Everyone wants to spend less money on gas, and increasing your vehicle’s fuel efficiency is one way to do that. Fuel efficiency is how far your vehicle can travel with a specific amount of fuel. Increasing the efficiency will help you save money since you won’t have to stop at the pump as often. Not only will increasing fuel efficiency lower your fuel costs, but it will also reduce your carbon footprint. So, how do we do it?
You may have heard of some simple tips you can take to improve gas mileage. These recommendations may include clearing out extra clutter that is weighing your vehicle down, limiting your idling time, and avoiding rapid acceleration and hard braking. While this advice is helpful, you should also be performing regular maintenance on your vehicle. That’s why we call it “preventative maintenance,” because you’ll want to take care of these steps before there’s an issue. Properly maintained vehicles guarantee safety, avoid breakdowns, and minimize costly repairs.
Why Fuel Efficiency is Important
We say that preventative maintenance helps fuel efficiency. But why does that matter? There are two main benefits of helping fuel efficiency: one is a personal benefit and one is a global benefit. The personal benefit is that increasing fuel efficiency will save you money. Burning less gas to go the same distance means you can spend less money at the pump. Paying for transportation is a high expense for all of us, and even though preventative maintenance will cost you money upfront, it will save money over time by increasing your MPG. A global benefit of increasing fuel efficiency is that it will slowly lessen the amount of air pollution. Improving fuel efficiency means vehicles are burning less gas. This will reduce global warming pollution since you’re sending less fossil fuels into the air. The decrease in air pollution will also help our health. Clean and efficient vehicles will lower the number of diseases in the air due to chemicals emitted from dirty system parts.
Preventative Maintenance Steps
Regular maintenance on your vehicle, when nothing is severely wrong, is crucial to maintain a reliable fleet. Proper preventative maintenance ensures quality engine performance and improves fuel economy. With constant fluctuating fuel costs, you may be wondering what steps you can take to increase your miles per gallon. Let’s look at some types of auto repairs to help your truck last as long as it can in a cost-efficient way:
Change Spark Plugs A typical spark plug lasts about 60,000 to 70,000 miles. Even though it may still be usable after this many miles, the old spark plug may result in loss of engine power, rough idling, and trouble starting and accelerating. The greatest benefit to changing your spark plug is that your engine will run better, which will improve your gas mileage and reduce the pollution coming from the vehicle. Copper and nickel spark plugs should be replaced after 50,000 miles.
Replace Air Filter Leaving the same air filter in your vehicle for too long will result in unnecessary strain and suffering gas mileage. A dirty air filter limits the airflow into the engine, making it work harder and use more fuel. A damaged or dirty air filter can also result in an air-fuel imbalance, harming other vehicle parts. The range for when you should replace your air filter is between 30,000 and 45,000 miles, but check your owner’s manual for a more accurate estimation.
Regular Oil Change Performing regular oil changes is one of the most important preventative maintenance services. Motor oil becomes thick over time, which makes the engine work harder to move the oil, resulting in more fuel use. Additionally, changing your oil prevents the build-up of dirt. This is important because the friction the dirt causes in the internal system leads to higher levels of energy and fuel consumption. Be sure to follow your owner’s manual recommendation for when to get an oil change.
Inflate and Align Tires When tires aren’t properly inflated, the vehicle has to work harder to move, using more fuel to do so. Keep your tires inflated to the recommended limit to improve your vehicle mileage. Make a habit of checking your tire pressure every month. Proper alignment of tires can also affect vehicle performance. It takes extra energy for a vehicle to roll an imbalanced tire, and that energy comes from the fuel tank. Regularly having your alignment checked and tires rotated will increase your fuel efficiency.
Check Battery Corroded batteries are a top reason for low fuel economy. When battery cables are worn down, the alternator has to use more horsepower, leading to high gas consumption. Additionally, when the battery is not fully charged, your mileage is reduced. This is because the fuel injectors don’t add fuel to the cylinders as adequately as they would with a fully charged battery. Checking the battery is a crucial step in preventative maintenance since batteries can have drastic effects on the mileage your truck receives.
Call Massey Towing and Truck Service Today!
Now that you know how to increase your fuel efficiency and why it’s important, let us help you reduce your gas station trips. Our professionals at Massey Towing and Truck Service can assist you in taking these proactive, preventative actions with our heavy-duty truck repair services. Auto repair doesn’t have to be a major project. Schedule an appointment with us today at our heavy towing Dallas location to get started on these simple maintenance steps that will save you money in the long run and help our environment.
