DON’T IGNORE A WARNING LIGHT
Tire Pressure
Studies have shown that up to 70% of vehicles on the road today have one or more underinflated tires, which can increase your fuel consumption by 4 to 8%.
Wheel Alignment & Balance
Wheels not properly aligned “drag” along the road instead of rolling smoothly. This can cause accelerated tire wear and an increase in fuel consumption of up to 25%.
Air induction system
A dirty air filter can increase fuel consumption by 2% or more and decrease the airflow available to your engine, causing an increase in environmentally harmful emissions. Using quality fuels with cleaning additives also helps, but does not replace a thorough, professional cleaning of the complete air induction system.
Gas Caps
17% of vehicles on the road today have loose, damaged or missing gas caps. This causes 556 million litres of fuel to vaporize into the atmosphere annually in North America. Fuel evaporation is one of the leading causes of hydrocarbon emissions. Topping off your gas tank can also cause unwanted emissions; never fill the tank past where the gas pump automatically shuts off.
Tune-up / Engine Management
Have your vehicle’s ignition and emission systems checked regularly for faults, and always follow the vehicle manufacturer’s recommended replacement intervals for all of these system components. A properly tuned vehicle can increase fuel economy by 6 to 13%.
Fuel and oil leaks
Don’t ignore a fuel or oil leak. Fossil fuel evaporation is one of the primary causes of ozone-depleting VOC’s and Hydrocarbons.
Don’t ignore a warning light
Today’s vehicles have very sophisticated engine management systems capable of making thousands of corrections per second to keep all systems operating in their optimum range. In some cases they can also compensate for a failure in one part of the system; this usually triggers a warning light to the driver even though the vehicle seems to be operating normally. Your vehicle’s onboard computer is telling you there is a problem and is trying to compensate for it! Have your vehicle inspected as soon as possible to identify the problem and correct it.
Cooling systems
Today’s engines run at much higher temperatures than before. Ignoring maintenance of your vehicle’s cooling system can allow the engine to run too hot, causing the right environment for Nitrous Oxide (NOX) emissions. Potentially severe engine damage can also occur from a cooling system failure with little warning, leaving you stranded.
Change your oil regularly!
Engine oil traps and holds acids, sludge and 19 other harmful by-products created by your engine in addition to lubricating and cooling all of its moving parts. Follow your vehicle’s oil change interval; it is its lifeblood!