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Service Tips and Info |
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May's Technical Tip
The most significant contributor to good or bad fuel mileage is the driver. I have noted in my commute that I can affect an increase in fuel mileage of almost 50% if I pay close attention. The best way to gauge how your driving habits contribute to your fuel economy, make a habit of always having the average fuel consumption displayed on your dash. Then, reset it every day at first and see what conditions move that number up and down. The presence of mind about fuel consumption alone will likely start to amend your habits right away. The old adage about driving like you have an egg on the accelerator is a good one; rate of acceleration has a huge effect on consumption. You’ll also find that braking as little as possible, through good planning, also conserves fuel. Try turning off the air conditioning (or use ECON) and see the gains that provides. Finally, you’ll really see the difference that speed makes on the highway. It all starts, though, with watching the mileage indicator and having reset every time you drive!
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April's Technical Tip
If your car is parked among trees, it is likely that if you open your hood you will find a nice pile of leaves or pine needles on the cowling under the hood at the base of your windshield. As the weather warms up and winter snows are replaced by rain, the last thing you want to have happen is for these leaves to decompose and fall through the grill into the bulkhead which houses your heating/air-conditioning and ventillation systems. Once there, that detrious can bring all sorts of havoc to bear, including growth of microbes in your ventillation, and even causing flooding in the car by prohibiting air conditioning condensate from flowing freely through the condensate evacuation hoses. Just remove all those leaves, and then with a flashlight look through the grill to see if there is any accumulation of debris in the bulkhead. If there is, and if you want to remedy this yourself, you will need to remove the wiper arms (you'll need a very small flat blade screw driver to remove the covers on the wiper arms, and then a socket 12-15 mm to remove the nuts depending on your car). Then remove the clips holding the plastic cowling in place and lift off the cowling. A shop vacuum is perfect for this. If the fresh-air filter is soiled, you can replace that, too, while you're in there.
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March's Technical Tip
Spring might be right around the corner, but it sure doesn’t feel it! After a mild first half of winter and freezing second half, the roads we all travel are at their worst. Mix in a little rain, and you’ve got a recipe for potholes! You can see, and sometimes avoid a pothole when it’s dry, but when it's wet, water from the spring rain fills up potholes making them invisible so you have no chance of seeing or avoiding that crater in the road! The best way you can avoid costly pothole damage is through proper tire inflation. A tire with less air than recommended is more likely to be damaged when hitting the pothole since the sidewall is actually pinched between the rim and the edge of the pothole, causing a “bubble" which could bend your wheel as well. We recommend setting your tire pressure at least monthly, and always checking it before any long trips.
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