What's Your Number?

Even if you have no idea what turbochargers, an alternator, orany other mechanical part of your car does, odds are you know that your oilmust be changed regularly. But the question is, how regularly? Most people, includingmyself, would say once every 3,000 miles or roughly three to four months. I don’tknow why that number is ingrained in my mind, but it seems to have become the generalrule of thumb for most automobiles for quite some time.

The state of California, however, has decided to fight againstthis assumption with their new “Check Your Number” ad campaign. The purpose ofthis campaign is to encourage drivers to check with their car's manufacturer beforeheading over to Jiffy Lube for their next oil change. With today’s advancementsin technology, an oil change every 3,000 mile can be excessive and they want everydriver to check for the recommendation specific to their vehicle. Some BMWvehicles, for instance, don’t need an oil change until they’ve driven another15,000 miles! These drivers could be changing their oil up to four times morethan necessary, wasting both money and oil. Other cars pushing the 3,000 mile benchmark are the Toyota Tacoma only needing an oil change every 5,000 miles and the Chevy Malibu at 7,500 miles.

The campaign is actually a clever one because not only willit save drivers money and time, it helps protect the environment and conserveresources. If Californian drivers alone started changing their oil according tomanufacturers’ specifications, oil demand would decrease by about 10 million gallonsa year. Now I know you’re all curious about what your number is, so head over to checkyournumber.org to find out. Ijust found out “my number” is 10,000 miles, making me feel MUCH better abouthow lazy I’ve been when it comes to changing my oil.

What is the Tire Pressure Monitor System

Government regulations require all cars now to have tire pressure monitoring systems as original equipment. The question is what do these systems do…or better one is how do they work? Unlike a starter or an alternator the TPMS is a unit that is battery powered and has a 100% failure rate over a period of 10 years.

The system uses a sensor in each tire that contains an internal battery and sends a signal to a receiver in the vehicle. When one of these sensors detects a low tire pressure it signals the ECM and the check tire light will flash.

Every year it is estimated that there are over 40,000 accidents and 33,000 injuries due to tire issues. Not to mention more than 650 deaths are attributed to under inflation related issues so having a system that will relay potential issues is an amazing advantage. Aside from the safety issues the potential money savings is a big factor too. Not just for the driver but for everyone since a tire that is under inflated by 10% will cause a 1% drop in efficiency in performance. It is estimated that over 2 billion gallons of gas are wasted each year due to under inflation. This system has been standard equipment in normal passenger cars since 2007 and will be federally required after 2012 in all new vehicles.

What does the Alternator Do?

Cars run a number of systems each of which has a specific task, all of these processes function with one commonality. They all in one way or another rely on electricity from the battery to keep them going. While the diesel fuel pumps and diesel injector both run on electrical impulses many other systems rely on electricity as well. Belt driven systems like the power steering pump and water pump may seem to have nothing to do with the electric flow but they rely on the movement of the motor which is caused by combustion started by a spark.

The alternator is the belt driven unit in the motor which generates electricity that can be flowed to the battery in order to keep the unit from discharging all of its power. If the alternator fails the car will not instantly die because the battery retains a charge that can maintain the systems for a short time. Do not expect to make it very far on just the battery since every function in the car is going to be draining the battery of its life.

Electricity or the movement of electrons is created by the alternator by way of a rotating coil driven by the belt of the motor. Around the coil is a larger coil that uses a magnetically opposite metal that forces the electrons to move through the coils and then out of the lines from the unit. This flow of electrons will charge the battery and keep the car going.