Gas Mileage Problems: What to Look for

So you aren't a Mechanic, but then again, you are tired of paying out big bucks to find out what's causing your car to be a gas burner. Seems that you no sooner fill it up, and it's heading towards empty, and there's also a loss of power, what can you do before having to go to a garage, and an expensive Mechanic?

There are several things that anyone can try to fix on their own, without having Mechanical experience, just a bit of patience and a few tools. Things that would cause your car to burn excessive amounts of gas are listed below, and what you can do about it. Get a note pad and write down the following items.

Questions

1. When did you last do a tune up? That means new wires, new plugs, new distributor cap and rotor?
2. When was the last time you put injector fluid in your gas tank to clean your injectors?
3. How old is your car? How old is the catalytic converter?
4. Do you know how much tire pressure your tires need, and if so, do you have the right amount of air in all 4 tires?
5. When was the last time you changed your Gas Filter?
6. When was the last time you changed your Air Filter?
7. When was the last time you changed your oil?

Seven rather simple questions that could cause you to burn gas like it's going out of style. Seven questions, most people can check on, even if they know nothing about cars.

Answers

1. These days, new cars are supposed to run nearly a hundred thousand miles before they need a tune up, but if you are experiencing bad gas mileage you may want to change your plugs, make sure they have the proper gap, by asking what that gap is and getting a feeler gauge, or a mechanic to check them for you. Most mechanics will do this for free.
2. All cars today have injectors inside the engine. With the usage of gasoline these injectors clog up, and either need to be changed, and that can be quite expensive, or you can pour a can of Injector Cleaner in your gas tank every 6 months, to keep your injectors clean.
3. Most of today's cars have Catalytic Converters on the Exhaust system. These Catalytic Converters eventually clog up, and your car will seem to loose power and burn more gas. When this happens the best thing you can do is find out what kind of Catalytic Converter you have, and replace it. It's held on with two U clamps. You would need to put your car on jacks to change the Catalytic Converter but the money saved, will more than pay for your jacks and your gas mileage will get much better, because your exhaust isn't clogged. It flows freely.
4. Most people haven't a clue as to how much air their tires should have, but on most tires it's written on the side of the tire. Make sure all 4 tires have the same amounts of air and your gas mileage will increase.
5. A clean gas filter will make all the difference in the world to you the driver of a car, as if the gas filter is blocked, the right amount of gas won't get to the injectors, and the engine, and fuel pump has to work harder, causing your car to burn more gas
6. A clean Air Filter will make a lot of difference in your gas mileage, as your engine burns the gases much better. The more air the engine gets the better, and smoother it runs.
7. Some people may think that clean oil has nothing to do with good gas mileage but they couldn't be further from the truth. The cleaner the oil, the less hard the engine works, especially in colder climates.

Tools needed

1. An air pressure gauge
2. A good set of screwdrivers, with a Philips head and a Flat head available
3. A Crescent Wrench and a small Pipe wrench
4. A Torch of Propane to loosen some nuts that may be rusted
5. A socket that fits your sparkplugs

The last piece of advice I can give you is not to race your car from one Red light to the next Red light, as you are not only wasting gas, and burning out your brakes faster than if you took your time, getting to the next Red Light.

If you think that you can't do any of the above repairs for any reason, walk into the nearest garage, and let on you know what you are talking about. Especially women, who get taken to the cleaners all the time, because most men, and mechanics figure that women haven't a clue, so if this is your case, don't let on you don't know anything. Be bold and tell them what you want them to check. You may be surprised at what you find, and what they may charge you.

Good luck.