6 Reasons Your Car Consumes More Fuel Than Normal

Fuel consumption of a vehicle is of much concern to majority of the people that drive internal combustion engine vehicles. It is even more disturbing when you realize that your car is thirstier and is consuming more than it’s supposed to.

In case you have noticed that your car consumes more than normal, here are some reasons why it is so.

1. Bad Engine Oil
This shouldn’t sound strange to you. Engine oil has much role to play when it comes to the performance of your car engine.

When you use the recommended grade of engine oil, the engine runs well with less strain and hence will avoid your engine from working hard – low mileage is the price it pays.

It is therefore wise to use the recommended OEM engine oil.

2. Driving style
Aggressive drivers are bound to have poor fuel mileage. The way you drive your car has a lot of role to play when it comes to improved mileage. The way you accelerate, the way you apply the brake, the way you change your gear (for manual transmission) etc.

Unnecessary revving makes your car consume more fuel.

Using the cruise control can go a long way in curbing this especially during interstate travel.

3. Under or over inflated tyres
Driving your car on tyres that are not properly inflated consumes fuel. When the tyres are under-inflated, the surface area of the tyre in contact with the road increases. This will in turn cause rolling resistance to increase; more fuel will burn. On the other hand, over-inflation causes loss of traction which makes your car do more work to stay on the road.

Research has shown that a decrease in tyre pressure by 10 psi can lead to 2.5% increase in fuel consumption.

4. Misalignment in the chassis and suspension part
It is not only unsafe to drive your car when the suspension systems and the chassis are bad; it also affects your gas mileage.

Always inspect for misalignment. Broken springs, worn suspension, bent wheel and bent axle can cause the drivetrain drag to increase.

5. Bad air filter
If you always drive in dusty conditions, it is advisable to change the air filter at least the number of times specified by the car manufacturer.

6. Bad spark plugs
Bad spark plugs cause your car to under-perform, consume more fuel, and sometimes cause engine vibration.

For example, in an inline-4 cylinder car that uses 4 spark plugs. If you have a bad plug, one cylinder will be affected and this will cause the engine system to be insufficient of one cylinder.

This will make the remaining 3 cylinders to work harder than normal. This burns more fuel and causes more strain on the engine.

If you notice your vehicle is consuming more fuel than usual, have your plug checked.

In a nutshell, always maintain a good maintenance habit when it comes to your car.

Source : AutoJosh