Tuesday, May 31, 2011

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We'd like to direct your attention to a car-care blog aimed specifically at helping women care for and maintain their own vehicles.  It's entertaining, smart, down-to-earth, savvy, and yes, authored by women.  Check it out, and remember to use these coupons for great ways to save money at your local Jiffy Lube. 

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Thursday, May 26, 2011

Green Maintenance Tips

Drive a "Green" Machine
When it comes to your individual ability to minimize your impact on the environment, you're in the driver's seat. The choices you make regarding vehicle maintenance and driving style can greatly impact the environmental impact your vehicle may cause. Here are some easy and effective ways to drive "green."
Maintain Your Vehicle
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), vehicles and trucks contribute significantly to carbon monoxide pollution and ground-level ozone, a major component of smog. By properly maintaining your vehicle, you can improve your fuel economy, prolong the life of your vehicle, and prevent it from leaking emissions that can harm the environment. The following are easy ways to maintain your vehicle for optimal performance and to minimize environmental impact:
Follow the proper maintenance procedures outlined in your vehicle's owner's manual. It will not only pay off for the environment, but for you as well—making your vehicle last as much as 50% longer, according to the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE).
Keep your engine properly tuned. According to the ASE, one misfiring spark plug can reduce your fuel efficiency by as much as 30%.
Properly inflate and regularly rotate your tires. By keeping your tires in check, you can prevent uneven wear, which can shorten the life of your tires and make your engine work harder. You'll also save money by avoiding unnecessary wear and tear on your engine.
Dispose of used motor oil properly. Fast lube oil change service centers, like Jiffy Lube®, do this for you if you bring your vehicle there for service. Do-It-Yourselfers should also take their used oil to a Jiffy Lube® service center or another collection facility for proper disposal. Just one gallon of improperly disposed motor oil can potentially contaminate one million gallons of drinking water.
Drive Carefully
Think you've done everything you can to make your vehicle a green machine? The choices you make while driving can actually improve your fuel economy, too. Here's how to drive wisely:
Drive at the speed limit. According to the EPA, driving at 55mph rather than 65mph can improve your gas mileage by as much as 15%.
Use cruise control. Utilizing cruise control on the highway will help you maintain a constant speed, which will in most cases improve your fuel economy.
Don't idle. It actually requires less gas to turn the vehicle back on than to let it idle.
Reduce the vehicle's weight. Avoid keeping unnecessary items in your vehicle, especially heavy ones. An extra 100 pounds in your vehicle could reduce your MPG by up to 2%, according to the United States Department of Energy.
Carpool. It may sound simple, but carpooling not only preserves gas, but it also eases congestion on heavily traveled roads during rush hour.
Maintaining your vehicle, driving smart and taking your used motor oil to a designated collection facility are three easy things you can do right away to drive a "green" machine and make a real difference in protecting our environment. Environmental stewardship can greatly impact the life of your vehicle, your pocketbook, and keep our planet healthy for future generations to enjoy!



Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Tips for Families

Road Rules for New Drivers
Your child has waited a long time for his or her driver's license and that time has finally arrived. Driving will change the way your child looks at the world and it will change your life forever.
Safety is the most important consideration when it comes to new drivers, but there is more to it than merely knowing the laws. Here are some tips you can share with your child to help her become a true "roads scholar."
Stay Focused
We never stop becoming better drivers; we build up our experience every time we hit the road. It's especially important that your first few years as a driver are spent concentrating on the road, keeping distractions to an absolute minimum. Here are some practical ways to stay focused:
Keep the volume of your radio or CD player low enough so you can hear the sounds of the traffic around you.
If you’re driving with passengers, ask them to keep their conversation to a minimum so you can concentrate on driving safely
Cell phones are a great convenience, but they can be dangerous when you take your eye off the road to dial a number or answer a call. If your call can't wait until you've reached your destination, pull over to the side of the road so you don't become distracted.
Don't eat while you’re driving. Looking for a lost french fry between the seats is a recipe for disaster.
Passengers and the Speed Limit
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports teenagers accounted for 10 percent of the US population in 2005 and 12 percent of motor vehicle crash deaths.
Watching your speed becomes even more important when you have passengers in the vehicle. The Insurance Institute reports that most crashes involving young drivers result from driver error, speeding, and/or tailgating.
Remember, along with the privilege of driving comes the responsibility for you, your passengers, and others sharing the road.




