced soon. And I tell her the bulb on the garage door opener itself is starting to flicker, probably needs to be replaced.

She asked "who would i call for help with that?"

Believe In Yourself Good Luck GIF by Bells and Wishes

(actually it made me saddened on multiple levels. Did she never know how to change a bulb or a battery or did she forget?)
 
My upcoming DIY project is addressing some gouges the renter's dog gifted my doorframes and old floors.
I may do some sanding with an ancient orbital sander and staining to address the floor, or might just splash some stain on there and call it good-enough, but I'm paying someone to replace the trim (there's trim to be replaced in two other spots too).

I need it to look good enough that the new tenant isn't abhorred, cuz I think a mat might've been covering the dug-up area when i was showing it to him. I'm not interested in paying to have some boards replaced. But I also don't want to sand multiple feet of space to try to blend things...

#petFeeFail

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1000004277.jpg
 
ZenMode said:
I assume your vehicle has a tensioner. I changed the belt myself because I was the only one at home, but it definitely helps to have someone available to hold the tensioner when taking the belt off and putting new one on.

Other than that, it's generally a really easy job.
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Either that or a pry bar. Just be careful that you dont break whatever you are using as a fulcrum.
 
gregh1 said:
My upcoming DIY project is addressing some gouges the renter's dog gifted my doorframes and old floors.
I may do some sanding with an ancient orbital sander and staining to address the floor, or might just splash some stain on there and call it good-enough, but I'm paying someone to replace the trim (there's trim to be replaced in two other spots too).

I need it to look good enough that the new tenant isn't abhorred, cuz I think a mat might've been covering the dug-up area when i was showing it to him. I'm not interested in paying to have some boards replaced. But I also don't want to sand multiple feet of space to try to blend things...

#petFeeFail

1000004276.jpg
1000004277.jpg
Click to expand...
Seems like you would have to sand pretty deep. Depending on how important esthetics are... I wonder if stainable wood filler would be tough enough. I think some are pretty hard. Wood repair bondo would be real hard, and google says it can be stained. I use it a lot if I am gonna paint it.
 
gregh1 said:
My upcoming DIY project is addressing some gouges the renter's dog gifted my doorframes and old floors.
I may do some sanding with an ancient orbital sander and staining to address the floor, or might just splash some stain on there and call it good-enough, but I'm paying someone to replace the trim (there's trim to be replaced in two other spots too).

I need it to look good enough that the new tenant isn't abhorred, cuz I think a mat might've been covering the dug-up area when i was showing it to him. I'm not interested in paying to have some boards replaced. But I also don't want to sand multiple feet of space to try to blend things...

#petFeeFail

1000004276.jpg
1000004277.jpg
Click to expand...
That's a what's your future with this house thing? How deep is that gouge at the junction of the first two full boards. That looks the worst. It looks like those floors aren't too many years from a refinishing. I think I'd try to lightly sand and clean to see if you can get some of the wood tone back where it's not gouged, fill it with a decent wood filler, (Minwax used to make a good one but there could well be better now,) and stain it. It looks from the picture like a golden oak stain if you don't have any left over. That should kick the can down the road until the whole floor need to be addressed.
 
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