Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1974-10-31, Page 29;Adults, Too, Can Benefit from ,t Hoy Students ' Were fo Brie f ed Students at the Champion Economy Rally slurred these fuel saving tips. DOWN. AVOID ENGINE ID - KEEP SPE Tests * conducted with a LING. An idling engine popUlarAmerican car have' wastes energy; it does no indicated a 25 percent im- • useful worlewhile consum- provement in fuel . econ- irig fuel. Excessive idling omy when speeds are re- may also shorten engine duced from 70 to 50 miles life if the -.practice is re - per hour. Wind resistance peated over a long term increases . as car speed in- period. As a guide, drivers creases, and more energy .should notidleprgifies for is thus required to move more till an three minutes, the car at higher speeds. if possible. AVOID "JACK RABBIT"WARM ENGINE BY STARTS. Gradual acceler- DRIVING. Drivers will °b- ation in city driving can tain better economy by save as much as two miles &A driving .the car to warm per gallon 4.compared to the engine, rather than rapid acceleration. That's allowing it to idle exces- because it takes a lot of sively. This speeds up' the extra energy to increase warming process, and thus •an (automobile's accelera- tion rate. A power valve, located in the carburetor; lets more fuel into the cyl-, not respond as quickly, so hiders under full acceler- care must 'b'e e . • 'sed in •tions ere Se is critical. THE USE OF NERS. Air- uts a sub - on automo- s, and should, e -used only on ation activates the adcel the hotte t days. While eraytor pump and power driving at 30 'miles per valve, .thus injectingextra hour, for example, use of and wasted — fuel into the air conditioner can re - the system.' sult in a fuel economy loss. saves gasoline. The, driver must remember, however, that a cold engine does ation. In addition, an ac- au traffic situ celerator pump ' provides engine respoi extra fuel to avoid hesi-' tation when the gas pedal .is jabbed. MINIMIZ * * * AI'R CONDIT KEEP • SPEED CON- conditioning STANT. Driving at steady stantial Loa speeds helps to save gaso- bile engin line'. Unnecessary acceler- • therefore, * *' * of two miles per gallon: ANTICIPATE STOPS, It As •a rule, use of the air is' best to plan 'ahead for conditioner cuts gasoline all possible traffic condi- mileage by 10 per cent. tions. This allows for grad- * * * ual, rather than abrupt, MAINTAIN CORRECT stops . and ,this smooth TIRE PRESSURE. Under - driving contributes' to.bet inflated tires reduce gaso- ter fuel economy, In addi- line mileage slightly. Soft tion; gradual braking. pro- tires also wear out more longs the life of brake lin- quickly, and may adverse- ings_ ly. affect vehicle handling, * 11* * thus creating a potential something to think about. As a citizen and as a driver you should know these statistics for 1972 issued by the Ontario Ministry of Transport and Com- munications: • total collisions increased by 19 per cent over the previous year; • fatalities increased by 9 per cent; • ,• • injuries increased by 122 per cent; • estimated property damage increased by 37 per cent; • motorcycle: deaths increased by 26.5 per cent; •S hpif the fatally ijnjured drivers, were impaired or had been • drinking. THINK ABOUT THESE ;ACTS WHEN YOU'RE BEHIND THE WHEEL. THEY DIRECTLY AFFECT YOUR sLI.F•E;-THELIVES OF OTHERS, AND THE COST OF YOUR INSURANCE. FASTEN YOUR SEATBELTS! DRIVE DEFENSIVELY THIS WINTER! ALEXANDER & CHAPMAN INSURANCE 8 The Square, Goderich • '524-6542 524-9662 V 11 Gas economy Checking out the i mite before embarking on their Gasoline Economy Bally, are students and an observer from a San Francisco -Rai, area high school. Rallies in San Diego and the Baty area showed that beginning drivers are capable . ,of getting unexpectedly • good gas mileage by keeping, .en- gines in tune and following sensible driving procedures. safety hazard. Many auto- mobile manufacturers rec- ommend Increasing. the tire ' air pressure by ap- .proximately four pounds before high-speed driving, Tires should not, however, • • be inflated above the max- imum recommended pres sure. • * *1‘ ,x KEEP THE ENGINE TUNED UP. Spark plug misfiring may result in a significant increase in fuel consumption. In labora- tory tests at speeds of 30 and .50 miles per hour, for example, spark