Thursday, May 19, 2011

Carpooling

Six Driving Tips for Carpoolers
Before trucking the kids around town, parents need to make sure their vehicles are operating safely. These quick tips will help ensure your vehicle is ready to keep up with the kids' busy schedules.
1.
Take the vehicle in for routine maintenance. A Jiffy Lube Signature Service® Oil Change is a smart first step to prepare your vehicle for back-to-school driving. Your vehicle's engine will likely be working overtime since most carpools require quick trips in heavily trafficked areas. Changing your engine oil, replacing dirty air filters and checking your tire pressure are all important to keep your vehicle on the road, not on the side of it.
2.
Buckle up and make sure your passengers do too. Seat belt use among high school students is lower than among other occupants in passenger vehicles. According to a survey from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, many teens aren't buckling up, even when adults are driving with them and using belts themselves. Teens often follow by example. The study reported that more than half of teens were more likely to buckle up if the adult who dropped them off at school also wore a seat belt. However, when adult drivers did not use seat belts, only 8% of teens used theirs.
3.
Practice proper car seat safety. Some mothers will be taking preschool children along when they drive older children to and from school. Make sure everyone is using proper seat restraints at all times. For infants (from birth to one year and less than 20 lbs.), the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recommends infant-only or rear-facing convertible seats with harness straps at or below shoulder level. The NHTSA says toddlers (over one year and between 20 to 40 lbs.) should be placed in convertible/forward-facing seats with harness straps at or above shoulders. For young children (four to eight years old and more than 40 lbs.), the organization recommends a forward-facing, belt positioning booster seat with the lap belt fitting low and tight across the lap/upper thigh area and the shoulder belt snug across the chest and shoulder. All children aged 12 and under should ride in the back seat.
4.
Be prepared for fall showers. There may be times when you have to make the ride to or from school in a heavy downpour. As part of a Jiffy Lube Signature Service® Oil Change, a technician can check the status of your windshield wipers and tire tread. You want to make sure wipers glide smoothly across the windshield without streaking and you're getting enough tire traction on a slippery road.
5.
Talk to your children about where they walk outside of schools. Tell them to always use school crosswalks and sidewalks and be alert at all times. According to the Safe Routes to Schools organization, of the leading types of youth pedestrian crashes, 33% are due to dart-outs — entering traffic mid-block, often between parked cars.
6.
Obey school zone speed limits. Children may not always stay on the sidewalk or within crosswalk lines, so you need to be extra careful. As a lot of morning traffic is comprised of parents driving children to school, so you should also watch out for other vehicles slowing down or suddenly stopping to let children out.



Monday, May 16, 2011

Drivetrain Services

The drivetrain serves two functions: it transfers power evenly from the engine to all drive wheels and it varies the amount of torque. The drivetrain may include the differential, a transfer case (in four-wheel and all-wheel drive cars) and the transmission (seeTransmission Services).
Differential Service
Why is it important?
The differential is a special gear box located between the drive wheels of your vehicle. It allows the drive wheels to turn at different speeds, as they must when turning a corner. Over time, high operating temperatures can cause the lubricating fluid in the differential to break down, developing a gummy texture that doesn’t properly lubricate the gears. Replacing the fluid can help you avoid premature wear on the gears in the differential, and can even help reduce wear on drive-wheel tires.
What is the service?
The old differential fluid is removed and replaced with new lubricating fluid based on your vehicle manufacturer’s recommendations.
Transfer Case Service
Why is it important?
The transfer case is a special gear box found in four-wheel and all-wheel-drive vehicles. It sends drive power from the engine to the front and rear axles. In all-wheel-drive vehicles, the transfer case helps to shift power from one axle to another, depending upon traction conditions. Lubricant fluid in the transfer case helps to keep its gears cool and turning smoothly. Replacing this fluid at appropriate intervals can help prevent premature wear and damage caused by contaminated or broken-down lubricant.
What is the service?
A special fluid is used to lubricate, cool and clean the gears in the transfer case. The old transfer case fluid is removed and replaced with new fluid that conforms to your vehicle manufacturer’s recommendation.
Please note: Not all Jiffy Lube® service centers offer Drivetrain Services. Please call ahead to ensure the services are available.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Fuel Efficiency Review

n today's current economic climate, people are working hard to make their dollars go farther. Not only are drivers holding on to their vehicles longer, they're also looking to improve fuel efficiency to get the most mileage out of every gallon of gas. You can do both by following a few simple tips:
Drive Sensibly
Aggressive driving (speeding, rapid acceleration and braking) wastes gas. It can lower your gas mileage by 33% at highway speeds and by 5% around town. Sensible driving is also safer for you and others, so you may save more than gas money.
Observe the Speed Limit
While each vehicle reaches its optimal fuel economy at a different speed (or range of speeds), gas mileage usually decreases rapidly at speeds above 60 mph.
You can assume that each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional $0.24 per gallon for gas.
Observing the speed limit is also safer.
Remove Excess Weight
Avoid keeping unnecessary items in your vehicle, especially heavy ones. 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.
Avoid Excessive Idling
Idling gets 0 miles per gallon. Cars with larger engines typically waste more gas at idle than cars with smaller engines.
Use Cruise Control
Using cruise control on the highway can help you maintain a constant speed and, in most cases, will save gasoline.
Use Overdrive Gears
When you use overdrive gearing, your car's engine speed goes down. This can save gasoline and reduces engine wear.
Keep Your Engine Properly Tuned
Fixing a car that is noticeably out of tune or has failed an emissions test can improve its gas mileage by an average of 4%, though results vary based on the kind of repair and how well it is done.
Fixing a serious maintenance problem, such as a faulty oxygen sensor, can improve your mileage by as much as 40%.
Keep Tires Properly Inflated
You can improve your gas mileage by up to 3.3% by keeping your tires inflated to the proper pressure. Under-inflated tires can lower gas mileage by 0.3% for every 1 psi drop in pressure of all four tires. Properly inflated tires are safer and last longer.
The proper tire pressure for your vehicle is usually found on a sticker in the driver's side door jamb or the glove box and in your owner's manual. Do not use the maximum pressure printed on the tire's sidewall.
Use the Recommended Grade of Motor Oil
You can improve your gas mileage by 1-2% by using the manufacturer's recommended grade of motor oil. For example, using 10W-30 motor oil in an engine designed to use 5W-30 can lower your gas mileage by 1-2%. Using 5W-30 in an engine designed for 5W-20 can lower your gas mileage by 1-1.5%. Also, look for motor oil that says "Energy Conserving" on the API performance symbol to be sure it contains friction-reducing additives.
Source: Fueleconomy.gov
Cost savings are based on an assumed fuel price of $3.52/gallon.
Source: The Department of Energy. For more information, visit their website atwww.fueleconomy.gov