Is Your Gas Cap Tight Enough?

Did you know that a loose gas cap can cost you money due to evaporation of gasoline from your tank?  A loose cap could rob you of 30 gallons of gas a year. In today’s gas market that’s about $78.00.

Catawba College’s Center for the Environment has targeted air quality as one of their main initiatives. To help improve our air quality, they have organized an emissions event on Friday, June 25, from 4 pm-7 pm at Intimidators Stadium in Kannapolis. Not only will you be able to get your gas cap checked but also your tire pressure and your emissions system.

Why bother if $78.00 is the cost of a movie and a trip to the concession stand for your family? Because it affects your family’s health.  Premature births, respiratory disease, heart disease, asthma and bronchitis are all directly associated with poor air quality.

What is the air quality of our region you ask? From the Center’s website: The American Lung Association recently ranked Rowan County as the 13th worst county in the United States for ground-level ozone pollution. Metro Charlotte was ranked as the eighth worst metropolitan area in the nation.  Six contiguous counties – Rowan, Cabarrus, Mecklenburg, Lincoln, Gaston, Union and part of Iredell — persistently exceed EPA air quality standards.

Loose gas caps emit hydrocarbon emission. The gas cap pressure test involves applying a small amount of air pressure to the cap. If the gas cap releases too much of this air pressure, it will fail the test and you can get a new gas cap for free.

You can improve your gas mileage by up to 3.3 percent by keeping your tires inflated to the proper pressure. Properly inflated tires are safer and last longer. The first 200 people receive a free tire gauge as well.

Rowan Cabarrus Community College’s Automotive Department is also a part of the event. They will be on hand to check emissions systems on vehicles made after 1996. Fixing a car that has failed an emissions test can improve its gas mileage by an average of 4 percent.