I have been working on a 2000 Dodge Stratus SE for a number of months now and not much progress to show. It's my first car and my father is a senior engineer at Nissan, he told me that the job wouldn't be too complicated and he has done this before. So I decided to take his advice and so far it seems fairly beneficial to understand the inner workings of my car so I can fix them again if I have a problem again down the road.

That's the good part, not taking account for the fact of relying on someone else and having that someone else say "tomorrow" on a daily basis. So, down the road I decided to just take it all into my own hands--Check the online instructions, user-to-user help, and so fourth. It's all looking much too complex ... From what I understand, I need to replace the oil pan which I already have the replacement parts and tools. I also need to adjust something with the horn as I noticed it was de-attached, from what I remember my father said the horn was most likely stuck on "down" or something of the sort.

I'm curious how everyone else would go about all this? Would you re-attach everything and take it to a mechanic, and if not where would you go for help? This is all just too much for me at the moment and I appreciate any advice.

Thanks,
- Joe

 

If you feel overwhelmed, it would be best to have a professional fix the car. If you screw up, then you have a pile of junk which is completely useless. I'm a firm believer in paying people for their talents, skills and equipement. I have great talent in several things, however if say I needed a Colonoscopy, I'd have a doctor do it even though I have access to a bore scope.

 

ha ha Dodge22 but well said.