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With so many of us trying to cut costs these days and living more environmentally-minded where possible, it’s common for those with cars to be conscious of how much gas they go through each month.
While we can reduce expenses and miles by taking better routes, avoiding traffic congestion, and walking or taking public transport rather than driving at times, it’s also helpful to know some ways to lower fuel consumption in our cars in other ways. If you are looking for discount vouchers for Euro Car Parts, go to Latest Deals.
Look After Cars Well
One of the best things you can do to reduce the amount of gas you have to fill your car up with each year is to look after the vehicle well. By keeping your car well maintained, you can spot minor issues before they become big ones and reduce the likelihood that one significant problem causes you to not only go through fuel like crazy but also have to pay a lot for a mechanic to attend to your vehicle.
It pays to buy some car care tools so you can fix or maintain various components of your vehicle yourself. For instance, noticing and fixing or replacing a faulty oxygen sensor can significantly improve your mileage. This part measures air flow entering the engine, which affects fuel efficiency in a few ways. For example, if the airflow sensor becomes dirty, it can send inaccurate information and make fuel economy suffer.
Another idea is to upgrade the motor oil you use when you change the oil in your car throughout the year. Look for energy-conserving motor oil or use motor oil that’s at a higher level than usual. For instance, for an engine designed to use 5W-30, you could use 10W-30 motor oil.
It pays to replace your car’s battery sooner than you might otherwise, too, since heavily discharged batteries place more load on car engines as the alternator remains engaged to recharge the battery. This eats up fuel but can be mitigated by not waiting until your battery completely dies. Look for signs it’s on the way out, such as trouble starting the car, engine lurches, or noticing your vehicle isn’t running as smoothly as usual.
Furthermore, spark plugs, which ignite the air/fuel mixture in a car engine’s combustion chamber, wear out as they age and provide less performance. Replacing them will help your vehicle’s engine to run cleaner and more efficiently. The same goes for the maintenance tasks mentioned below.
Replace Air Filters As Necessary
One of the key jobs you should ensure gets done in a timely fashion to keep your car in good working order and consuming less gas is to replace dirty air filters. Car engines work harder than needed to maintain the same speed when these filters are dirty since the clogged-up materials restrict the level of air that enters the engine.
The regularity with which these filters need changing depends on the car type, age, how much you use it, and in what conditions. However, you can check the manufacturer booklet that came with your car to get an indication of how often the filters generally need changing, or speak with your local mechanic for advice.
Keep An Eye On Tire Pressure And Wheel Alignment
Another vital maintenance job to help with fuel consumption is keeping a close eye on tire pressure. It’s best to see if your tires are inflated enough every month or two to keep you safe and your vehicle smooth on the roads, but fuel efficiency gets a bump when you do this, too. If your tires are under-inflated, the rolling resistance along the roads increases, and you’ll burn through more fuel.
You can learn the optimum air pressure level for tires on your car by checking the owner’s manual for specifics or searching for the tire pressure sticker inside many vehicles, usually on the driver’s side. Remember, too, that it’s best not to rely heavily on the in-built tire pressure sensors that your modern car might have. While these are handy, they don’t generally issue a warning until the inflation level becomes very low.
Also, checking the wheel alignment on your car is wise. Always get the wheels aligned when you get your vehicle serviced by a professional, have new tires fitted, or just generally notice that the car isn’t driving in a straight line so easily anymore. If the alignment is off in some way, there’s resistance of the tires as they’re not correctly lined up with the steering wheel, and more gas is needed to keep the car running.
You can also see improvements in how much fuel your vehicle goes through if you spend less time idling, which eats up gas, and drive steadily rather than hitting the brakes or accelerator hard and often, which wastes fuel.
Taking all these steps can significantly affect how much you have to spend on fuel for your vehicle each year. Make some changes as you can, and you’ll soon start to see results.
