Tips to Help You Save Big Money at the Fuel Pump

-by Scott Daugherty
Doesn't it aggravate you everytime you have to buy gas? For most Americans, there is a way to save money in the long run at the gas pump. Outlined are some very good ways to save money at the pump.

1. Keep your vehicle maintained

Surprisingly enough, statistically the nation as a whole does not do proper preventative maintenance on their cars. Did you know that if your oil is dirty, you are getting less fuel economy? If you don't want to change your oil so often, there are many new oils out now that last for five, ten, even twelve thousand miles before you need to change it. It may cost a dollar or two more per quart but in the long run, you save money.

Also, most Americans don't tune their automobiles up as scheduled. I conducted a private study for one of the companies that I used to work and contacted over 1000 auto dealerships and independent auto shops throughout the United States and Canada. I spoke to the service managers in all of these shops and the answers were the same everywhere I called.

Most people simply refused to have their auto's tuned up on schedule. The customer would have the auto repair that they were there for and simply nothing else done.

Did you know that a cold firing plug can reduce your fuel economy up to 8 gallons per mile? The manufacturer of your automobile placed a schedule of when the auto should have the plugs changed. For most vehicles, it ranges from 12,000 to 30,000 miles. You should have the plugs and wires changed on schedule. If you would like to get plugs that last longer, consider a good set of platinum plugs. You can get Bosch platinum+2 for only a dollar or two more per plug and platinum+4 for a few dollars more per plug.

Change your timing belt on schedule.

It is most important that you change your timing belt as scheduled. There are a couple of reasons for this. Number one, as the belt wears out, your fuel economy gets worse. The second reason is because if your car is a V6 or V8 with duel overhead cams (DOHC stamped on engine), if it breaks, you are going to have very costly repairs in the long run. 9 out of 10 engines that the timing belt breaks in with DOHC bends valves. This causes you to have to rebuild the heads or replace the heads at a very high price.

Change your air filter on schedule.

This is again crucial to the fuel efficiency of your automobile. Just like us, your engine has to breathe. Without a clean air filter, you will burn a lot more fuel because you don't have the proper air/fuel mixture. It is usually recommended to change them every time you change your oil, however, you may consider purchasing a K&N filter or one from one of their competitors that doesn't have to be changed but merely cleaned. This will save you a lot of money over the lifetime of your car, plus if it needs to be cleaned, you merely blow it out with compressed air.

Make sure you have your PCV valve changed on schedule.

For even some of the best people who take care of their cars, this is a critical step that is often overlooked. The PCV valve doesn't cost but a dollar or two and usually last as long as your plugs do.

Do an upper-end cleaning on your engine.

This is where you have your intake and valves cleaned. A few years ago, the intake and valve covers had to come off the vehicle to do this. Now, you can buy the chemical at the auto parts store yourself and clean the intake in about 15 minutes. The chemicals have the directions for how to do it, but believe me anybody can do it, and you don't have to spend up to $600 for a shop to do it for you. It will instead cost you about $8.

Make sure that your tires are in good shape and aired at your vehicle manufacturer's recommended pressure.

The tire may say that you can inflate to 50 p.s.i., however, that is maximum pressure for the tire. If you look inside the driver's door at the inspection tag from the factory, you will find the manufacturer's recommended tire pressure. It is recommended because they have performed many tests to find where the car performs best at and found that the best performance comes from this setting.

Have your transmission flushed about every 30,000 miles.

This keeps the vehicle shifting properly and also allows you to get better fuel efficiency. A standard flush doesn't cost very much and can make your transmission last up to three times as long as it normally would.

Last of all, make sure that you change your belt as scheduled.

As the belt gets older and wears, a certain amount of slippage occurs, ultimately making you have to run the engine harder. It is also a good idea to keep it changed on schedule because of the unfortunate event that it breaks, you lose your power steering, a/c, and alternator.

2. Consider doing a few modifications to your automobile.

There are a few mods that you can do to you auto that will save quite a few dollars at the pump.

The first thing that you can do is replace your muffler with a performance muffler. Yes, they are louder but they also let a lot more exhaust flow through. This ultimately means you pick up horsepower and also fuel efficiency.

Case study: 1995 Chevrolet K-1500. Replaced factory exhaust with Dynomax dual outlet muffler and actually picked up 28 horsepower on the dyno and almost 2.3 miles to the gallon of fuel.

The second modification that you can do is change your air intake system and put a cold-air intake on it. This is going to cost anywhere from $200-$500 for the do-it-yourselfers and $400-$1000 to have it done at a shop. It does increase horsepower and fuel efficiency, but in the long run, isn't really worth the money unless you just want it.

The last modification that you could do is put a hydrogen fuel cell on your car. You can actually Google this, there was a case study performed and the video is on YouTube of a guy with a Saturn. He was getting 37 miles to the gallon at baseline. He installed the cell on his car and actually got over 62 miles to the gallon. That is an incredible increase in fuel efficiency.

You can search around to find where to purchase them and have them installed. They run around $1500, to the best of my knowledge and aren't hard to install. All in all, for under $2000, you can have it put on your car and in the first year save at least that much on fuel.

Scott Daugherty is an A.S.E. certified technician and mechanical engineer with over 14 years auto repair experience under his belt. He has performed contracts for GM, Ford, Chrysler, CNH, Hyster, Caterpillar, and International and has worked many government contracts. He also operates an independent repair shop. Send Scott a question at askthecartech@gmail.com and he will respond as quickly as possible.