Mechanics tool list

Column 1. Column 2. Wrenches to include: 7mm through 24mm combination, metric 10mm through 18mm line, metric 6. Standard screwdriver set 7. Phillips screwdriver set 8. Hammers 24 or 32oz. Hex socket set 1. Feeler gauge. Spark plug gap gauge. Plastic scraper Blow gun Penlights are lightweight and usually offer long battery life.

Funnels help mechanics top off fluids during vehicle maintenance. Funnels ensure that oil, transmission fluid, and windshield cleaner find their way to the proper reservoir. Some funnels may include a hose you can use to better reach small or obstructed openings. Auto mechanics' hammers include ball-pein, cross-pein, and straight-pein versions.

These tools can shape metal and aid in part removal and installation. Take care in how hard you strike your target. Most mechanics use hammers for precision work, not brute force. An essential for any roadside safety kit, jumper cables can connect one car battery to another, helping boost its power to start a motor. Look for cables that can handle six-volt, volt, and volt batteries.

Many vehicle systems rely on electronics. A multimeter, or volt-ohm meter, measures electrical voltage and amperage. This handheld tool helps diagnose issues with wiring systems, power supply, and circuits. Oil changes are one of the most common tasks for auto mechanics. An oil drain pan collects used oil from the engine. Keep in mind that you must follow local rules for disposing of used oil. Make sure the pan meets the capacity of the engine.

Engines may require as much as an eight-quart pan. Mechanics use different types of pliers for various tasks. Needle-nose pliers, duckbill jaw pliers, and wire strippers perform essential functions. A grease gun is a common piece of equipment in a garage or an auto repair shop used for lubrication. Its purpose is to apply lubricant via an aperture to a given point mainly on a nipple or grease fitting.

There are different types of grease guns. There are electric grease guns, air-powered grease guns, and hand-powered grease guns. The air-powered and electric grease guns are easier to use compared to the hand-powered ones.

One of the complex components of a vehicle is the automatic transmission. It has several moving parts under hydraulic and electronic control, and thus fluid is vital to its operation. Most automobiles depend on the Automatic Transmission Fluid for lubrication of the transmission and activating different clutches which assist in the changing of gears. This fluid needs to be changed from one time to another, and an ATF changer will help you in this. A strut compressor is useful when dealing with suspension systems or replacing the strut.

This equipment will make your auto repair shop more profitable by adding your service capabilities. Strut compressors are however dangerous to operate. Ensure that you are well conversant with it and handle it with care during the operation. Workbench vice, also known as bench vices attach directly to the workbench to hold a workpiece firmly during operations such as drilling, planning, and sawing.

It has two jaws where one jaw is fixed while the other is movable using a cam, lever, or screw. For general household tasks consider a bench vice of 4 to 5 inches.

This equipment will help you to offer services such as measuring wheel orientation by inspecting caster, camber, and toe and checking tire trends for signs of poor alignment. Most car manufacturers recommend checking the wheel alignment after every 10, miles.

A wheel balancer is used to balance the weight of a wheel and tire assembly so that a vehicle travels evenly at high speeds. Every time you mount a wheel for the first time in a vehicle, you have to balance it. As an auto mechanic, you need to ensure the weight of a vehicle is evenly distributed on each tire and wheel, and this is why you need a wheel balancer. Wheel balancing also ensures that the vehicle has a vibration-free and smooth ride. At times as an auto mechanic, you will deal with metals and a portable welding machine will make your work easier.

This machine helps you to maintain high quality and safe weld. A portable welding machine is easy to control and has high performance. It is portable, so it has to be lightweight and easy to move around with. It reduces gas and wire wastage since only the determined amounts are used to the weld bead. Some of the problems you will face as an auto mechanic are issues with fuel injectors.

Most of the time, the issues are brought about by dirt, and they need to be cleaned with injector cleaners. Injector cleaners work very well to address initial problems with fuel injectors at their early stages. Some issues, such as clogging can be solves by using injector cleaners regularly. Using these cleaners leads to a more powerful engine, better throttle response, shorter cranking time, and a smoother feel on how the car runs.

An engine analyzer is a multi-function and complex instrument which assists auto mechanics to diagnose any engine or engine-related problems. It also assists you in tuning in case of an overhaul. An engine analyzer is either used with diesel and gasoline-powered vehicles. A vacuum cleaner is a necessary piece of equipment when dealing with vehicles. This equipment is used for vacuuming car seats and carpets to remove dust, debris, dirt, and other particles.

There are corded and cordless vacuum cleaners to choose from. Corded vacuum cleaners have power cords that you can connect to either an AC or DC. You can draw much power with these cleaners for better cleaning efficiency. Cordless vacuum cleaners, however, do not have any cords or wires. They offer you greater versatility, flexibility, and coverage. A paint sprayer is a tool used to paint vehicles to give them a new look or restoring them to their old look after an accident. The best paint sprayers will make your car painting job as a mechanic, comfortable, quick, and efficient.

All of them have their own pros and cons, but most professionals prefer to use the airless or the HVLP paint sprayers. A polisher is also known as a buffing machine. There are two types of Car Polisher available in the market corded car polisher and another one is cordless. Now, the most Popular is Cordless Car Polisher. It is mainly used to polish soft metals such as brass and copper as well as plastics like Perspex.

