Chapter 26

Ten “Eco-Logical” Ways to Save Fuel

In This Chapter

Checking under the hood

Driving with fuel economy in mind

Saving fuel when filling the tank

Streamlining your vehicle inside and out

With rising fuel costs, increased emphasis on global warming, and the economic and political impact of dependency on fossil fuels, increasing fuel efficiency has become a major goal for federal and state governments and for most drivers, even if just to save money. The best way to avoid wasting fuel and dumping the unburned residue into the environment is to drive efficiently. But it doesn’t end there: How well you maintain your vehicle has a major impact on its fuel economy because the more efficiently it operates, the less fuel it will burn and the less pollution it will add to the air. And there are other factors to consider, as well.

This chapter gives you ten very important ways to do your part for the environment by saving fuel. I call it “eco-logical” because it makes sense to view your vehicle and your driving techniques from an environmental perspective as well as from an automotive point of view. I’ve also used “Eco-Logic” icons like the one on this page throughout this book to alert you to issues and tasks that are directly related to the environment.

Whenever you encounter a term set in this font, you’ll find it defined in the glossary in Appendix A.

Take a Look under the Hood

For your vehicle’s best fuel economy, follow these recommendations to make sure that parts of your vehicle are in good condition and functioning properly:

If your air filter is dirty, you can lose one mile per gallon at 50 mph. Cleaning or replacing your air filter can cut your fuel consumption, and if you cut it by only 10 percent, you can save an average of 77 gallons a year! Chapter 8 tells you how to check and replace your air filter.

If your PCV valve isn’t functioning properly, your engine runs less efficiently, and you may be burning and polluting your oil and the air, as well. Chapter 7 tells you what the PCV valve does, and Chapter 8 shows you how to check and replace it.

If your spark plugs are misfiring because they’re dirty or improperly gapped, the problem can cost you up to 25 percent in gas mileage. Find out about spark plugs in Chapter 5 and how to check, adjust, and replace them in Chapter 6.

Consult your owner’s manual for how often your vehicle needs a tune-up, and if it’s overdue, have it done immediately. A simple tune-up can reduce carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon exhaust emissions by 30 to 50 percent. It also saves fuel and improves your vehicle’s performance.

If the accessory belts that connect your fan, water pump, alternator, air conditioner, and a variety of other devices are too loose or too tight, a serious loss of efficiency can be the result. A belt should have about 1/2 inch of “give” and shouldn’t be frayed or badly worn. Chapter 2 shows you how to check these belts, and Chapter 12 provides instructions for adjusting and replacing them.

If a brake is poorly adjusted, it may “drag” while the vehicle is in motion. Moving the wheel against the dragging brake takes more power, which means that your brake linings and the fuel in your tank don’t last as long. To check for dragging brakes, jack up each wheel (see Chapter 1) and spin it. If a brake shoe or brake pad is dragging, you can feel it as you try to turn the wheel on the hub. Chapter 15 tells you everything you need to know about brakes. If you have a hybrid vehicle with regenerative braking, a professional should check your brakes.

If you hear a rumbling sound while driving or when spinning the jacked-up wheel, your wheel bearings may be worn and may need to be replaced. The wheel bearings are in there to prevent friction, and if they’re worn, it takes extra energy (think fuel) to turn the wheels and move the vehicle down the road. Chapter 15 has instructions for checking and repacking wheel bearings.

Start Up without Warming Up

When you start your car in the morning, do you warm it up before you drive off? If you do, stop! Modern vehicles don’t need much (if any) warm-up, and experts caution you not to indulge in lengthy warm-ups because they waste fuel, pollute the air, and increase wear on your vehicle.

If your vehicle doesn’t start up immediately, try the following:

Have a professional check for a computer malfunction. Vehicles with fuel injection may have problems starting up because of a computer malfunction. A professional who deals with your model will have to set things right. Check out the section called “What to Do When All Else Fails” in Chapter 8.

Check your thermostat and replace it, if necessary. The thermostat initially keeps the water in the engine from circulating, which helps the engine to quickly reach and maintain the proper temperature. If you have trouble starting your vehicle on cold mornings, Chapter 11 can help you locate your thermostat, and Chapter 12 shows you how to check and replace it if it’s no longer properly regulating the flow of water through the engine.

Drive Eco-Logically

Evaluate your driving techniques in terms of fuel consumption. For example, if you’re driving at 55 mph and accelerate to 65 mph but then have to brake after a block or two, you’ve wasted the fuel it took to accelerate the vehicle because you returned to the original speed so soon.

Before putting on extra speed, check to be sure that you won’t have to waste the effort by slowing for a blinker, crossroad, or curve ahead. Remember, every time you step on the brake pedal, you cancel the speed that you used fuel to achieve!

Here are some other driving techniques that can help you save fuel:

Adjust the driver’s seat as comfortably as possible. Research has shown that a comfortable driving position helps you tread more lightly on the accelerator, and a light foot saves fuel. By driving at 50 mph instead of 70 mph, a “featherfoot” can cut fuel consumption by 20 percent! Increased wind resistance at the higher speed also causes your vehicle’s chassis to age twice as fast.

Start and accelerate slowly and smoothly. Moving a vehicle from a stationary position takes power. You can apply that power efficiently by starting and accelerating slowly, or you can blow the whole thing by slamming on the gas pedal for a quick getaway. A fast start may cost you eight miles per gallon for the first four miles. A slow start can carry you 50 percent farther on the same amount of gas. So try not to speed — at least for the first mile!

