Many people don’t realize when they need an engine tune up on their car. While different manufacturers have different recommendations, it’s a good idea to get your car tuned up around every 15,000 miles. Keep these five tells in mind before calling for a tow:
1) Strange humming sound: When what you might think is just low tire pressure or some other issue with the tires is actually what we call misfires. This means that the engine is not firing on all cylinders and needs to be tuned up before it becomes worse and more costly than what can usually be fixed.
2) Reduced power: The lack of power may seem like just what it is, but if the problem continues it may be what is known as a vacuum leak. This is when there are leaks in the hoses of your car’s intake manifold, which will cause reduced power and make what you think is an engine tune up necessary.
3) Decreased fuel efficiency: When your gasoline mileage has decreased by 15% or more over what it should be for this time on your car, then what you might have thought was high gas prices could really mean that what you need is an engine tune-up.
4) Engine misses/hesitates upon acceleration: Misfires are most noticeable during this type of acceleration. Anytime that there are misfires, whether they’re all the time or just every now and again, then they need to be addressed with what you might think is an engine tune up.
5) Engine misses when idling: If your car just isn’t living up to what it used to be, then what could have once been thought of as a transmission problem or even what you might call misfires while accelerating could actually be what is known as rough idle. A rough idle can happen when there are leaks in the intake manifold, which will almost always need what people refer to as an engine tune-up.
A car tune up just includes what is usually thought as an engine overhaul, but what it actually includes is just replacing the spark plugs and the air filter, among other things.
Learn more from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_tuning
