Guess what?  Gas prices are rising again.  Before you know it, summer is here and there are more drivers on the streets.  Gas prices will rise again.  So to help you save some money and improve fuel mileage, here are 12 quick ways to get the most from your vehicle while spending less at the pumps.  In no particular order of importance :

# 1 Tire Pressure

Check it regularly and set the tires to the specifications set inside the door of your vehicle.  Under-inflated tires can lower gas mileage by 0.3 percent for every 1 psi drop in pressure of all four tires.

# 2 Battery

If the battery is not in good condition, that will cause the alternator to charge all the time trying to charge the battery.  That consumes power and that reduces mileage.    Check the battery indicator on top of the battery to see if its needs to be replaced.

# 3 Air Filters

Check your airfilter to make sure its nice and clean.  According to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), replacing a clogged air filter can increase your mileage by 10 percent, while replacing an oxygen sensor could result in an improvement as high as 40 percent.  Experts recommend that air filters should be replaced every 15,000 miles or 10,000 miles if you live in a dusty climates.  It takes only about 5 minutes to replace the air filter.

#4 - E10 Ethanol

Most of the country have a new fuel called E10.  It’s 10% ethanol and 90% gasoline.  Ethanol is a renewable resource and it cleans up tail pipe emissions, but it lowers fuel economy.  Don’t confuse it with E85 which is 85% ethanol and must only be used in cars that are flex fuel capable.

#5 - Excess Cargo.

Golf clubs, bowling balls, suit cases, etc.  Get rid of it because you are paying for every mile that you haul it around.  An extra 100 pounds in your vehicle could reduce your MPG by up to 2%. The reduction is based on the percentage of extra weight relative to the vehicle’s weight and affects smaller vehicles more than larger ones.

#6 - Heavy Oil

Contrary to the belief that heavy engine oil is better, heavy oil means that its harder to push through the engine.  That requires power, which requires more fuel.  Check our owner’s manual to see what type of engine oil that you should be running.

#7 Thermostat

A bad thermostat that makes the car run too cool or makes the computer think that the car is running cooler than it should.  Excess energy to keep the car cooler is fuel that you are wasting.

#8 - Oxygen Sensor “O2 Sensor”

By looking at the downstream exhaust coming out of the engine, the oxygen sensor is going to provide you with an opportunity to have your onboard computer measure the oxygen content of your fuel mixture as it comes out of the exhaust.  As it comes out of the exhaust the level of the oxygen tells the computer whether to make the mixture richer or leaner.  If its running too rich, that means too much fuel is being used.  That means if there is malfunction in the oxygen sensor, it will tell the computer to use more fuel.  The oxygen sensor can be checked out by your technician or if you are an advanced student then you can do it yourself.  Shop manuals do have a procedure for checking the o2 sensor operation.  Note:  O2 sensors are only on later model vehicles.

#9 Spark plugs

Spark plugs are lasting longer these days.  Before as in the 1970’s, they run about 12-15,000 miles before replacement.  In the 1980’s thru the early 1990’s they run about 25,000 - 30,000. Nowadays, they run up to 100,000 miles +.  Nevertheless, engine efficiency is failing, if you have a rich mixture coming thru the fuel system or if you have oily residue from the spark plugs that causes the spark plugs not to ignite the ignition.  If the color of the electrodes (top and center of the spark plugs) is tan in color, then you are okay.  However, if they are black or shiny and oily, you are having an engine malfunction and should have it checked out.

# 10 - Plug Wire

Giving the power to the spark plug is the plug wire; giving anywhere between 15,000 to 60,000 volts.  That plug wire has to have proper flow of the electrons and can’t be comprised by cracked insulation or fatique rubber installation

#11 - Distributor Cap and Rotor

The distributor cap is usually only for earlier models.  The cap has electrodes in it and the electrodes are the devices that provide power to the wire plug.  The caps on the outside can get fatiqued by heat.  Sometimes you can get some short circuiting across the cap if its older.

# 12 Diesel Engine & Vegetable Oil

You may be tempted to run that diesel engine on vegetable oil.  Well don’t do it.  It may work for a while, but it could cause internal engine damage from deposits over the long haul.  And remember if you live where it gets chilly in the morning, that vegetable oil could very much look like lard and the engine isn’t going to run.

Following up on the blog ‘10 Things to do before taking a Road Trip during the Holidays,‘ here are 10 things you should do to the house before leaving on the Road Trip.

1.  Water all necessary plants in the house.

2.  Supply additional food for pets, if any.

3.  Make sure all unnecessary appliances around the house is shut off.  (Don’t forget the air and heater.)

4.  Add additional window locks.  There are many types of window locks.  There are even window locks with keys, where if intruders break the window, they won’t be able to open the window without the key.  Some of the window locks uses Allen keys.  If someone was to break the window they still can use an Allen key to take off the locks.  It all depends what kind of window it is.

5.  Add additional garage locks, so they can’t be open even with the push of the automatic garage opener.  If the lock can be inside of the garage, its even better because there’s no outside access.

6.  Add auto timers for lighting to give it that ’someone is home look.’  There are digital timers where each day of the week can get set to different timing.  Home Depot they have a variety of different ones to choose from: www.homedepot.com.

