The engine is finally broken in!

I bought a new car a couple of years ago.  I thought that the mileage was supposed to be 31-36 miles per gallon.  I was a bit disappointed because I was getting 5-8 miles per gallon less than I was expecting.  I knew that it took time for the engine to get broken in but I was expecting about 10,000 miles and not 30,000 miles. 

On Friday, I was out at my sisters in the country.  When I pulled in my tank showed two bars (three bars is a quarter tank.)  On the way to the church meeting in the evening, the "empty gas" symbol showed up after the tank dropped to one bar.  The tank size in my vehicle is about 14 gallons. That means it is 1.16-1.2 gallons per bar or 36-42 miles.  (I realized at my last fill that I had reached 34 miles per gallon. So I was hoping that I had the 1.2 gallons until it was empty.) 


Running on Empty

Driving in town is terrible.  Some of the longest stop-lights are piled one right after the other in town.  I had two stops to make before I got near the gas station along with the long lights. The low fuel light had turned on about 10 miles before I took this picture.

When I was a young girl, I vaguely remember the president asking people to turn down their thermostats and drive less to conserve due to a fuel shortage.  That year for Christmas my sister and I got BIG fluffy house slippers and sleeping bags that by changing where you snapped them; they became the 1970's version of a snuggie or housecoat. 

There was also a lot of debate around, "did it pay to turn off the car at stop-lights or did you save more gas letting it idle?"  Those old cars were NOT fuel injected.  They took more gas when starting.  Waiting in line at the fast food drive thru and at the long stop-lights I wondered the same thing.  I decided to turn off the vehicle.  Did I do the right thing?


Right after filling up.

33.12 miles per gallon and that is with idling on hot days for the dogs. I also managed to find a gas station that had dropped it's price already so I was able to fill for less.  God provides that blessing a lot.  I will be driving up to do work for the church and one of the gas stations will be significantly less than all the others.