Preventative Maintenance

How To Fight High Fuel Prices?

Today's cars are pretty simple right?. fill them up with fuel, change the oil and filter and that´s it! After all, modern cars have become almost maintenance-free because consumers don't want to spend time keeping their car in working order.

But along with this trend of low-maintenance appliance-like cars, owners have more and more begun to overlook the little things that make a car run efficiently. And when your car isn´t regularly maintained — like keeping your tyres inflated or having your belts checked on a regular basis — your car is wasting small, but significant amounts of fuel every journey.

Fortunately, for those looking to reduce their fuel costs, optimising your cars performance can be both quick and cheap.

1. Get Your Engine Tuned

An improperly tuned engine hurts fuel consumption by an average of 4.1 percent. Most important to mileage is a properly working oxygen sensor, which can increase or decrease your efficiency by as much as 40 percent. If you're procrastinating about having your oxygen sensor fixed, just imagine the money you'll save on fuel with a boost in fuel economy.

2. Keep Tyres Properly Inflated

get your tyre pressures checked regularly Underinflated tyres damage your mileage by increasing resistance and making it more difficult for the engine to move the car along the road. Simply have them checked regularly at your local garage.. Check your owner's manual or tyre manufacturer's Web site for the recomended "pounds per square inch" or PSI ratings. On avarage for every 1 PSI you are under the recomended pressure, you can lose 0.4 percent of your miles per gallon. It estimates the average person can improve mileage by 3.3 percent by inflating their tyres regularly. Also If wheels are just a few mm's out of alignment, another factor that affects rolling resistance, this can increase fuel consumption by yet another 2%. Note: this condition, as well as underinflation, accelerates tyre, steering and suspension wear, thereby adding to the cost of neglect

3. Check Your Air Filter and Replace Every 12,000 Miles, or 6,000 Miles in dusty environment.

Most drivers think that cars run on just petrol. Actually, cars run on petrol and oxygen, hence the performance increase when a turbocharger blows more air in the intake manifold. If this flow is restricted by a clogged air filter, your performance and your fuel economy suffer. It has been estimated that you could save as much as 3 centimos per litre by replacing a bad air filter.

4.Get your cooling system checked out.

A cooling system thermostat stuck in the open position, causing the engine to run too cool, can reduce engine efficiency by another 7%, again hitting you in the pocket.

5. Don't Carry Rubbish in Your Boot.

This requires no mechanical training at all. Simply get all those newspapers, cans and other baggage out of your car and boot. Reducing the weight of the car increases mileage over the course of a tank of petrol. This costs you nothing to fix and maybe you'll find some missing treasures hiding in there.

This all adds up to a massive loss. While this hypothesis is intended to emphasise preventive maintenance in terms of energy conservation, it also bears on safety and reduced exhaust emissions.

Going back to hard-to-break habits, for every five miles per hour you press the accelorator passed 55 mph, you'll lose about one mile per gallon. A heavy foot when the light turns green also guzzles gas!

Top 5 items that signficantly improve fuel economy.

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