Tip & How-To about Cars & Trucks

Improve drop in fuel economy in older Vehicles

If your vehicle's miles per gallon has dropped and feels a bit sluggish and doesn't free wheel in neutral like it use to and your vehicle is over 8 years old it may be because the brakes are not releasing properly and dragging on the Disc/rotor, this is due to the rubber seals in the calipers going hard, in normal operation when you apply the brakes and the piston is forced out and the seal leans out, when the brakes are released and as the seal returns back to normal position it pulls the piston back away from the Disc/rotor, to easily check if your vehicle has this problem, drive the vehicle for several miles then stop and touch each of the centers of all the wheels, if any are hot to the touch jack them up and try spinning the wheel, if it is hard to spin then the brake caliper will need servicing. NOTE: it is recommended to service both front or rear calipers as a pair. Correcting this issue can save you a ton of money on fuel bills and brake pads.

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1answer

My miles per gallon dropped from 20-22 to 15-16. Diagnostic code 0440 be the result of this drop?

Perhaps.
We will need to know the year, make, model, and mileage of your vehicle to start, then it will be really helpful if you could give us a service history.
God bless your efforts.
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4answers

How much money in gas will i spend in a 224 mile trip, at $2.29 a gallon?

Depends on miles per gallon of vehicle. Average mpg of say 15 mpg would take 15 gallons to travel 225 miles.(15x15=225). At $2.29 per gallon @15 gallons=$34.35. So figure out mpg of your vehicle and do the math.
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1answer

2004 Honda Civic Hybrid. I drive the same route of 300 miles on the interstate 2 or more times a month. I drive the same speed each time at the posted speed limit which varies from 65- 70 miles/hour. I have consistantly gotten 45 miles per gallon. After an oil change and tune up by the dealer servoce center in the fall 2008 the mileage immediately dropped to 38 miles per gallon. I checked my tire pressure and it improved to 39 miles per gallon. Any other suggestions?

First things I would look at is,did they put 10w30 oil in and not 5w20 or 0w20,it makes a difference in mileage (if they run out of the correct viscosity oil they WILL put in what they have).
Did the service include a spark plug change?Is the spark plug gap correct?
Did they do a brake service?Is a brake dragging,a little to tight?Did they clean the throttle body?Maybe the engine was running a little lean before and now is at the proper fuel mixture,with less MPGs but running clean at the exhaust.
Weather conditions?Head winds and colder temps reduce MPG.
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1answer

Grinding on a 1997 Lincoln Continental

need to check the wheel bearings - tire size if you have replaced the tires recently
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1answer

How many gallons per hour does this car lose?

hey
at the begging u should clarify how many gallon u used.
112 miles at 28 miles per gallon --> 4 gallons burned (112/28)
So that means we leaked 11 - 4 = 7 gallons

Now figure out how long the car was driving.
112 miles at 64 miles per hour --> 1.75 hours

So, leak was at a rate of 7 gallons in 1.75 hours
7/1.75 = 4 gallons per hour leaked.
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