Archive for April, 2011

10 Best Tips For Saving Money on Your Car

After you get recommendations for honest mechanics, call around to check out the prices for certain jobs. It’s always smart to get a second opinion.

How about some preventative medicine? Keep your gas tank filled. This will help you avoid the gas line freezing up in cold weather. Also, driving on “fumes” allows little pieces of dirt at the bottom of your gas tank to run through the fuel lines with the last drops of gas. This debris clogs up the fuel filter and can cause carburettor damage as well.

Sometimes a problem with your car’s electrical system results from a simple blown fuse. Check to see if you have any blown fuses before investing in a tow truck! Keep track of how much oil your car uses. A sudden change in oil consumption means you need to see a technician. Save your brakes by having your brake fluid changed every 30,000 miles. Check your tire pressure once a month. This simple maintenance check can add up savings at the gas pump!

Stop and go traffic causes excess wear and tear on your vehicle. Go ahead and give your car a nice twenty minute ride at 55 mph on the highway every couple weeks if you “major” in short trips.

There are other ways to save money on car expenses. Let’s look at the insurance payments.

If you’ve budgeted for possible out-of-pocket expenses in case of a car accident, you might want to consider increasing your insurance deductible to 0. This will lower the cost of your insurance.

Talk to your insurance agent. If your car is as old as the hills, you might want to drop collision coverage to save money.

Car insurance companies offer a variety of discounts. Ask your agent if the company offers reductions for driver training courses, anti-lock brakes, car alarms, air bags, mature drivers, good students or maintaining a good driving record.

Before you purchase from a dealer, ask about the dealer’s return policy, get it in writing and read it carefully. Dealers are not required by law to give used car buyers a three-day right to cancel.

Each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional .10 per gallon for gas.

In most cases, using cruise control on the highway will save gas.

Replacing a clogged air filter can improve your car’s gas mileage by as much as 10 percent. This isn’t going to cost you an arm or leg either.

Do your homework when buying a car from an auction. Many vehicles that have been damaged by floods and hurricanes are going on the market. These won’t last long – leaving you with a flood of bills. Be a little concerned if the carpet looks too new, and check carefully for signs of rust.

If you use your car for business, keep track of miles travelled so that you can use this for a tax deduction. Get more info at irs.gov.

When you consider all the ways you can save money on your current vehicle, you might be persuaded to put away the extra each month for a new car down the road!

More Carburettors Articles

10 Best Tips For Saving Money on Your Car

After you get recommendations for honest mechanics, call around to check out the prices for certain jobs. It’s always smart to get a second opinion.

How about some preventative medicine? Keep your gas tank filled. This will help you avoid the gas line freezing up in cold weather. Also, driving on “fumes” allows little pieces of dirt at the bottom of your gas tank to run through the fuel lines with the last drops of gas. This debris clogs up the fuel filter and can cause carburettor damage as well.

Sometimes a problem with your car’s electrical system results from a simple blown fuse. Check to see if you have any blown fuses before investing in a tow truck! Keep track of how much oil your car uses. A sudden change in oil consumption means you need to see a technician. Save your brakes by having your brake fluid changed every 30,000 miles. Check your tire pressure once a month. This simple maintenance check can add up savings at the gas pump!

Stop and go traffic causes excess wear and tear on your vehicle. Go ahead and give your car a nice twenty minute ride at 55 mph on the highway every couple weeks if you “major” in short trips.

There are other ways to save money on car expenses. Let’s look at the insurance payments.

If you’ve budgeted for possible out-of-pocket expenses in case of a car accident, you might want to consider increasing your insurance deductible to 0. This will lower the cost of your insurance.

Talk to your insurance agent. If your car is as old as the hills, you might want to drop collision coverage to save money.

Car insurance companies offer a variety of discounts. Ask your agent if the company offers reductions for driver training courses, anti-lock brakes, car alarms, air bags, mature drivers, good students or maintaining a good driving record.

Before you purchase from a dealer, ask about the dealer’s return policy, get it in writing and read it carefully. Dealers are not required by law to give used car buyers a three-day right to cancel.

Each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional .10 per gallon for gas.

In most cases, using cruise control on the highway will save gas.

Replacing a clogged air filter can improve your car’s gas mileage by as much as 10 percent. This isn’t going to cost you an arm or leg either.

