GoodMileage.com

My Son got into his car one day, backed out of the driveway , and went ,about, two blocks before he realized that one of the car’s tires was flat. Sounds dumb. But how many of you walk around your vehicle and visually check before getting in and driving anywhere?

How often do you all check the engine oil, water, washer fluid, the drive belts, is anything leaking?
When is your next oil change due? Still have windshield wipers? What about the battery? Are the posts corroded ? Does your car start easy in cold weather?

How many notice a tire that might be a little low and exclaim ‘ I’ll fix that later’ and move onto other things. How long before we ever remember about that tire?

Yes, the first day of Winter arrives every year. Very cold weather spreads all the way down to the South East United States, and that air comes down from Canada. And cold weather has an effect on how our vehicles run.

Yes, and guess what,  The first day of Summer is just around the corner. Your car will run different in those hot months as well.

It is very important to check our cars and trucks and buses and… more often in cold weather.
All of these factors have some baring on the fuel economy of our vehicles. Fuel manufacturers are regulated to provide different fuel mixtures according seasons of the year. A cold weather mixture is more expensive to produce because of the change over and retooling that has to occur due to cold weather months. Yeah, I know, I can hear you all yelling out,

‘Those dang#@%%^$&*oil companies anyway’, I am not here to make any political statements, but to try and aid you to the awareness that you do not have to get lousy fuel mileage.
Old or new, take care of your car. The amount of time spent just checking stuff out on your vehicle will be a lot less than if your low tire decides to blow out at high speed, The drive belt snaps and leaves you stuck on the side of some highway with no heat. Or how many different things do you think could happen.
Some of you work on your own vehicles, change the oil and filters and light maintenance and others are lucky enough to have found a good honest mechanic. There are a lot of mechanics out there and I’d say, the majority are ok.
Not doing regular maintenance can lead to your vehicle performing a lot less than it should. This will effect the fuel economy and, guess what? cost you a lot more money. Today gasoline prices are fluctuating and get expensive. How much does it cost to fill your car? How hard do you work for the money you have? And, If you let the car go to hell, so to speak, this is going to cost plenty more than if one had just taken care to see that everything with the car was good. See something broken, fix it, even if it is a small thing. Broken small things can lead to broken big things.

Some things that will help with better mileage are change the oil at regular intervals, that includes the filter. Generally the newer oils can be changed at 5000 miles. Keep the tires on your vehicle inflated to there proper weight. The vehicle will roll easier and balanced. Make sure your tires are all wearing evenly.
Some have used nitrogen to fill their tires, because nitrogen pressure does not fluctuate due to weather changes and there is a noted increase in fuel economy. Nitrogen can be had at many tire stores and the cost is about $10.00 a tire. It does pay for itself over time. Having tires at the same pressure all the time saves on tire wear. Saves on some engine wear, because the easier the wheels roll the less the motor has to work. You might think that ratio is small, but over time with the carbon deposits etc from a sluggish running car will shorten the life of an engine a lot. Keep the motor clean,inside and out. cleaning the outside can show you where any leak might be or if there are any coolant, oil or other fluids leaking.
In some cases, one can see if there is anything bent cracked or broken much easier.

The motor was designed to be lubricated. The inside is not, all together , smooth. There are hone marks through out the motor that are design to hold oil for proper lubrication. With the low octane fuels we are forced to use from the pump, now you can yell and scream, the fuels are not wholly consumed and carbon deposits are formed inside on the motor hone surfaces and actually prevent lubrication. Low octane prevents the engine from performing at full power and what ever is not left on the inside walls, is burned by the catalytic converter . Bottom line then?
I’ll have you know ,the guys that build the cars know this. OK So let’s increase the octane and get a burn that is so close to complete that the inside of the motor gets cleaned out and lubricated once again.
If that happens, bet the engine oil is not very dark after 5000 miles. How would you like to change the oil in your car one time a year.? How about just changing the filter every 5000 miles? Do you know that as well as getting your cars motor more power, the fuel mileage will increase. How much time and money can be saved. Find out how
>What about your driving habits? Hey, I don’t want to get personal. Drive at a constant speed uses less fuel than slowing down and speeding up all the time. What about rush hour traffic? Some stuff will be just part of living in crowed places. In any heavy traffic situation it is not advisable to use the cruse control.
But just try to do the best you can to flow with the traffic. Cruse control is great on the open highway as long as you are not prone to fall asleep at the wheel. You should get the idea. Just be responsible. One can actually see the difference.