DIY (Do It Yourself) Car Maintenance Tips - Save money and get better Gas Mileage.

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If you neither own an Electric vehicle nor own an Oil well, you are most likely feeling the impacts of high gasoline prices ravaging the world. There are somethings you can do to mitigate this, and it all begins with properly maintaining your vehicle. In this short piece, we will look at some of the things you can do to improve gas mileage for your car. Some of the things you can do are so simple, and anyone can do it themselves. You don't need a mechanic, nor do you need to visit one to get these done.

To begin, as a car owner, there are some necessary tools you should own or have access to. These things save money and keep your car performing at optimal levels. Owning a car is very expensive, and it gets even more expensive if you have to go to a mechanic for everything. At a minimum, every car owner should have the following items in their car.

• A small toolbox - You will always need this to tighten lose screws and so on. 

As you use your car, screws will loosen and so on. You don't need to visit a mechanic to get them tightened. You can and should be able to do this on your own.

Let us now go through the list of things you can do to save money and get better gas mileage from your car.

• Clogged Fuel Injectors: - A clogged or bad fuel injector is one of the biggest Gas\Petrol wasters for every car owner.

Every modern car has fuel injectors. Fuel Injectors look like small needles with a hole. When you start your car, your fuel Pump delivers gasoline to the fuel injector.

How Fuel injectors work.

Fuel injectors are computer controlled to inject/spray fuel into the intake manifold at a very precise angle and timing. Intake manifolds are like a mixing chamber for fuel and air that is delivered to the engine. Once inside the Intake manifold, the Fuel and Air mix and are then compressed by the Pistons. The compression of the Air + Fuel, causes a chemical reaction, and the resulting controlled explosion is what powers your car.

As you use fuel, these injectors become clogged by dirty fuel. There are many additives you can buy and add to your fuel to clean them. Some high-grade fuels already come with injector cleaners. Consider buying and adding one every now and then to help clean out your injector systems. Don’t use them too often, but once every six months should be enough.

• Tire Inflator: - Every car owner needs to own one and always have it in the car.

An underinflated Tire is one of the biggest Gas wasters and accident waiting to happen. Your car burns more gas\petrol when your Tires are not properly inflated. Not only are underinflated Tires dangerous, they also waste money and gas\petrol. This so because, your car is designed to glide over the surface of the road when your Tires are properly inflated. Underinflated Tires makes your car DRAG instead of gliding as designed. Ultimately, when your car drags, they are quickly ruined and, the car, consumes more Petrol\Gas. A portable Tire inflator solves this problem. Plug it into a Cigarette lighter outlet in your car, turn it on and it inflates your Tires in less than five minutes. You should keep an eye on your tire pressure, always. The required tire pressure for every car in always pasted on the door or the glove compartment windows.

• Air Filter: - Your car needs OXYGEN just like you do. CHANGE OR WASH your Air Filters!

Your car needs AIR (OXYGEN) just like humans to function efficiently. The Air intake in every car is guarded by an AIR Filter. The purpose of the Air Filter is to stop pollutants from getting into your engine. As these pollutants are trapped by the Filter, the filter gets dirty and either needs changing or cleaning. When buying Air filters for your car, you can plan ahead and buy Reusable ones. They cost more but you save money by simply washing them instead of replacing them.  Replacing Air Filter is fairly easy, and anyone can do it. Depending on how dusty where you live is, the recommended interval is about three to six months. When in doubt, do a visual inspection. To change your Air Filter follow these steps:-
Step 1: Open your Hood.
Step2: Locate your Air Filter housing. [They are always in a square box with clips on both sides]. Open the clip. Remove the old one and replace with new one or Washed one.

• OFFLOAD All unnecessary stuff you are carrying in your car.

Yes, the more load your car carries, the more petrol\gas it consumes. Clean out your car of all the unnecessary junk you are carrying around. 

That's it for now. In the next piece, we will look at other things you can do to minimize Gas\Petrol consumption. These are things you can do, but they are not necessarily Do It Yourself items. You may have to visit a mechanic for these.