Auto Q & A
Auto Q & A
By: Dr. Wheels
Topics:
Posted by editor Mon Aug 28, 2006 16:36:19 PDT
Viewed 656 times
0 responses 0 comments Dear Q&A: My truck, a 1991 GMC, has a serpentine belt driving everything under the hood. The belt is both ribbed longitudinally and has serrations, or grooves, across the width of the belt every centimeter or so. But there are no corresponding crosswise teeth on my crankshaft pulley to match these cross-grooves in the belt. Is this the wrong belt and should I change it? Also, what is the life span of a fan belt? - E.A.
Dear EA: Four years is the recommended safe life of belts subjected to the extremes of temperature and repetitive motion under the hood of a car or truck. The latitudinal grooves across your belt (though they’re unnecessary) shouldn’t cause problems. Best to change the belt on schedule, or earlier if it shows any signs of fraying or other wear.
Dear Q & A: Toyota seems to be on the verge of taking over from General Motors as the world’s biggest automobile maker. Isn’t Toyota sort of a newcomer to automotive manufacturing, compared to Ford and GM and Mercedes and such big names? - Carlo
Dear Carlo: Toyota, a textile loom manufacturer, first tried its hand at carmaking in 1935, with its A-1 prototype, so it is a relative novice in the field. Honda’s even younger, getting into the production of small motorcycles in 1948 and cars in 1963. The first Toyota to be exported to the US was the Toyopet Crown in 1955. By 1966, the company had exported its one-millionth vehicle, which grew to five million by 1975 and ten million by 1977. Sales of Camry sedans alone reached ten million by 2005. That’s growth.
Dear Q & A: Is there any way I can find out on a daily basis where I can buy gasoline at the lowest price? I mean, if there’s a gas station a few blocks away from the usual routes I travel, where I can save ten or twenty cents a gallon, I’d like to know about it. In a year, what I’d save could add up to serious money, I think. - Joe K.
Dear Joe: It sure could. If you put on 15,000 miles a year, as many drivers do, and average 18 miles per gallon, combined city and highway, twenty cents times 833 gallons amounts to $167, savings enough to buy daily 99-cent hamburgers for nearly 6 months at McKing-in-the-Box. At one website (gasbuddy.com) that lists prices in your area, these prices were shown for unleaded regular during the 72-hour period ending August 21.
Bakersfield
$2.97/gallon A-One California at H St.
$2.97 Fastrip Oswell at Auburn
$2.95 GoGo MiniMart California at Tulare
$2.99 Arco AM/PM Ming at Stine
Tehachapi
$3.03 Delux Gas 706 E. Tehachapi Blvd.
$3.10 Gas & Go Green at Tehachapi Blvd.
If you fill up an SUV or pickup with a 40-gallon tank, you could save as much as eight bucks on a single visit to your fuel retailer. That’s nothing to sneer at. Interestingly, the states with the lowest gasoline prices ($2.70 per gallon and less) are Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, South Carolina, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama. Odd that, unlike California, they produce no oil. Could politics have anything to do wi…? Nah, as Steve Martin might say, that’s conspiracy thinking.
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