Yes, I am talking about petroleum gas for your vehicles.

With the rising cost of gas prices reaching $5.00 a gallon, we are now attempting to find new ways to stretch the mileage on a full tank of gas.

On a number of occasions, I have been asked what my recommendation is on getting better gas mileage without the cost of buying a new hybrid or plug-in vehicle.

There are a number of ways I recommend to get the most mileage out of one full tank of gas.

1) Lighten the load in your vehicle, mostly in your trunk. The less weight you carry in the vehicle, the less amount of gas you will need to propel the vehicle. Have you ever tried to push a vehicle on a level ground with your trunk loaded with stuff? Try it! Now remove the weighted objects from the trunk and try pushing it again. You will find you use less effort in moving it.

2) Check your tire treads and tire pressure. To maximize rolling, you need to inflate your tire to spec as recommended by your vehicle manufacturer.  Note that over-inflated tires will not perform any better, and it will put you in harm’s way. 

Will increasing tire diameter help with rolling distance? Yes, however, doing this is a safety and a drivability issue. With today’s vehicles, you can no longer do this without setting off some sort of computer warning sensor, such as your vehicle speed sensor (VSS), antilock brake system (ABS), the traction control system, and possibly other computer feedback devices.   Use the correct tire size that the vehicle manufacturer recommends.

3) Inspect your vehicle for proper tire alignment. Most consumers hardly ever think about aligning their vehicle unless there is a tire issue.  In general Hawaii has one of the worst roads in the United States.  There are potholes, cracks, even dips that can cause major alignment issues. Have you ever hit a curb while parking? The constant hitting of a non-movable object will cause a misalignment. By realigning to the proper setting, your vehicle will roll better, which means less gas to the engine. 

4) Another form of maintenance that consumers are not aware of is the servicing of your wheel bearings. Having poor lubrication will also cause rolling resistance. However, not all vehicles have wheel bearings that are serviceable. Some wheel bearings are internally sealed and cannot be serviced.

5) Check your history records to see when you last serviced your engine oil. The cleaner the engine oil, the less resistance the engine will have to move internal engine components.

6) From the days when cars ran on carburetors and distributors, recommendations were for a yearly tune-up depending on the mileage and the condition of the engine. This type of tune up consisted of spark plugs, wires, distributor cap and rotors, positive crank case valve and air filter.

With current vehicles, tune-ups are almost non-existent. The spark plugs, if you are able to find them, will last for 60 to 100 thousand miles.  On some vehicles, there are no spark plug wires or distributor.  They were replaced with COP, or coil over plug, or DFI, direct fire ignition. 

Today’s tune-up involves the cleaning of your combustion chamber where oil and carbon accumulate and eventually disrupt airflow to the intake. The cleaner the air path, the easier it is to mix air with fuel to ignite.

The other maintenance that is needed is the cleaning of the fuel injector. The fuel is delivered in a very fine atomized mist to mix with air and cause a bang when a spark is introduced. If the injector cannot atomize with the air, it cannot create an internal explosion. Heat, oil and bad fuel (ethanol) clogs the small openings to deliver the very fine mist of fuel. 

There are ways to clean these injectors by using off-the-shelf products. The problem is that it takes a long time for it to do it’s cleaning so that you might realize the results.  The proper way to clean these injectors and combustion chambers are to pressure clean by using a professional cleaning machine that will directly inject cleaner into the intake and injector. These chemicals are designed to do the job when used properly.

The final results when cleaned are instantly gratifying. The vehicle runs smoother. The engine has much more throttle response and better gas mileage.  I have customers that have cleaned the intake and injectors testify that the engine does run smoother and increase their gas mileage.  This, in today’s technology, is considered a tune up.

7) Inspect your air cleaner on a monthly basis. With heavy traffic and never-ending road construction, your air cleaner will get clogged. Have you ever had a plugged nose and had hard time breathing? Well, this is what happens with your air cleaner with it gets dirty. Resistance of airflow results in huge amount of gas flowing through the injectors not getting the proper mix of air, resulting in an inefficient burn.

8) Please pay attention to any on-board lights on the dash display. When these light turn on the vehicle is trying to tell you something. Find out why it is on and repair it as soon as possible. 

9) Many customers ask me what type of fuel they should put into their vehicle: Regular Grade Unleaded, Medium Grade Unleaded or Premium Grade Unleaded. I recommend that they read their manual and use what is factory recommended. If the vehicle manual states regular OR medium grade fuel, then go ahead and use the regular grade, or cheaper fuel. 

If you own a high performance vehicle then it is recommended to use premium grade fuel. Why? Well, gas companies use different grades of octane in their fuel. Using higher octane will prevent engine damage on load or with heavy acceleration. For all other vehicles or trucks, in my personal opinion, if the engines runs well under all engine load condition using a cheaper grade fuel, then why not?

I highly recommend that you pay close attention to the way your engine performs. If you hear a knocking or pinging noise on acceleration then you need to stop and possibly mix the gas with higher grade or use a higher-grade gas. Keep in mind the cheaper the grade of gas you use the less cleaning chemical it has. This is why I recommend to pressure clean your combustion chamber and injector on a yearly if not semi yearly bases.

10) Lastly, be aware of scammers out there that say that buying their product will give you better gas mileage. Some of the products that are on the market are gadgets that make the air flow better or pills that you add into your gas. These products, in my opinion, do not work and is money not well spent. Plus, it may violate your vehicle factory warranty.  

In my next issue I will discuss other ways to help increase gas mileage and safe products that you could use. 

Stay tuned.