Neutral - The Forgotten Gear

SAVE MONEY WITH BETTER FUEL MILEAGE

I years past we, as drivers, have relied on the "Over-Drive" gear to get us the peak fuel mileage we desired. It is true that in highway driving, Over-drive is the best gear to have your vehicle in to achieve this goal. But when it comes to city driving, Neutral can be the friend your best friend. My daily driver is a 1989 Chevrolet Corvette that has around 65,000 miles on it. It is a 6 speed manual shift. The Corvette has a 350 ci. tune port fuel injection V8 engine, and is stock. I do keep the oil changed regular and replace plugs every other year. The vehicle is equipped from the factory with a shift light that gives you the best points to shift at to achieve the best fuel mileage and also has a digital "instant average fuel mileage" meter. I had been getting around 22 mpg with my normal driving habits. Recently with the inflated fuel pricing I started paying closer attention to the shift light and my fuel mileage increased to 24 mpg. After a few fill ups and still getting 24 mpg I almost became obsessed with the fuel mileage. Being a mechanic and owning my own shop, not to mention my education in the field, i wanted to come up with a way to increase my fuel mileage further. And the most efficient way, was to continue shifting when the shift light suggests and pop the gear selector into neutral and coast as often as it permits. Yes, every down hill can be achieved with neutral (still maintaining the speed limit with in 5 mph) and my fuel mileage jumped to 26 mpg. It may not seem like much but every bit helps. I enjoy seeing the look on peoples faces when I tell them that my big V8 Corvette gets 26 mpg in the city! And I would be willing to bet that your fuel mileage can improve also by not forgetting about Neutral and the best thing is, it has no additional cost and doesn't have to be added. It has been there for years but sadly overlooked.

Air Conditioner Not Working - Troubleshooting

Air Conditioning System Diagram

HOW IT WORKS: Freon is compressed and flows through the condenser where it is cooled into a liquid. The freon passes through the receiver/dryer to remove moisture. Once the freon leaves and enters the expansion valve/orifice tube The high pressure liquid becomes a vapor and is extremely cold as it passes through the evaporator and on to the compressor to repeat the cycle. HOW TO TROUBLESHOOT IT : Check for Compressor Clutch Engagement - Turn the air conditioner to the "on" position and set controls to the coldest setting. Start the engine and allow to idle. Then open the hood and inspect the clutch at the front of the compressor, is it turning? "engaged" if so, the system has enough refrigerant to activate. If the system is low on refrigerant it will not work properly. In this case an air conditioner recharge kit is needed to recharge the system. If the compressor clutch is not turning proceed to next step.

The key is difficult to insert / remove from ignition

QUESTION:

I have a 94 Camry. The key is difficult to insert / remove from ignition and won't turn at all. I've tried the spare key and it won't even insert all the way into the lock. Saw online about removing lock cylinder, but can't turn to ACC position

Answer:

You can either drill the lock cylinder which is no picnic or what I do is drive a square shank screw driver into the key slot then put a wrench on the shank and force the tumbler cylinders to the ACC position. Obviously use common sense here not to break the whole housing off. I have had good success at doing it this way.

2005 Chevy Silverado error code P0449 registers

Question: 2005 Chevy Silverado error code P0449 registers when cleared it comes back after a couple starts. What could be the problem Answer: This is usually a problem with the Evaporative Emission Canister Purge Solenoid. If it was me, I would do a bit of troubleshooting BEFORE replacing parts. You could just have a loose or broken wire or connector.

Where are the transmission fill ports and fluid level checks for a 2003 Ford Explorer

QUESTION:

Where are the transmission fill ports and fluid level checks for a 2003 ford explorer. i dropped the pan and come to find out that i do not have a normal fill port. Need to put the transmission fluid back in the vehicle to get it on the road. Tools and any other key facts would be greatly appreciated. Already Tried: Looking for fill ports for the transmission fluid and really could not distinguish where to put the transmission fluid. have had other " good car guys" look at it an they were just as befuddled. need to know how to so i can get my car back on the road.

ANSWER:

There is a special tool that screws into the "drain plug in the bottom of the pan. But if you can rig up something to squirt the fluid into the pan from the bottom then you do not need the tool. The easiest way is to put as much fluid that you can in the pan itself before bolting the pan back up. This makes the job a hell of a lot easier. Then start the truck let it get pretty warm and open the plug on the bottom of the pan(just the TX-30 torx bit screw) and when fluid just barely flows out of the hole then you are going to be at approx the correct level.

Vistaprint Coupons

If you own your own business or are thinking of starting one then there is no better way to look professional than with a quality business card and printed apparel with your company Logos displayed for all eyes to see. Vistaprint has be around for years and I personally have used there services and have received adequate service. If you head over to the vistaprint web site by following the link posted above you will be taken to a self help logo creation template. You simply add your desired text where asked to do so and follow the instructions. You will be prompted with at least a dozen different designs and you can even opt for text only if you wish. If you want to have a professional design something more extensive they offer this service as well. Vistaprint also offers other services and is offering some discounts for these other services. I have added the coupon codes below for reference in case there is something you might want to save some money on. Coupon Code - Description Labels50 - 50% Off Address Labels FreeInvite - 10 Free Invites BizCard08 - 50% Off Business Cards FreeBrochures08 - 25 Free Brochures CarDoor25 - 25% off Car Door Magnets Checks25 - 25% off Checks PC50 - 50 Free Oversized Postcards Stamps50 - 50% Off Small Rubber Stamps TShirts25 - 25% Off T-shirts

How Can I stop my 85 Chrysler 5th ave to pass emissions if it smokes

Oil smoke (blue) or coolant smoke (white) will not cause your vehicle to fail emissions test. If you have Fuel Smoke (Black) this will fail you. This is caused by a rich running condition. First place to start would be a complete tune up and if there is a check engine light on, have necessary repairs made to turn light off. If this is a carburetor engine, you may also need to have the carburetor tuned and the ignition timing set. No need to worry about the smoke if it isn't black.

ac not working

Question: I have a alero Oldsmobile gls 2.4 and the ac is not working. leak test negative pressure is fine compressor not kicking on Answer; Most common issue is low freon. Even if it is low on freon it can still have pressure: Now if you are certain it is not low on freon, then it is electrical. The first test to do would be to apply power directly to the compressor to see if the clutch pulls in. If it does not: Replace the compressor/Clutch (most come together). If it does pull in then follow these steps to diagnose the issue STEP by STEP Air Conditioning Troubleshooting

car is making a low moaning sound when it gets to around

HUB BEARING

Question: My car is making a low moaning sound when it gets to around 30 to 40 mph. The mechanic I took it to today drove it and said it was the wheel barrings and that it would cost $250 to $350 to fix. It''s a 2001 Toyota Camry. What do you think about this price? Answer: If the noise has been verified as that then this is a very fair price. The part is not more than $50 but the labor is intensive on the bearings.

Troubleshooting your Air Conditioning System

Air Conditioning Compressor

Ok, the Air Conditioning Compressor Clutch will not engage, so lets figure out why not. With the ignition key on, unplug the low pressure switch (clutch cycling switch) and place a jumper wire across the connector. The switch is generally located on the side of the accumulator. If the compressor clutch does not click in then you need to check for Battery Voltage at the connector. If you do have Power leaving the A/C Clutch Relay and heading to the compressor but not power at the clutch, then replace the wire between the two.

Troubleshooting your Air Conditioning System