All posts by autotronics

Hitting The Brakes In Saint Peter

Hello St. Peter, let’s talk about brakes. Braking, as all MN auto owners know, is slowing or stopping your vehicle. As you can imagine, brakes are engineered to work well on a particular vehicle application. For example, you would expect more powerful brakes on a heavy-duty pickup that routinely hauls big loads and pulls trailers, than you would on a compact car. And a Corvette that can go over 180 miles per hour would have much different braking needs than the family mini-van you drive around between St. Peter, Cleveland and Saint Peter.

Hitting The Brakes In Saint PeterBut the mechanical aspects of the brakes themselves are just one issue. There’s also the power brake pump and brake fluid. And then there are the tires, which are critical to the effectiveness of the brakes.

Let’s step back. A new minivan or truck rolls off a local St. Peter showroom floor. It has brand new brakes with brand new brake pads. The brake lines and pump are filled with fresh fluid and are completely clean inside. And the tires are brand new, with full tread. It is ready to go.

Naturally, braking power is at its peak performance. Now the miles start to add up on the minivan. St. Peter motorists tend to focus on the brake pads. In the automotive business, the pads, and shoes on drum brakes, are called the friction material. That’s because they provide the friction used to stop the vehicle. The pads are designed to be effective throughout their useful life – it’s not until they are worn so thin as to be out of vehicle manufacturers’ specs that they lose their ability to stop.

The mechanical parts of the brakes have pistons and springs that get quite a workout while breaking. Over many miles around MN, these wear and get gummed up. They start to lose effectiveness gradually and could even fail – a scary possibility That’s why a regular brake inspection at Autotronics of ST Peter is important for your minivan and your family’s safety. At Autotronics of ST Peter we can test the operation of the brakes and see if any parts need cleaning or replacing.

That leads us to brake fluid service at Autotronics of ST Peter. Some of the critical additives in the fluid that lubricate and clean the minivan fluid system are depleted over time. That and moisture building up in the system reduce the performance of the brake fluid. A brake service at Autotronics of ST Peter cleans out deposits, water and dirt. Then the system is filled up with fresh fluid.

The tires are what connect the minivan to the road. Stopping force all comes down to traction. The better the tires grip the road, the quicker you’ll stop.

This is especially important on wet Cleveland area freeways and surface streets. Studies have shown that wet stopping distance increases significantly as tires wear down. MN car owners need to understand that they can have brakes that are operating at peak efficiency and yet still be in danger because their tires are worn out.

Busting Automotive Myths In St. Peter MN

Myths passed around our St. Peter MN community start with a grain of evidence and are then built up with a lot of imagination and very elastic logic. And the internet is a breeding ground for automotive myths. Some bloggers recall the minivans of yesteryear and declare their modern decedents to be virtually maintenance free and that anyone who says otherwise is out to rip you off.

To get the truth about auto myths you hear around the St. Peter area, come over to Autotronics of ST Peter.
You’ll find us at 111 Jefferson Avenue, St. Peter, MN 56082.
Give us a call at 507.934.9290 to make an appointment for your next auto service.

Let’s examine a couple of the more popular rants and look at the truth behind them.

The first one is that the chassis no longer needs lubrication for suspension, steering and the driveline. They declare that anyone who has charged you for lubrication is a charlatan.

The truth on which this myth is based is that many new cars come from the factory with sealed joints and cannot be greased. However, there are still some grease points on many cars around St. Peter. A grease fitting may have been installed in conjunction with a repair. And most trucks and truck-based SUVs driving in St. Peter still require chassis lubrication. This is because they are more heavy duty and proper greasing is still required to keep them going.

Another common rant you’ll hear around St. Peter is that modern cars don’t need tune-ups. That depends on your definition of a ‘tune-up’, which has changed as technology has progressed. Before engine control computers, electronic ignition and fuel injection, a tune up meant replacing mechanical parts that wore out. Autotronics of ST Peter would manually adjust fuel and air mix and timing. When these adjustments were off, spark plugs would foul and need to be replaced.

This definition just doesn’t apply to modern vehicles. Service centers like Autotronics of ST Peter generally consider a tune-up to be the major service visit, recommended by your manufacturer, every 30,000 miles or so.

Of course you can’t lubricate a sealed joint. Of course you can’t adjust a carburetor if your car doesn’t have one. You probably don’t need to change spark plugs every year if your manufacturer says they can go 30,000 miles. What are these bloggers getting so worked up about?

The danger with these modern-day myths, is that they prevent people in our local St. Peter community from taking care of the routine preventive auto maintenance that manufactures recommend. Check out this partial list of things you still need to do to take care of your car. How many of them are really any different today than they were 20 or 30 years ago?

Oil change, cooling system service, transmission service, tire balancing, tire rotation, wheel alignment, suspension service, power steering service, proper tire inflation, brake service, differential service, battery maintenance, engine air filer, PCV valve, breather element, fuel filter, belts, hoses, timing belt, windshield wipers . . .

You get the picture. Your minivan is still a machine that needs to be maintained. And, hey, your service advisors at Autotronics of ST Peter have always adapted to keep pace with automotive technology. Next time you come across an angry voice about your car care, talk to your St. Peter service advisor at Autotronics of ST Peter, or do some research of your own.

Transmission Service at Autotronics of ST Peter in St. Peter

Let’s talk about transmission service. It can be easy for St. Peter auto owners to forget about getting their transmission serviced because it doesn’t need it very often. It’s easier for MN drivers to remember to change the engine oil – you know, every 3,000 miles or 5,000 kilometers. But proper transmission servicing keeps your minivan running smoothly and helps us drivers avoid costly repairs down the road.

The transmission undergoes a lot of stress. The grit St. Peter drivers see in used transmission fluid is actually bits of metal that wear off the gears in the transmission. In addition to that, the transmission operates at very high temperatures. Usually it’s 100 to 150 degrees higher than engine temperatures. Those high temperatures eventually cause the transmission fluid to start to break down and lose efficiency.

As the fluid gets older, it gets gritty and doesn’t lubricate and cool the minivan transmission as well – leading to even more wear. The fluid can actually get sludgy and plug up the maze of fluid passages inside the transmission. At best, your transmission won’t operate smoothly. At worse, it could lead to expensive damage.

When your transmission is running properly, it transfers more power from your engine to the drive wheels, and improves fuel economy. That’s why auto makers recommend changing your transmission fluid at regular intervals. Your owner’s manual has a schedule for transmission service and, of course, your knowledgeable Autotronics of ST Peter service specialist can tell you what your car maker recommends.

Hot and dusty St. Peter area conditions; towing, hauling, stop and go driving and jackrabbit starts all increase the load on the transmission and its internal temperature. That means St. Peter car owners with these types of transmission requirements need to change the fluid more often. A good rule of thumb is every 35,000 miles, 55,000 kilometers or two years. If your auto manufacturer suggests more frequent intervals or if you’re driving under severe service conditions around Cleveland, you will need to change it more often.

Most St. Peter auto service centers (including Autotronics of ST Peter) have the ability to perform a transmission service while you wait and the cost is quite reasonable. It’s downright cheap when you think about how much a major transmission repair can cost! Your knowledgeable Autotronics of ST Peter service advisor will know the right type of transmission fluid to use. If it’s getting to be time to have your transmission serviced, do your minivan a favor and have it done. If not this time, then on your next service stop.