Obey the speed limits, especially in city traffic. Traffic lights are set for the local speed limit, so if you maintain a nice, steady, legal speed, you’ll find that the lights magically turn green as you approach them. The result is less work for you and 15 percent less fuel consumed. My Prius has a lovely animated display that shows how my driving affects fuel consumption. It has taught me to drive more efficiently!

Try to stay in your lane. Each time you change lanes to pass another car on the highway, you waste fuel because you have to accelerate to pass and then you usually have to step on the brake to avoid hitting the vehicle in front of you when you get back into the lane. The result is up to 30 percent more fuel wasted than if you were to stay in your lane.

Set a steady pace. Anticipate slowdowns and halts in traffic so that you don’t have to stop short. If you’re not speeding, you may be able to account for a lot of slowdowns just by taking your foot off the accelerator; by decelerating rather than braking, you don’t wear out your brakes as quickly, and you save fuel.

Build up speed slowly before you get to a hill. The extra momentum will carry you at least part of the way up. Don’t accelerate to maintain your speed while you’re climbing unless you’re holding up traffic. Keep the gas pedal steady, and never crest the top of a hill at a high speed because you’ll only have to brake on the way down, wasting the fuel that got you up there so quickly in the first place.

Try coasting down hills, using the weight of your vehicle and its momentum to carry you down, with your foot off the accelerator. If you’re holding up traffic by coasting down a hill, accelerate gently to the legal speed limit.

If you have an automatic transmission with an overdrive option, use it. Doing so can save you another 10 percent in fuel.

If you have a manual transmission, shift into higher gears as soon as possible. Practice doing so at the lowest speed the vehicle can handle without laboring or lugging the engine.

Structure Trips to Save Fuel

A one-mile trip on a cold engine can cut fuel economy by as much as 70 percent, so consider these recommendations when you need to go out to shop or run errands:

Walk, ride your bike, or take public transportation.

If your trips take you farther afield and you need to drive, conserve fuel by combining lots of little trips into one longer one.

Shop locally. Slightly higher prices are likely to be balanced by what you save in time, effort, and fuel.

If you can, skip the trips altogether and shop by phone or online.

Consider putting together carpools, which are great fuel-savers and often result in new friendships as well.

Believe it or not, it takes more fuel to make a left turn than a right turn because, for a left turn, you usually have to wait, idling at zero miles per gallon, until traffic clears and then overcome inertia to get the vehicle moving again. For the same reason, a trip around the block can use less fuel than a U-turn that involves a lot of stopping and starting.

Fill ’Er Up Eco-Logically

Fuel economy involves more than altering driving techniques. How you pump gas affects your fuel consumption and can save you money as well. (Chapter 1 tells you how to fill ’er up yourself.) Keep the following points in mind the next time you fill up at a service station:

In hot weather, fill up in the early morning or evening when the air is cooler and before gasoline is delivered to the station. Like everything else, gasoline expands with heat. An increase of only 30 degrees can cause ten gallons of gas to expand by as much as four-fifths of a quart — that’s as much as a bottle of whiskey! This expansion reduces its energy content, so you pay more for less when the fuel is hot.

Never overfill the tank. When the filler hose clicks off automatically, resist the temptation to squirt in that extra little bit. An overfilled tank will run over and spill gasoline on the ground if you drive up a hill or park in the heat of the sun. Not only does this spillage waste fuel and dissolve asphalt on driveways and roadways, but the fumes also contribute substantially to air pollution.

Keep Your Side Windows Shut and the AC Turned Off

Open side windows increase wind resistance, which reduces fuel efficiency. Use the interior vents or the sunroof instead. You may think that turning on the air conditioning in your vehicle is a good alternative to opening side windows, but it costs you mileage because your engine has to put out extra power to make the air conditioner work. Some air conditioners can consume an extra 2 1/2 miles per gallon! So if you live in a fairly cool area, you may not want (or need) to use your vehicle’s air conditioning at all.

Keep Your Tires Properly Inflated

Underinflated tires consume about one mile per gallon of extra gasoline. They wear out faster, too, so make sure that your tires get all they need. Chapter 17 shows you how to “read” your tires’ treads to see whether they’re properly inflated and how to find the proper pressure range on the sidewalls of your tires.

After a car has been driven for a while, the tires heat up and the air in them expands. Therefore, to get an accurate reading, always use your tire gauge in the morning before you drive the car, and if you need air, head to the nearest air pump and let the tires cool down before adding the proper amount of air, following the instructions in Chapter 17.

Snow tires consume a lot more fuel than regular tires. If they aren’t mandatory in your state in winter, take them off the car as soon as weather permits and consider all-weather tires instead. Ask a trusted tire dealer what’s best for your driving situation. You may need just one set of tires, or you may be better off with one set for summer and another for winter.

Clean Out the Junk

Every 500 pounds you carry costs you from two to five miles per gallon, so it pays to keep your vehicle as light as possible. Clean all but the essentials out of the trunk and interior, and consider how much fuel you’d save if you lost some extra pounds, as well! Turn to Chapter 23 for advice on cleaning your vehicle’s interior.

Keep Your Vehicle Waxed

Did you know that a highly waxed vehicle cuts wind resistance dramatically? And it looks good, too. Chapter 23 shows you how to wash and wax your vehicle properly.

Use a Trailer Instead of a Roof Rack

Those light-looking roof racks are deceptive. They create quite a bit of drag, especially when fully loaded, and the ensuing wind resistance substantially interferes with the air flow around your vehicle. As a matter of fact, a small trailer loaded with the same gear is less of a liability because trailers travel in the wake of the vehicle and meet with less air resistance. Of course, they weigh more, too, but once underway, they follow along easily if you don’t speed. Besides, you always disconnect the trailer when you don’t need it, but you tend to carry the empty roof rack around even when you have no load to put on it.