{"id":5242,"date":"2008-10-26T23:26:01","date_gmt":"2008-10-27T06:26:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=5242"},"modified":"2008-10-26T23:26:01","modified_gmt":"2008-10-27T06:26:01","slug":"pinching-pennies-and-blowing-the-big-bucks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/5242\/pinching-pennies-and-blowing-the-big-bucks\/","title":{"rendered":"Pinching Pennies And Blowing The Big Bucks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Another Installment In The Saga Of Unintended Consequences<\/strong><\/p>\n

Most of us have been driving less, lately. Record high oil prices drove gasoline prices to over $4 a gallon – wreaking havoc on our personal budgets… and the nation’s economy as a whole.<\/p>\n

Last Friday, I stopped in to visit my mechanic – and as usual, he told me about the car he was busy working on. This time, it was an engine rebuild due to “bad gas”.<\/p>\n

“Bad gas?” I asked.<\/em><\/p>\n

“The deposits built up so that the valves wouldn’t close properly,” he replied. “We’ve had four rebuilds in the last few weeks. I’ve never seen anything like it.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While it might be bad gas – I have another take on it. With the enormous increase in fuel costs, most of us are driving like little old ladies – myself included. But driving for maximum fuel economy is not necessarily good for your engine, as it allows carbon to build up on your valves.<\/p>\n

I first learned about this in the early 80’s, as my mechanic<\/a> back then told me about one of his customers – an elderly lady – who would bring her car in every few months so that he could take it out on the freeway and give it a good run.<\/p>\n

You can tell when your engine needs to get the carbon blown out, as your engine will be idling rough. The best way to blow the carbon out is to accelerate hard on a freeway onramp – running it through the gears until you get up to highway speed. It works best when there is a good load on your vehicle, such as climbing a hill.<\/p>\n

I have “blown the carbon” out of my vehicles for years – and I even have a friend who asks me to take her car out a few times a year to blow her carbon out, as she’s uncomfortable doing it herself.<\/p>\n

Another tip is to have your fuel injectors professionally cleaned, which also can help keep your engine’s valves clean.<\/p>\n

An engine rebuild is not inexpensive\u00a0 – it is a repair that can cost thousands of dollars. So before Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Another Installment In The Saga Of Unintended Consequences Most of us have been driving less, lately. Record high oil prices drove gasoline prices to over $4 a gallon – wreaking havoc on our personal budgets… and the nation’s economy as a whole. Last Friday, I stopped in to visit my mechanic – and as usual, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5242","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-general","8":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8763,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/8763\/search-overload-toenail-fungus\/","url_meta":{"origin":5242,"position":0},"title":"“Search Overload” = Toenail Fungus","author":"John Rowles","date":"June 5, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Bing! I\u2019ve decided that following big pharma\u2019s TV marketing playbook to launch a search engine that is supposed to compete with Google is an idea so dumb, it could only have been approved by whoever thought that Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates walking around a mall would make people think\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Real Estate"","block_context":{"text":"Real Estate","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/real-estate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4149,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/4149\/mortgage-market-week-in-review-8\/","url_meta":{"origin":5242,"position":1},"title":"Mortgage Market Week in Review…..","author":"Tom Vanderwell","date":"August 29, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Sorry this is a little late.\u00a0\u00a0 Had a closing out of town and it tied up a lot of my afternoon. Happy Labor Day weekend! I hope that you take some time to enjoy a very relaxing weekend on the last long weekend of the summer.\u00a0\u00a0 Due to the fact\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Lending"","block_context":{"text":"Lending","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/lending\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2537,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2537\/now-if-we-could-get-general-motors-to-build-one\/","url_meta":{"origin":5242,"position":2},"title":"Now If We Could Get General Motors To Build One…","author":"Doug Quance","date":"January 25, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Doubling Our Collective Fuel Mileage Could Help Drive Oil Prices Down Our country has been enduring high oil prices for the last few years - but that transfer of funds out of the country has had a detrimental effect on the economy. And any bad effect on the economy will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/general\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10558,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/10558\/manufacturing-inflation-how-art-laffer-got-it-wrong\/","url_meta":{"origin":5242,"position":3},"title":"Manufacturing Inflation (How Art Laffer Got It Wrong)","author":"Brian Brady","date":"December 15, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"If you've wondered where that inflation was, you might start seeing signs of it today.\u00a0 Economic data released today are a great example of why inflation is a monetary consequence and not an economic one: New York metro manufacturing activity slowed WAY less than expected: Factories in the New York\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Lending"","block_context":{"text":"Lending","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/lending\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2118,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2118\/my-hybrid-is-a-gas-guzzler\/","url_meta":{"origin":5242,"position":4},"title":"My Hybrid is a Gas Guzzler","author":"Kris Berg","date":"October 29, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"The business of real estate sales is a business unlike any other. The Real Estate Hybrid is neither energy nor cost efficient. Ours does not fit neatly\u00a0under the Service Provider\u00a0heading nor do we have a product to sell in the traditional sense. What we do have, however, is\u00a0the goal universal\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Real Estate"","block_context":{"text":"Real Estate","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/real-estate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3549,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/3549\/a-little-afternoon-fun\/","url_meta":{"origin":5242,"position":5},"title":"A Little Afternoon Fun","author":"Sean Purcell","date":"July 28, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"On the radio over the weekend, they discussed a survey that had come out about gas prices and people's habits.\u00a0 It was reported that 20% of those responding said they would drive 10 miles out of their way to save 5 cents per gallon on gas... 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