Understanding how your miles-per-gallon, or MPG is affected and what can be done to keep it as high as possible can help you in many ways. All vehicles are sensitive pieces of equipment that need to be maintained, so you don’t have a problem down the road. Taking some everyday maintenance for granted can cost you at the pump. If you are ever concerned about the health of your vehicle, make sure to take it into Reliable Automotive to have the experts take a look at it.
Check Your Tire Pressure
The most common reason why you will lose MPG is due to improper inflation of your tires. This may not seem like a significant issue, but improperly inflated tires can cause the vehicle to perform less efficiently. With the vehicle performing less efficiently, it puts more strain on the engine, which causes hirer RPM’s and a loss of miles due to engine strain. Improper inflation of tires can also cause a pull making your vehicle work harder as it goes down the road. Checking the door sticker on the driver side will allow you to make sure your tires are inflated to the manufacturer’s recommendation. Checking your tire pressure regularly can help you stay more fuel-efficient daily.
Bad Air Flow
Air is essential when you are hoping to get the best out of your vehicle. When filters are not changed regularly, it leaves the vehicle with restricted airflow that hurts the combustion process. All engine requires a mixture of air and gas to have proper combustion allowing the engine to perform at its peak. Clogged air filters restrict the flow of air and don’t allow for the engine to get all the air it needs. Bad O2 sensors can play a role in the engine, not getting enough air. Like air filters, if the O2 sensor is bad, it will restrict airflow because it is not ready the right amount of O2 in the system and will try to compensate for that issue. The airflow needs to stay consistent, and regular maintenance of air filters are a great place to start.
Improper Combustion
Along the lines with airflow understanding that the engine needs a pure spark can also affect your fuel economy. Sparks plugs do have a life span, and if they are not sparking correctly, they can cause a miss fire making the engine work with fewer cylinders. This will drive MPG down because the engine is trying to compensate for missed cylinders. The missed cylinder will lose power output, thus cause more inefficiency in the engine. The other part of the combustion process is fuel, and the fuel filter in your vehicle helps filter out any impurities that are left in the gas during the manufacturing process. If the fuel filter is not allowing proper fuel flow, then you can see a dramatic drop in MPG due to more air getting into the system.
At Reliable Automotive, your Buda auto shop, you will find a place that you can trust and experts that know just what to do when your vehicle is not running at peak performance. Having a trained professional check on your vehicle regularly will help you get the most out of your vehicle’s MPG and keep you from major repairs down the line.