Do your homework when buying a car from an auction. Many vehicles that have been damaged by floods and hurricanes are going on the market. These won’t last long – leaving you with a flood of bills. Be a little concerned if the carpet looks too new, and check carefully for signs of rust.

If you use your car for business, keep track of miles travelled so that you can use this for a tax deduction. Get more info at irs.gov.

When you consider all the ways you can save money on your current vehicle, you might be persuaded to put away the extra each month for a new car down the road!

Personal Family Protection, Does the DIY Approach Make Sense?

There is a nice fellow in his fifties who lives down the road from me, he is known in the neighbourhood, as Colin, or Coalin, derivatives of Colin Powell.  During the first Gulf War, when first Colin Powell came to prominence word got out that he spent his spare time repairing old Volvos.  This fellow we call Coalin, lives in a fine house, he built an extension to his property with a glass roof – letting in natural light to his tinkering without affecting the value of his or his neighbour’s properties – this is one of the reasons he is regarded with considerable affection.  Anyways, the point being he knows about cars, what he doesn’t know about cars, how they work and how to repair them is not worth knowing. He is up there with the best of them when talk turns to engines, carburettors, fuel injection, engine management systems etc etc. Coalin, is an aficionado of the internal combustion engine, he is one of the cognoscente.  He needs no advice on cars and bikes and such like.

Very few of us could ever have or want to have the amount of knowledge Coalin has on the subject of the motor car, we’d be much better off trotting down to our local mechanics and trusting them to carry out any repairs for their standard fee.

For several tasks, as consumers we make the trade off between paying cash to an expert for a service, or trying to do it ourselves what we don’t pay in cash, we pay in time and a bit of cash in gathering knowledge and tools that we would subsequently use very rarely if ever.  Irespective of the level of skill the expert or professional would bring to the task at hand, in strict monetary terms, one’s wallet is lightened.

Family protection – the range of life insurance products that the average family requires to secure itself financially is one of the very groups of products or services where it costs nothing to hire an expert.  It pays to hire an intermediary such as a  chartered financial planner or similarly qualified insurance broker or financial adviser to perform two essential functions on your behalf the first would be to use his skill and qualifications do design the protection plan that is best suited to your circumstances; values and aspirations, like a tailor, he would take his tape and scissors to the standard products and find the combination of products and services including which bells and whistles constitute good value for money from the best providers to suit you.  The second task would be that he or indeed she would be able to access a far greater section of the market than you could – he should be able to save you time and make sensible comparisons of products and proffering opinions as to their relative suitability and of course discussing the trade off between price on the one hand and the benefits and features on the other.

The beauty of it all is that for the arrangement of insurance contracts, most financial advisers and financial planners would provide this service without charging a fee as they are paid commission by the insurance companies – strictly speaking they are introducing you or your  business to the insurance company.  There is no merit in approaching the insurance company directly as with obvious exceptions of those who make a virtue of not dealing with intermediaries, the insurance companies do not as a matter of course offer a discount for buying direct from them – in fact, their distribution channels are not tuned to serving the consumer .

What about price comparison websites I hear you say, well, these have their place, but they work on the fact that you are ‘average’ – for the love of all things we hold dear, which among us is average. These sites also put the onus on you to find the most suitable product for situation – something an intermediary would do for you as a matter of course.

Think about it, you, the consumer are getting advice, the intermediary is doing the legwork, finding the most suitable product for you and it does not cost you extra, so here’s what you need to do, except if you are a Coalin of the protection industry, find a good reason not to take advantage of this means of distribution.

What You Need to Know About Engine Tune Ups, Engine Repair and Engine Replacement

Automotive engine repair and engine replacement are major undertakings that can be very expensive, just like car transmission system repair and replacement. As a vehicle owner you should, therefore, educate yourself on it. To avoid untimely engine repair and engine replacement, you also need to know about engine tune-ups. Your best source of information would be an automotive mechanic in Tampa whom you trust. He should likewise be an expert in auto repair and truck repair as well as auto inspection. Do not rely only on the handyman who does your auto oil change. It would be much better if your automotive mechanic works in a reputable Tampa automotive shop that supplies only genuine car parts like those from AC Delco.

