Chapter 13

Maintaining Your Vehicle

Selecting Engine Oil

• Brand name

• Grade, SE or better

• Weight, consult your owner’s manual

Engine Coolant

• Strong enough to protect your engine

• Clean. When it becomes dirty, have the system flushed and replace with new coolant

Battery Maintenance

• Most batteries are maintenance free batteries, but you still need to clean your terminals once a year

Tune Up

• New cars require new plugs at 100,000 miles. Be careful of dealership wanting to bring you car in for “routine maintenance”

Timing Belt

• Replace every 60,000 miles

• If they break:– They will leave you stranded– May cause serious damage to your vehicle

Brake Test

• With the vehicle running- push and hold the brake pedal for 60 seconds: if the pedal stays in place- the hydraulic system is OK

• Drive the car 20 MPH, take your hands off the wheel and apply your brakes. The car should stop smoothly and straight

Selecting a Vehicle

• Know what you want

• Know how much you can spend

• Don’t get in a hurry. Shop around

What Sells? Consumer choice

• Color is the #1 factor

• Safety- people want safe vehicle

• Performance. We want to go real fast but safely

Ways to Save Fuel

• Phone ahead

• Drive the economy car

• Car pool

• Combine errands

• Plan routes to avoid traffic and lights

• Use transit system

• Avoid rush hour

Fuel Efficient Driving

• Slow down 45-50 MPH best MPG

• Increase following distance- avoid braking

• Don’t accelerate on hills

• Keep moving, anticipate lights and traffic

• 55MPH saves 15% over 65MPH

• Accelerate slowly- the faster you accelerate, the more gas you use

Think About It?

• Consider if gas was $7- 8 a gallon as it is in Europe, would you change what, when and how you drive