I have a 1995 Toyota Avalon. I used to get about 29 MPG from it during the summer, but a month or two ago, the fuel economy dropped to 25 MPG. It usually drops around this time of the year, but my Avalon also happened to be due for some maintenance, so I have been checking everything involved in its maintenance to see if it affected the fuel economy. My uncle (who was a car enthusiast when he was younger) helped me to tune up my car recently, changing the oil, the oil filter, fuel filter, PCV valve and air filter. I also put 16 ounces of Chevron Techron Fuel Injector Cleaner in the previous tank. Costco sold me tires (Michelin Energy MXV4 Plus) made at different points in time in 2006 and 2007, so the tires are about 2 to 3 years old and have about 40,000 miles on them. The tires were rotated by Costco about 2800 miles ago, which is about 6 weeks of driving for me.
Anyway, I doubt I missed anything that could adversely affect the fuel economy and I think it will be too soon to tell until another tank or two. However, in thinking about what maintenance my Avalon needed since I last maintained it, I realized that the battery has not been changed in several years. I do not know exactly how old that the battery is, but it is an Interstate battery and I remember talking to my uncle about it two years ago and thinking it was 5 years old then. At the time, he and I looked to see if the battery had a manufacture date on it, but we could not find one. My uncle suggested replacing it, but I decided to wait another year before replacing it. Things came up and I forgot about it, but I expect it to be 7 years old now. Today, I found out at wikianswers.com that there should be a code on the battery that indicates when it was manufactured. While I plan to check that code, I also recently read an article that stated the a car battery's Cold Cranking Amp output is important and should be checked. My father had my car inspected earlier today. Before today, I had planned to ask him to ask the guy inspecting it if the inspection included the CCA output and what its output was if it did, but I have been so busy with my college classes that I forgot to mention it to him before the inspection.
Does anyone know if the inspections in New York State check the CCA and if the place would still have it on file if I were to call them? Does anyone have any other thoughts on this?
Anyway, I doubt I missed anything that could adversely affect the fuel economy and I think it will be too soon to tell until another tank or two. However, in thinking about what maintenance my Avalon needed since I last maintained it, I realized that the battery has not been changed in several years. I do not know exactly how old that the battery is, but it is an Interstate battery and I remember talking to my uncle about it two years ago and thinking it was 5 years old then. At the time, he and I looked to see if the battery had a manufacture date on it, but we could not find one. My uncle suggested replacing it, but I decided to wait another year before replacing it. Things came up and I forgot about it, but I expect it to be 7 years old now. Today, I found out at wikianswers.com that there should be a code on the battery that indicates when it was manufactured. While I plan to check that code, I also recently read an article that stated the a car battery's Cold Cranking Amp output is important and should be checked. My father had my car inspected earlier today. Before today, I had planned to ask him to ask the guy inspecting it if the inspection included the CCA output and what its output was if it did, but I have been so busy with my college classes that I forgot to mention it to him before the inspection.
Does anyone know if the inspections in New York State check the CCA and if the place would still have it on file if I were to call them? Does anyone have any other thoughts on this?
