Oil change schedule, battery replacement, and learning to be a car technician

My Honda Civic has a computer that estimates remaining oil life. That usually indicates I have about 50% oil life left after the mileage indicated on the windshield sticker as when to get the next oil change. The sticker is placed there by the repair shop doing the oil change. Should I follow the instructions of the manufacturer/car computer or the repair shop/windshield sticker? - Tim

Your Honda, like many vehicles, utilizes a sophisticated algorithm based on engine operating conditions such as speed, engine temperature, ambient temperature, and run-time in order to predict oil life. This provides amuch more accurate estimate of oil condition than miles or time alone. I try to change my oil at perhaps 20% calculated life remaining, sometimes less. 50% is doing more to pump up the service provider’s bottom line than to protect your engine!

When your replacing your battery, can you hook up the battery charger leads to your positive and negative cables so you won’t have to re-install radio settings, etc? -Bruce B

I wouldn’t recommend this. It would likely work but without the battery being present to absorb the possibly erratic electrical noise emitted by some chargers, it’s possible damage or corruption could result to sensitive vehicle components or their software. A safer alternative would be a “memory saver”, a device that connects a small battery to the accessory/lighter socket, or better yet the data link connector (DLC, a sixteen terminal under-dash connector used with a scan tool for vehicle diagnosis). Many accessory/ lighter sockets aren’t active when the key is off. There are also cables that connect the DLC to another vehicle’s accessory socket, or perhaps one on a jumper pack. A consumer grade battery powered memory saver typically has wimpy capacity, so resist opening doors or operating anything that may wake up vehicle systems while it’s in use (wait 30 minutes after connecting it and departing the vehicle before removing battery terminals).

I have always loved cars and worked on them quite a bit, when I was younger and it was more out of need due to the crap cars I was driving, and financial pressure. Last thirty years I have done well enough to drive good or great cars depending onmy preference. I would like to take classes and learn to work on cars in a serious manner, however the auto schools around me are only prettymuch full-time and not much is offered in the evening. Thus quitting work at this stage or doing classes in the daytime is not an option. Is there a way for me to learn to work on cars in a part time manner, as cars have leaped forth by leaps and bounds since I have last worked on them. Any guidance or steer would be greatly appreciated in this endeavor. -Nimo

Take a look online at www.yourmechanic.com “10 best online certification programs”. Most listed would provide useful information regardless of one desiring to become certified. Another possibility is curling up with a good book such as Automotive Service; Inspection, Maintenance and Repair. By Tim Gilles. This is a widely used automotive textbook, and Tim does a great job with it, the fifth edition is the most recent. ASE certification booklets on the various systems (brakes, engines, transmissions, etc.) can also provide pretty current technology information.