Who is Steve? My mechanic. He's one of those little guys who works from home that has lube running through his veins. He doesn't use a fancy computer to tune your motor, he puts the end of a screwdriver on the engine and the other on his ear and "listens" to the engine. His love of mechanics is so profound you have to tell him to charge you more or leave a tip, cause he's got to "make a livin".
Well tonight he passed along a couple of tips which i thought I'd pass along. OK, so you knew already but perhaps there's someone out there who might just benefit from my embarrassment of not knowing or is that my stupidity. I don't want any dumb female comments, OK! These tips were provided by Steve after i explained that i thought my engine was running a bit rough.
Tip 1 - Even though you might have a fancy smancy car that tells you how much fuel you have, down to the last litre, like mine, doesn't mean you should run down to that last litre before you pull into a petrol station. Why? Because all the sediment lies on the bottom of your tank and you are just putting dirty fuel through your injectors that you paid good money to keep in tip top condition and then paid premium price for the super dooper fuel that suppose to protect your engine. DOH!
I really don't know why i do it. It shouts at me when i have 80km left. Then again at 40km and practically has a hernia when there is only 20km left but still i creep in when is practically gagging for it.
Perhaps I'm trying to squeeze the last little bit out of the $100 it takes to fill these days.
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| I know Gav is shouting "Get A Hybrid"!!!! I would if i could afford it. Next car, OK! |
Tip 2 - For the same reason above, do not buy your fuel when you see a tanker on site filling up the underground tanks. If you think there is sediment in your car's tank then imagine the depth of it in a massive underground tank that's rarely cleaned out and visualise a big inflow of fuel that's going to stir it all up. Wait a day or so or go somewhere else.
I hope you take these words of advice from Steve and keep your engine healthy. A happy engine is an efficient one that uses less fuel.
All good advice. These guys are worth their weight in gold aren't they?
ReplyDeleteBarb
Great tips. I did know about the first one but had never considered the second one.
ReplyDeleteOur mechanic is called Steve too! I think all mechanics have to sign an oath to change their name to "Steve" to make it easier for we "customers" when they finish their apprenticeship. I wish my "Steve" was great with cars...it would save us a fortune. Might be our next Polytechnic course as at least we could use the skills in the real world ;). As someone who used to work in a petrol station I can catagorically say that you are 100% correct about these 2 tips (no "Steve" needed ;)) and another tip...if you car (say Jag) says "diesel" DON'T fill it up with unleaded because you are a wizz-bang doctor who could care LESS about the sign saying "turn off your mobile phone" and spend the time pumping and yacking (behind the bouser so you KNOW what you are doing sir!) and then have to pay $120 for the wrong fuel AND have your car towed at your own expense, drained of unleaded and then get yourself a new engine...kind of made those long hours shuffling crisp packets all worthwhile ;)
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