Tune Ups / Gas Saver

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When it comes to keeping up on your vehicles maintenance you should cause it can save you at the pump!!!

Staying tuned up

Cars don’t really need “tune-ups” in the traditional mechanical sense any more. But if your “check engine” light is on, it could indicate a serious problem—say, a faulty oxygen sensor or worn spark plugs and wires—that, when fixed, could garner fuel-economy gains upwards of 25 percent, according to the EPA and Department of Energy’s. Be sure to follow your recommended service schedule to keep your car running optimally.

Now, if you’re the change your own oil type, the EPA says to be sure you use the right stuff. For example, using 10W-30 motor oil in an engine designed to use 5W-30 should lower your gas mileage by one to two percent.

Properly Inflated Tires

The Department of Energy estimates that 5 to 15 percent of light-duty fuel consumption is spent overcoming rolling resistance, i.e., the friction between the road and a car’s tires. Lowering your vehicle’s rolling resistance starts with simply ensuring that your tires have enough air pressure. Under inflated tires can lower gas mileage by 0.4 percent for every 1-psi drop in pressure of all four tires.

A typical tire loses 1 psi per month and another with every 10-degree drop in temperature, so if you haven’t checked your tires in a few months, it’s time. Of course, pumping a few extra pounds of air pressure into the tires is one of the oldest fuel-economy tricks around, but going overboard will cost you some ride comfort and lateral grip, and if taken to the extreme could result in highly dangerous blowouts.

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This entry was posted on 11. October 2008 at 04:39 and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.