Some Simple Tips for your Car – (part Two)

FUEL SAVING TIPS

Here are some tips that will save you money. It we all followed them then we would reduce the demand for petrol and other fuels. This would conserve oil and may reduce its price as well save billions of tons of greenhouse gasses. Most of these are at no cost, but require your commitment to at least try them out for a few weeks so you can see the results for yourself.

Easy things you can do. Pump up your tyres and keep at the correct pressure. At least 32 psi or higher if the manufacturer recommends. Under inflated tyres can use up to an extra 7% fuel. Check pressure every 2 weeks when tyres are cold. Faulty wheel alignment will also increase the rolling resistance of your car, which will increase your fuel consumption and wear your tyres out quickly.

Remove anything from your car boot that you do not require- an extra 30 kgs adds 2% to fuel consumption. Remove roof racks if not in use as they cause air drag. Fill up your car when you see the price reduced at a service station. There can be a price difference of 10c per litre within a week.

Buying premium-unleaded fuel will only benefit fuel economy in some cars, and it costs more to buy. Check your owner’s manual to see if your car does actually benefit by using premium fuel. It is time for us to pull together and help our environment. Log on to begreen.com.au where you can find many tips on environmental issues in Victoria. OzFreeOnline.com has ‘random’ and ‘popular’ listings pages where you can find all the newest up to date information on environmental issues not only in Australia, but also around the world.

AIR CONDITIONER

We take our air conditioning for granted, and wonder how we ever got along without it, but we rarely check the system until it begins to blow out hot air. This is probably something you may have encountered as I have. Not only have I discovered that fixing an inoperative air conditioner costs a small fortune, depending upon the make and model of vehicle.

In order to keep you air conditioning system in good operating condition you must run it for a few minutes at least once a week. This will keep your seals in top condition and help to stop your refrigerant escaping. Running your air conditioning on the ‘demist’ setting will quickly demist your windscreen.

If your system is not operational, it may mean you may need re-gassing. Maybe your drive belt has broken, your compressor is faulty, or you have an electrical fault. The other problem may be that there are leaks in your air conditioning system. No matter what the problem you will need to see to it in quick time. One of the sites I have searched is adtecauto.com.au who specialise in automotive air conditioning. OzFreeOnline.com ‘Cars’ is the biggest and best site online for ‘free’ car listings and has so many vehicles in their used car and cars for sale pages, that you will find just the car you want, when you log into the ‘Advanced Search’ criteria page.

If your vehicle is older and needs major repairs to the air conditioning, system you can expect to replace refrigerant and the oil in the compressor in addition to the old components. You also may need to install a retrofit conversion. Do not allow anyone to mix refrigerants. They are not inter-changeable. The system must be flushed out first. Ideally, take your vehicle to the makers service centre and have their experts do the necessary work for you. You may pay a little more, but you know that it will be a job done well.

Furthermore, some substitutes are volatile mixtures of propane, butane, and flammable hydrocarbons. Keep in mind the fact that if your vehicle is leaking refrigerant, you are damaging the ozone layer.

If you take your car to a specialist, you will most likely have the following items checked and assessed:

ENGINE COMPARTMENT
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
UNDERBODY
BODY WORK
GLASS
WHEELS
TYRES
BRAKES
CLUTCH
INTERIOR
ROAD TEST

There are many good sites to recommend when it comes to the servicing and checking of your car. Further more you might want information about a used motor vehicle or even find the used car you are thinking of purchasing online. The first site that comes to mind is repcoservice.com that has so many hints and tips on car servicing that you should find all the information you need. I found OzFreeOnline.com to be the best site for Australian car for sale, and the site offered not only a comprehensive ‘search’ guide, but also a forum where one could chat with auto enthusiasts. With all the above items checked, you shall have absolutely no worries about being the driver of a safe, reliable motor vehicle.