Engineering Magazines

What do we all want while driving? To provide for our families, loved ones, and what have you. How do you accomplish this? There are a whole slew of roads to travel, but one main ingredient is a family car that is always 100% reliable. And if driving creates you running errands faster, to save money on gas, and decreasing air pollution, you win twice. Your 1993 Ford Tempo or whichever car, truck, van, or boat you drive needs to be performing at top capacity.

The most important thing you can do for your car is make regular auto maintenance check-ups, service all the automotive liquids. Oh, by the way, be sure to check your car’s liquids every 2 weeks. That means your oil, coolant, power steering fluid, and transmission liquids. Make checking your tires a constant too. My ex-girlfriend recently called me up and cried that one of her tires exploded driving under a freeway. Yikes. Also, don’t forget to maintain a proper fuel tank level according to your particular car’s engine (see car owner manual). A car owner manual is like the bible of your vehicle. If you don’t already have one, get one. You’ll wish you had one if your car breaks down in the desert.

Your car engine will thank you with better performance and quicker reaction times, which is an essential part of keeping you and your family and friends safe on the road. Make yourself aware of this info. It may save the life of your engine one day. It will save you money on gas and auto maintenance.

Choose the right fuel. Your vehicle is designed to take regular unleaded fuel, which will have this symbol (87) on the pump at the gas station. The 87 symbol refers to the level of octane in the fuel. Using lower grade of fuel will jack up your car engine and will cause heavy knocking, which could easily damage your engine. I drive a Ford Tempo, and my car owner manual says to use the 87 grade of gas.

Higher grade fuels will protect your fuel system from rusting and protect against fuel lock in the fuel system (causes engine to hesitate/stall and hard to restart). In addition, it will minimize fuel deposits in fuel injection system, and prevent your engine from knocking/pinging.

Higher grade fuels will also prevent the fuel system from “gumming up” when not run for long periods of time, not to mention help your, Ford Tempo perhaps, start more easily in winter while assisting in help the prevention of freezing fuel lines.

Tips to increase gas mileage include not driving at life-threatening highway speeds can dramatically lower your fuel economy. It maybe fun, but it’s the car that you don’t see that will do the most damage. Gradually increasing your speed will save you precious fuel. And the way gas prices have been, it is nice not having to cram all your money into your gas tank. Extended idling of your engine will lower your miles per gallon.

I hope theses tips allow you to spend more time with your family and friends. As well as save money on gas, and auto maintenance. Enjoy!

Save at least $30 by changing your oil yourself every time. When it comes time to change the oil of your Ford Tempo, doing it yourself could save you up to $30 or more. How do you know when to change your oil?

Change your oil every 3000 miles or about every 3 months, whichever comes first. SAE 5W-30 motor oil is the preferred motor oil to use for all weathering conditions, but if you are like me and live in moderate to hot temperatures then SAE 10W-30 motor oil is also acceptable.

Never change your engine oil while the engine is hot. This should be common sense. If your engine is hot, wait 2 hours. You could suffer terrible burns from your car’s engine or oil drainage. We don’t want any hospital bills over here.

Locate your car’s oil pan drain plug. Place an oil pan underneath the plug so you don’t spill any oil on the ground. Unscrew the drain plug and let the oil drain out for about 20 minutes to ensure all oil has poured out. Screw the plug back in. If you start pouring oil in without the plug tightly fastened then you are in for a greasy mess.

Locate the oil filter, unscrew it, and take it off. The oil filter is the piece that is shaped like half a cylinder. Be careful because oil will want to leak out of it after you unscrew it so keep it upside down. Then screw the new oil filter in.

Pour the correct amount of oil in for your vehicle. For a 2.3L engine, the oil amount should be 5 quarts. If you have a 2.3L engine, make sure the oil filter says FL-300. For 3.0L Tempo engines, you will want to put only 4.5 quarts of oil in, and make sure the oil filter says FL-400A.

If your car has a lot of miles on it (lets say +80,000), it might be a good idea to use oil that is specifically designed for cars with high mileage. I use Valvoline High Mileage and it seems to work pretty good for my 1993 Tempo (+120,000 mi).

A quick auto maintenance tip to keep in mind is to periodically check the ground underneath your parked vehicle. Look for any liquids that look like they are new. If it looks like fresh liquid, there could be a chance that it is coming from your car. Be sure to keep an eye the next time your car is parked for a while to confirm any suspicious liquid.

Just for reference, reddish liquid will be power steering fluid, brownish liquid will probably be oil, and if it is a bluish liquid it is most likely radiator coolant.

Check your oil level every couple of weeks. Make sure your oil level is within the regulated guidelines located at the bottom of your oil dip stick. Your dip stick is the stick with a round, usually colored ring at the top. All you do is pull it out, wipe off excess oil with a rag, stick it back in, pull it out again, hold it level, and decipher where the oil line stops.

Don’t be an idiot. Always properly dispose of any used oil. Local auto parts stores and service stations usually have a receptacle in the back of their store where you can recycle any used oil. Start recycling now before we jack Earth up anymore and there is nothing left to protect.

Making sure that your car stays at its optimal level of operation is about having regular maintenance performed on your vehicle. However, there are so many parts that need periodic checkups that it may be difficult to know what to check or change and when. It is helpful, however, simply to look at the various systems that make a car run.

You’re probably pretty familiar with the things you need to do to keep the engine running smoothly, like changing the oil every 3,000 miles or three months. In addition, you should change the oil filter, air filter and fuel filter regularly. Keep an eye on your spark plugs and accompanying wires, as well as the PCV valve.

Most things simply need to be checked regularly because they shouldn’t be breaking down, at least not unless your car is very old. Systems like the transmission and the emission system need a yearly checkup.

Your brake system, however, may need more regular attention. If anything strange appears to be happening with your brakes (you should be able to tell if they don’t “feel” right), then you should have them checked by a professional. For instance, there could be air in the hydraulic system or an imbalance.

The brake pads will also need changing from time to time. You can tell if your brakes begin squealing or grinding, creating metal-on-metal sounds. This system should also be inspected regularly to prevent major breakdowns at inconvenient times, such as when you seem to be careening at a high speed into another vehicle.

A car’s climate control system may actually be working year-round in some areas, so it is important that you have yours inspected regularly, even if you live in a climate where it is not necessary to use the heater or the air conditioner much. While the car’s climate control system works to keep you cool, the cooling system keeps the engine itself cool, which is very, very important to the life of your car. Your engine has a lot of moving metal parts that are difficult to keep cool.

However, car engines are technological wonders, using fans and liquids to keep the engine from catching fire, blowing up, or just heaving a big sigh and quitting. The cooling system is best cared for by checking the coolant levels in the reservoirs and checking the wear and tear on hoses. In addition, ask your mechanic regularly to flush your cooling system to replace the dirty coolant with clean fluid.

The final system to keep an eye on is the suspension system, which is the shocks, springs and struts, as well as the steering and tires. One interesting thing about this system is that your tires can act as a monitor for the rest of the suspension system. For instance, heavy wear on one edge of your tires can signal an alignment problem and the need for maintenance.

Thinking about all the hundreds of parts in your car in terms of systems makes keeping a maintenance schedule much easier. Having a regular maintenance schedule can help prevent the necessity of costly repairs.