7.  Make sure the house alarm is set on and that the alarm service agency has your cell number and other numbers to contact you in case the alarm goes off.  If you don’t have an alarm systems get those battery powered alarm sensors.  If the senors goes off it turns on the alarm sirens.

8.  Have a trust worthy neighbor, or better yet friend and family to contact in case there’s an emergency at the home.  Also maybe if they can come by daily to check the outside of the house to make sure window or door are not damaged.

9.  Make sure all expensive personal items are locked and hidden in secure place.  There many fake house hold products that are used as a hidden stash.

10. Knowing these step are checked and double check, you then have little worries and have a great vacation.

Happy Holidays everyone!!!

Road Trip

When vacation time is over and everyone is back a home.  Please remember to take off the extra security lock or just make sure each lock has access to the key.  In case of an emergency,  and exit plan must be taken.  For instance, in case the window need to be an exit plan remember to have access to the window lock key.

After a few Cirque du Soleil shows in Vegas, I had high expectations for Criss Angel’s ‘Believe.’ My first Vegas show was ‘La Reve,’ which had amazing water stunts.  The next show I watched after my next stay in Las Vegas was ‘Ka‘ and the whole stage was alive and moved in all angles.  The third show I watch during my other visits in Vegas was The “O,” and it was fantastic as the rest of the two.  Each show had its one style and story.  So after watching these three big shows in Vegas, it gave me an excitement to watch magic mixed with Cirque du Soleil.

We were at the 2008 Sema show in Vegas at the time and booked our tickets in advance for the show.  I must say that I was very disappointed.  His magic tricks were old school and not like the one I’ve seen on his television series, ‘MindFreak.’ (Not to bad mouth, I do like watching MindFreak).  One of his first tricks was the disappearing act.  I knew he dropped down into the stage floor doors because later in the show there was many floor stage doors where props came out of.  The next magic that was very disappointing.  Talking about old school, I can’t believe he actually did the dove trick.  He pulled doves out of his coat (…boring) and the only surprising thing was actually seeing one of the dove fell.  At the very back row seats there was balcony section up top where the doves flew into after the trick was done, and one of the bird suddenly drop down from the balcony area onto a person sitting in the last row.  I would have been a little freaked out to see a bird drop on my lap.  Another disappointing trick, yes there was more disappointment, was his changing of clothes.  There was a big screen where he ran around and as he ran behind the big screen he change into different color clothes.  -The thing was, the stage was dim and you didn’t know if it was really him or a double.  There was a few more other magic trick that were decent and some where interesting.

So lets not forget the Cirque du Soleil, some of the dancing acts were ok and some were just plain boring.  It was more abstract dancing than Cirque du Soleil.  As I mentioned, there was a huge screen tv, some of the story was played on video, and watching a ‘live’ act show, I was once again disappointed.

Not going into detail for those who haven’t seen it.  If you have seen it, then leave your comments here.  If you haven’t, I would recommend watching other magic shows if you wanted to see magic, or other Cirque du Soleil than this one.  Or by any means, just watch his ‘Mind Freak’ series, because  there’s more magic in that 30 minutes than this whole two hour event.  He mentioned during this show that he was thankful to have Luxor sign his show with a 10 year contract.  He definitely need to change his show around to have it last that long.

Criss Angel Believe Cirque du Soleil

In recent weeks, one of my co-workers injured himself while trying to lift a box containing a crib for his new born baby boy. Vince told me not to mention his name in the blog so I told him I won’t. What I will do is tell you how he hurt himself. First off, he is about 5’6 inches tall and about 150lbs soaking wet trying to lift a box a bit more then half his weight. He told me he did not stretch or prepared for the lift because he did not realize how heavy it was. He barely bent his knees and when he lifted the box which was bit further from where he was so he had to reach a bit over on front to lift, and the rest was history. This is totally the wrong way to lift any heavy object. Now, I am going to explain how to lift a box properly without hurting yourself so when you recieve a package from UPS containing R1 Concepts rotors, you know what to do:

According to family doctor.org:

-         Warm up by stretching your legs and your back before lifting anything especially if you are over 25yrs old, lol.

-         Make sure you have enough room to lift safely.

-         Make sure the weight is balanced and packed so it won’t move around.

-         Be sure you have a tight grip on the object before you lift it.

-         Get as close as you can to the load. Slide the load towards you if you can.

-         Don’t arch your back; avoid reaching out for an object.

-         Do the lifting with your legs and your arms, not your back.

-         Use the slow and precise movements. Hurried, jerky movements can pull and strain the muscles in your back.

-         Keep your body facing the object while you lift. Twisting while lifting can hurt your back.

-         Lifting with your legs should be done only when you can straddle the load. To lift with your legs bend your knees, not your back, to pick up the load. Let your legs lead the way up. Keep your back straight.

-         Try to carry the load in the space between your shoulder and your waist. The box should be snug against your body. This puts less strain on your back muscles.

-         And last but not least, if the box is too heavy, GET SOME HELP!

Note: Need brake rotors and pads for your loading vehicle? Visit us at R1 concepts

(Info provided by family doctor.org)

• Discount Code:  CW8SAVINGS10P
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• Time Period: Offer ends September 4, 2008

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