Good Maintenance Equals Good Mileage By Ken Flegel At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

Did you know that taking good care of your vehicle can be the single most important factor in maintaining your vehicles gas mileage? It’s absolutely true and completely understandable when you think about it. Most people don’t realize it but those simple little things that go wrong with your vehicle that seem unimportant and not worth repairing could be costing you more in fuel than it would just to get them fixed. Here are some tips on good maintenance that will help you to keep your car at the top of its fuel efficiency, performance, and reliability. These helpful hints should also help keep your vehicle more road worthy and safer to drive. Which is something we should all be thinking about every time we get behind the wheel.

When the check engine light comes on don’t ignore it.

One of the reasons it may be on is that you’ve got a bad O2 sensor and believe it or not this little device can have a massive effect on your gas mileage. You could possibly be losing as much as 40% on your fuel consumption from something as simple as a bad O2 sensor.
Check and replace the fuel filter on a regular basis.

As the fuel filter becomes clogged it decreases the flow of gas to the engine, therefore causing you to step harder on the gas and this in turn will result in the engine using more fuel in order to compensate.

Keep up with regular oil changes

When oil gets dirty it thickens the thicker it becomes the harder your engine has to work and the harder it works the more fuel you burn.

Do routine maintenance checks and tune ups.

Make sure that spark plugs, plug wires, cap, points, and rotor are all clean, not cracked or worn, and set correctly. Make sure you clean and gap your spark plugs properly. Dirty spark plugs can misfire. Check the timing on your engine. Also check that the transmission fluid is clean and filled to the proper level. All of these things can greatly affect you mpg.

Check to make sure your thermostat is operating properly.

If your thermostat is not working the way it should your engine will be running cold and a cold engine uses more fuel.

Make sure your speedometer is calibrated correctly.

If your speedometer is inaccurate you really have no way of knowing what your true fuel economy is for your vehicle.

Burnt fuel leaves behind all kinds of residues.

These residues or gunk will build up in your valves and combustion chambers, which again causes
the engine to work harder using more fuel. Using an additive in your oil can clean your system from these residues and stop them from coming back. There are also some good fuel additives you can use to eliminate the gunk from your engine, improve the performance of your engine, reduce your harmful emissions, and best of all save you money on fuel.

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