In an auto repair shop, this equipment is necessary for polishing vehicles. It is recommendable to polish your car at least twice every year. Safety is an important aspect irrespective of whether you are working in your own auto garage or a classic car restoration shop.

Personal protective equipment will help you to stay safe from any type of injury in the workshop. Ensure that you have properly fitting clothing. They should not be extremely tight to restrict your movement neither should they be too loose for they can get caught when moving around.

Below are some of the personal protective equipment each auto mechanic should have:. Auto mechanics have a higher risk of eye injury since they deal with small auto parts and chemicals. Safety glasses prevent the mechanic from any kind of eye injury. Ensure that you have your safety glasses on grinding, welding, working with chemicals, or any other task that poses a risk for eye injury. The best safety glasses should surround your eye to prevent any form of liquids or debris from entering the eye.

There are two types of gloves a mechanic can use. There are disposable and non-disposable gloves. You can also use a lightweight pair of non-disposable gloves made of cloth, canvas, or leather. Ensure you buy some high-quality gloves which are resistant to chemicals.

The gloves should also be well-fitting. When carrying out auto repairs, a lot of abrasive clouds and fumes are released into the air. It is important to ensure that your face is well protected. Consider face receptors provide more protection and are much more comfortable compared to disposable masks.

These masks have replaceable filters so always ensure that you have an extra filter in place. If you invest in a high-quality creeper, you can usually expect it to last for years with few problems. Since your hands are too large to fit into tiny spaces, purchase a flexible magnet grabber. These marvelous inventions snake virtually anywhere.

Meanwhile, their magnetized ends quickly latch onto misplaced or dropped components. With just a bit of angling, you retrieve missing items and get back to work. If you have ever tried to remove a door panel or interior molding only to have clips break, you need a molding removal kit. Even though these kits are inexpensive, they serve an important purpose. Essentially, when you use a molding remover, you preserve the interior brackets and clips that hold the molding in place.

If you want to achieve professional-grade results, you simply must invest in a molding removal kit. With a brake bleeder and vacuum pump, you finish the job quickly and easily.

Even better, you can do it by yourself. As a bonus, the vacuum pump part of this tool can measure manifold vacuum. When you are working on a vehicle, stripped threads are not your friend. Unfortunately, overtightening is easy to do. If you invest in a torque wrench, you never have to worry about stripped threads again.

Torx wrenches do the same thing as a torque wrench. Purchase a top-quality set to be sure all the nuts and bolts on your projects have the right tightness. Just as a torque wrench helps you achieve the perfect level of tightness, a breaker bar helps you loosing stuck or corroded bolts. The breaker bar is essentially a long pipe that adds leverage to your wrench or ratchet.

While using a conventional pipe is an option, a breaker bar is specifically designed to encourage stuck components to budge. Instead, you need the right size of prybar from your prybar set. These tools have rubberized handles, giving you exceptional grip and control. They also have flat ends, allowing them to slide beneath components. While a larger wrecking bar may be right for heavy-duty leverage, you will likely appreciate having a set of smaller prybars in your shop.

Made from high-grade, solid steel, these bars give you force exactly where you need it. Even better, since wrecking bars are versatile tools, you can likely use your bar for construction, demolition or other DIY projects.

Working on broken vehicles requires knowing a considerable amount of information. For this, you have a couple of options. You could locate a printed manual for every type of vehicle you service.

Or, you could opt for an online or software-based alternative. Either way, if you want to be a serious mechanic, you must have access to insider information about vehicles. If you work on vehicles made after , you need an OBD2 scanner. With just a quick glance, you see which error codes the computer has triggered. Accordingly, you know where to focus your repair efforts. Note, though, that there are many different OBD2 scanners on the market today.

Not all scanners are worth your time, energy or money, though. Before you purchase one, be sure you are certain it does what you need it to do. While most of the tools on this list are hand tools, every mechanic needs a drill.

If you want to avoid tripping over wires, invest in a cordless version. To save your hand from countless hours of tightening and untightening, rely on your drill to get the job done faster and more comfortably. Just as you should have a box of new fuses, you should keep a few wire terminals on hand always. These are invaluable when you notice a wire terminal has corrosion or other damage. Try to purchase a variety of connectors, so you always have the perfect one to achieve professional-grade results with your automotive project.

When you need a good connection, you must attach new terminals to the ends of exposed wires. These terminals then connect to the appropriate output or source. When you attach terminals, you want a nice crimp to hold them in place. Wire crimpers are a set of pliers designed to give you a professional, crimped finish. While you are purchasing specialty pliers, pick up a pair of circlip pliers and hose clamp pliers. Circlip pliers are that tool. The ends of these pliers fit easily inside of circlips, quickly pulling them apart.

Meanwhile, hose clamps appear throughout the refrigeration system on most vehicles. Rather than trying to tighten hose clamps with a screwdriver, use hose clamp pliers to do the job the right way. When your ratchet is too large or too small to fit into a specific space, socket adapters save you countless hours of frustration. These tools attach to your ratchet to change its size.