plugs mis- firing 10• percent of the time resulted in an eight percent increase in fuel. consumption. In addition, ignition timing deviating from the manufacturer's , setting resulted in a sig- nificant decrease in fuel economy. For example, a° 10 degree retard in basic spark timing may result in an average. loss of 1.3 • miles per gallon at speeds of 30, 50, and 70 miles per hour. Drivers should be reminded that these and' other obstacles to efficient engine berformance can be eliminated with a 'com- plete tune-up. SERVICE AIR FILTER. A dirty air filter can cause a decrease in fuel econ- omy, and a decrease in power output, by restridt- f'ng the flow of air to, the engine. Drivers' should therefore_ be advised to change the air filter at specified - intervals, or ac - 'cording ,to the manufac- turer's reconimendations. In addition, frequent air filter servicing is required . if considerable driving , is 'done in sandy° or dusty conditions. * * * DON'T RIDE THE' .BRAKES. Even slight foot pressure on the brake ped- al can apply the brakes, • especially power,' brakes. This wastes fuel energy which might be used to move the car. It.also wears the brakes out faster than normal'. KEEP TRANSMISSION IN HIGH GEAR. Keep both automatic and man- ual transmissions in the highest gear possible. With manual transinisgion, shift into high gear as soon air you can; with an auto- matic transmission, use a Page 3 light foot on the acceler- , ator to encourage the transmission to shift into high gear quickly. These actions will save gasoline. MINIMIZE VEHICLE LOADS, Transporting un- , necessary weight in your car ' will cause .it to, use •more fuel. The difference is. -not great on level ground, but does show, up when climbing a hill and you will probably have to use your brakes more of- ten.. Hauling a trailer is even more costly in terms of extra. fuel consumption. In this case, not only must the weight of the unit be pulled, but the extra wind resistance of a large, boxy unit must be overcome. A compact car with a V-8 engine, •for example, may require twice as much fuel as normal when hauling a median -size trailer on a typical vacation„trip. * ' * SERVICE THE MANI- FOLD CONTROL VALVE. The manifold heat con- trol valve should be' inspected• and serviced periodically. This valve, located in the exhaust system of some vehicles, • allows exhaust gases to heat the, intake manifold .41uring cold engine oper- • r•'ation.-. These gases heat the area under the carbu- retor to aid in the vapori- zation of gasoline while the ,.engine is• cold. As the engine warms up, a tcm- perature-sensitive spring causes the valve. to direct all of the exhaust gases to the exhaust pipe and away from the intake manifold. A valve stuck in the open position , causes slow engine warm-up and poor cold -engine perform- ance. A valve stuck in the' closed position will catiw a loss of .po.wer and- hard starting with a hot engine. Are your brakes.ready for winter? why not take advantage of this special p Your car's brakes need regular check-ups. They may need relining right now. Here's what you get for this one price! For cars with front disc brakes: • Remove wheels,, disa'ssembie calipers and check condition • Check discs for run out and wear • Labour for installing front pads • Remove rear drums, inspect lining condition and wheel cylinders • inspect and measure drum condition • Assemble drums and wheels • CheEk master cylinder • Check brake lights • Final quality control test • NOTE Disc. machining, caliper rebuilding, drum tur- nin.g, s brecylinderxtra. replacement are extra. Rear lining Put 'your purchase on your Sunoco, Ch'argex or Mastercharge card. For cars with drum brakes: • Disassemble and examine wheels, drum shoes, springs and adjusting mechanism • Examine wheel cylinders *Inspect and measure all brake drums • Clean and lubricate backing plates, . • Inspect brake shoe return springs • Labour for installing linings, 4 wheels - • • Clean and lubricate adjusting mechanism • Inspect frontire'er-wheei seals *Examine' master cylinder • Adjust brakes • Check power cylinder • Check brake lights • Final quality control tesi Labour only Parts extra .. , most cars. HURQ N SUNOCO 87 Victoria Street, Goderich 524-6131 "We're here to serve ,you ' and your car” tir •