Alaphlosiam
11-01-2011, 02:03 PM
So, I'm new to hypermiling, and I'll admit that even small things like FAS'ing scare me. I can't really afford for anything to go wrong, and just the phrase "cruise with the engine off" raises red flags in my head, regardless of whether that's rational or not.
Anyway, I've been FAS'ing for the past few days, and I'm pretty sure I'm not doing anything that could really mess up my engine or transmission... but one thing's been coming up that I'm unsure about. This morning, when I turned my car on, my battery meter was at full. This confused me because it was definitely at slightly below half when I last parked. It went down at a generally normal rate and, as usual, hovered at slightly below half for the rest of the ride. I got a little worried and FAS'ed less than usual to get charge in my battery, and I guess it seems fine.
I'm at about 88k miles, and I had the battery replaced at 79.9k (right under warranty, yeahhh), so I'm hoping this isn't a sign of a bad battery.
I'm not really much of an expert (or have common sense, for that matter) on cars and batteries (beyond various need-to-know things... except this, apparently), so I have to ask, does the fact that it's cold have anything to do with this? It hasn't been below freezing yet, but it's been about 35-38 F through the nights lately.
Also, unrelated to the battery problem (hopefully), is something with my engine temperature indicator. I was driving to campus once and obviously wanted the heat on because it's really cold. Partway through the drive the indicator was at about halfway up (you know, standard, where it should be), so I turned the heat on, and it was warm. Yay. But a bit after I did that, the meter dropped back down to two bars. The air coming through was still nice and warm, but apparently my engine was still cold. What's up with this?
Sorry for the book here; I'm just entirely new to this and am quite paranoid about problems with my car, as it'd be hard to afford any real maintenance other than doing things myself and with my roommate, so... yeah.
Anyway, I've been FAS'ing for the past few days, and I'm pretty sure I'm not doing anything that could really mess up my engine or transmission... but one thing's been coming up that I'm unsure about. This morning, when I turned my car on, my battery meter was at full. This confused me because it was definitely at slightly below half when I last parked. It went down at a generally normal rate and, as usual, hovered at slightly below half for the rest of the ride. I got a little worried and FAS'ed less than usual to get charge in my battery, and I guess it seems fine.
I'm at about 88k miles, and I had the battery replaced at 79.9k (right under warranty, yeahhh), so I'm hoping this isn't a sign of a bad battery.
I'm not really much of an expert (or have common sense, for that matter) on cars and batteries (beyond various need-to-know things... except this, apparently), so I have to ask, does the fact that it's cold have anything to do with this? It hasn't been below freezing yet, but it's been about 35-38 F through the nights lately.
Also, unrelated to the battery problem (hopefully), is something with my engine temperature indicator. I was driving to campus once and obviously wanted the heat on because it's really cold. Partway through the drive the indicator was at about halfway up (you know, standard, where it should be), so I turned the heat on, and it was warm. Yay. But a bit after I did that, the meter dropped back down to two bars. The air coming through was still nice and warm, but apparently my engine was still cold. What's up with this?
Sorry for the book here; I'm just entirely new to this and am quite paranoid about problems with my car, as it'd be hard to afford any real maintenance other than doing things myself and with my roommate, so... yeah.