An engine tune up is a routine preventive maintenance service done on the vehicle engine according to the instructions of the engine manufacturer. These instructions can be found in the vehicle’s owner’s manual along with the recommended schedule of frequency for each procedure. This may cover the examination of the ignition system and emission controls; the replacement of certain parts of the ignition system such as the contact breaker, distributor cap or rotor button, if necessary; corrections in the air-fuel mixture, carburettor idle speed and valve; adjustments in the cylinder head bolts; and the replacement of filters and spark plugs. In newer vehicle models, engine tune ups are not needed too often and can be done once in every ten years. They should never be ignored, though.

Even with proper engine tune ups, there are still various factors that can lead to engine breakdown. When this happens, there is often a choice between engine repair or engine replacement. With engine replacement still comes the choice between getting a brand new engine, a used engine or a remanufactured engine.

Engine repair and replacement is recommended by most automotive mechanics in Tampa only if the vehicle is less than ten years old, with a market value exceeding ,000.00. Otherwise, the expense is not worthwhile and you are better off buying another vehicle.

Of course, engine repair is only possible if your engine is still repairable. Automotive mechanics in Tampa do not recommend repairing engines that have locked up or have been running for over 150,000 miles, making strange noises and burning oil.

For engine replacement, you will spend most if you go for a brand new engine, also called a crate engine. This is almost identical to your original engine or may even be better if the manufacturer has added upgrades to the same model. It comes with a solid warranty and ready for installation.

Less expensive than a brand new engine but not necessarily inferior to it is a remanufactured engine. This means a used engine has been totally overhauled and rebuilt with new components. Remanufactured engines meet and can even exceed the specifications and standards of original equipment manufacturer engines. They also come with solid warranties and ready for installation. Using a remanufactured engine that has been recycled is more ecologically sound and environmentally friendly.

The third option of getting a used engine is not recommended by reputable automotive mechanics in Tampa even if this is the cheapest choice. There is no guarantee that these used engines will last long.

Being diligent about your regular preventive maintenance procedures and engine tune ups will ensure that you will not have to spend for automotive engine repair and engine replacement sooner than necessary. At some point in the life of your vehicle, though, the need for engine repair and engine replacement is inevitable. If you are properly prepared, you can work well with your automotive mechanic in Tampa on this.

3 Reasons to Check Your Car’s Filters Regularly

It is simple commonsense to have your car serviced regularly, at least in accordance with your manufacturer’s recommendations. But between services, there are plenty of things you can do to keep your car in tiptop condition so that you can avoid expensive repairs.

Every driver is different and it is your driving style that largely determines how often your car needs to be serviced. Aggressive drivers or those who drive short distances in stop start traffic should pay closer attention to lubricants by topping up oil at least every week and checking your vehicle for signs of trouble.

One of the easiest things you can do is to check your car’s filters on a monthly basis. Filters are used to prevent damage in various parts of your engine and it is a simple preventative measure to maintain the filters in the best possible condition. They are like an insurance policy against costly engine repairs.

Let’s take a look at the filters you can check and some ideas on what to look out for.

Oil Filters. To maximise the life of your engine it is important to change your oil regularly, and at the very least in accordance with your manufacturer’s recommendations. In harsh climates or driving conditions you will need to change the oil more regularly. Similarly, aggressive drivers or those engaged in short frequent trips will also need to change the oil at more regular intervals. Changing oil is one thing, but your oil filter also needs to be changed every time you change the oil. This is because the oil filter is the first line of defence in protecting your crankshaft, so it plays a vital role in protecting the life of your car.
Air Filters. In the same way that oil filters work to protect your crankshaft and other vital engine parts, air filters play a similar role in protecting your fuel system from damaging dust and other dirt and grime that can accumulate in the combustion chamber. As a filter gets dirtier you will find fuel performance dropping and emissions levels increasing. Your mechanic will monitor the performance of these filters every time you have your car serviced and will generally alert you about having it replaced.
A fuel filter prevents impurities from entering into the fuel injection system thereby protecting the carburettor. Contamination can enter your system every time you fill the petrol tank. Underground storage tanks are subject to corrosion and without a fuel filter in place, the dirty petrol will soon clog up your fuel system.

It takes some expertise to check these filters and unless you are well equipped and acquainted with maintenance procedures for your vehicle, it is better to leave everything to your mechanic. Today’s modern engines often require specialist tools and many maintenance procedures are conducted through computer checks which are only accessible at major service centres.

The important thing to remember is that these filters need to be checked on a regular basis and if you cannot do it yourself get your mechanic to do it for you.