gas mileage

3 Steps To Easily Improve Your Gas Mileage

The most popular car question on peoples minds lately is ‘what can I do to my car to improve gas mileage”. Since fuel prices have skyrocketed, and come back down, and soon may skyrocket again with no clear ceiling in sight, drivers are looking for ways to improve their fuel economy until they can afford to replace their aging vehicles. While it might be depressing to look at the total on the fuel pump after you have filled your tank, there are some things you can do to make sure that you are getting the most out of your engine.

To begin with, maintenance is key. A few simple steps regarding the upkeep of your engine can go a long way towards lowering the amount of gas that it uses.

1) One of the first things to check is your air filter. The air filter is located in or at the front of the plastic tube that feeds air to your car’s intake. This filter is made of paper, and it is designed to keep particles of dirt and dust from making their way inside the engine, where they could cause damage. Eventually, this filter becomes clogged with all of the debris that it has been protecting your motor from, and when this happens, it is no longer effective at letting air pass through. This causes the efficiency of the engine to drop, using more fuel and lowering the power being generated. Regular filter replacement can help you maintain strong fuel economy.

2) Change the fuel filter at regular intervals to keep the fuel volume and pressure consistent going into the engine. If the engine gets starved for fuel because the fuel filter is clogged the engines computer will compensate by enriching the fuel/air mixture that will cause your vehicle to use more fuel than necessary. Some cars have more than one fuel filter, and they are usually located in the engine compartment and / or, at or in the fuel tank attached to the electric fuel pump, as I the Toyota Matrix. An example of a fuel filter in neither the engine compartment or attached to the fuel pump is the 1995 Ford Taurus where it is attached under the driver’s side floor. The purpose of the fuel filter is to keep any gunk, and/or foreign particles from getting into the engine and fuel injectors. Like the air filter, these materials eventually will block the fuel filter, and when that happens, the engine can get starved for fuel, causing a similar drop in fuel mileage.

3) Another factor in gas mileage is the vacuum in your engine when you drive. The vacuum fluctuates when you press down on the gas pedal and let it up. To word it better the vacuum changes as the engine speed or RPM changes. When the engine becomes under a load from acceleration or going up a hill the vacuum in the engine will drop and as the vacuum drops so will the gas mileage.

You can improve the your gas mileage if you know what your engines vacuum is reading and adjust your driving accordingly. Some of us accelerate too fast which causes a drop in engine vacuum and bad gas mileage. The fast acceleration is unnecessary most of the time and is really then just a habit. If you are serious about improving your gas mileage you will need to lighten up your foot on the gas pedal.

There is a neat little gauge called a Scangauge II that all you have to do to hook it up is plug it into a connector under your dashboard. The Scangauge II will tell you your engines vacuum and RPM as you drive and help you break the habit of fast acceleration. On the Scangauge II there are four digital gauges on one display and you select which readings you would like from a menu. For example, RPM, and MPG are two useful readings along with manifold pressure/vacuum. On the fourth reading you can use your speed to check the accuracy of your speedometer.

What Causes Bad Gas Mileage

The causes of bad gas mileage in a car or truck can be caused by many reasons, some very simple to fix and others more complex. If you suspect that you have a car problem that is causing your bad gas mileage it would be advisable to check the easy things yourself first before you take the car to a professional. For car problem diagnosis help we usually enlist the help of ATS. ATS has access to a library of information on all makes and models to help the "backyard" mechanic diagnose car trouble.

Car troubleshooting has to be done in an orderly fashion. First you have to decide and determine what part of the car your problem is in, such as, fuel supply problems, electrical problems, or electronic control module problems. If you have a car problem that has set a trouble code once you determine what the code means it should help you narrow down the particular area of your car where the problem is and whether it would cause bad gas mileage or not.

As I mentioned before about using ATS for help, it can save you time and money and keep you focused on fixing the problem you actually have. Car parts are expensive so you don't just want to throw money at your problem making it more expensive to fix than necessary.

What Causes Bad Gas Mileage:

1) A bad air cleaner will restrict air flow into your engine and cause the engine to run inefficiently and burn more gas than necessary.

2) Faulty fuel injectors - if the injectors stay open longer than required more fuel will be injected into your engine than necessary.

3) Low tire pressure - under inflated tires have a higher rolling resistance that correctly filled tires

4) Engine not reaching operating temperature making the EEC system "think" the engine needs to run on a rich mixture to warm-up. ( Possible thermostat problem could cause this).

5) Bad gas - if you use cheap gas try using a better grade of gas before you do anything else. Just changing the fuel is a cheap fix.

6) Accelerating too fast - You can be accelerating too fast and not even realize it. To find out if you are accelerating too fast a vacuum gauge will tell you as it shows a vacuum drop under acceleration. A good multi-task tool is the Scangauge II that provides an electronic display of vacuum readings and other engine performance readings as you drive.