Since driving requirements and lifestyles differ among St. Peter drivers, your vehicle manufacturer publishes two auto maintenance schedules: the regular schedule and the severe service schedule. Which schedule should St. Peter drivers follow? Here are some questions to ask yourself:

Are most of your trips less than four miles/six kilometers around St. Peter?
Are most of your trips less than 10 miles/16 kilometers in below-zero MN temps?
Are most of your trips off-highway in MN?
Do you drive often in dusty St. Peter areas?
Do you regularly tow a trailer or carry heavy loads around St. Peter?
Do you drive in very hot or very cold MN weather?

Think about your typical week. Do you live by your nearest St. Peter on-ramp and enjoy a non-stop commute? Or, do you drive the neighborhood car pool in stop-and-go traffic on St. Peter surface streets?

Let’s suppose your owner’s manual says the severe service oil change recommendation is 3,000 miles/5,000 kilometers and the standard recommendation is 5,000 miles/8,000 kilometers. You know that you need to change the oil somewhere between 3,000 and 5,000 miles/5,000 and 8,000 kilometers. Analyze your driving patterns and St. Peter weather and road conditions to determine which end of the spectrum you’re closer to.

Why should St. Peter residents care about this? Normal condensation causes moisture accumulation in the engine oil. Short trips around St. Peter or winter driving means that the engine doesn’t heat up enough for the moisture to evaporate. The water in the oil turns to oil sludge that clogs up your engine and doesn’t let the oil protect it adequately. That’s why MN residents need to change their oil more often – to clean the sludge out before it causes problems.

Carrying heavy loads (with or without a trailer) in MN summer weather causes your engine and transmission to run at higher temperatures and with more stress. The fluids will break down more quickly. Additives that clean and prevent corrosion will be depleted sooner. Air pollution and dust cause fluids to get dirty faster. Ditto for filters. All of these things can lead to premature wear and eventual repairs. If you want some expert advice, talk with your friendly and knowledgeable Autotronics of St. Peter service advisor. We can help you restore your vehicle to good working order and help you know the best schedule to follow.

Autotronics of St. Peter
507.934.9290
111 Jefferson Avenue
St. Peter, MN 56082
http://autotronicsstpeter.com

Some St. Peter vehicle owners wonder why Autotronics of St. Peter and other St. Peter auto repair shops charge a fee for vehicle diagnostics.

Receiving a diagnostic charge at Autotronics of St. Peter for a tricky automotive problem shouldn’t be a surprise. In the St. Peter area, automotive diagnostics can cover quite a range. If you hear a noise in your vehicle brakes when you slow down in rush-hour traffic on a busy MN road, you pull off at the next off-ramp and take a quick visual check. That is usually enough to know what needs to be done. If you’re having an intermittent problem with your vehicle engine, however, a Autotronics of St. Peter diagnosis may be much more involved.

Much of the St. Peter driver’s confusion comes when the problem involves the Check Engine light. The Check Engine light comes on when the engine management computer has sensed a problem.

There’s a common misconception among MN drivers that the trouble code tells the Autotronics of St. Peter technician exactly what’s wrong. They wonder why there is a diagnostic charge because the scanner quickly gave the diagnosis.

In reality, it is not that easy and straightforward. The computer monitors many sensors throughout the vehicle. When one of these sensors has a reading that’s out of parameters, the computer will record a trouble code and turn on the Check Engine light.

The vehicle computer’s trouble code just tells the Autotronics of St. Peter technician what engine parameter is out of range, not what’s causing it. The technician needs to determine the underlying problem that’s causing the malfunction.

There are many problems that could cause a troublesome sensor reading for Autotronics of St. Peter customers. The service advisor makes a list of the most likely causes and begins tracking down the source of the problem. This takes time.

St. Peter service centers subscribe to databases that document possible causes for all the possible trouble codes. The databases outline procedures for confirming a diagnosis and provide the documented repair. These  databases are specific to each vehicle and engine combination.

Some diagnoses are quick and easy. Others are more involved, time-consuming and difficult. Of course Autotronics of St. Peter wants to figure out what’s wrong with your vehicle and get you back on the road as quickly as possible.

Autotronics of St. Peter
111 Jefferson Avenue
St. Peter, MN 56082
507.934.9290
http://autotronicsstpeter.com

People near St. Peter, MN, often ask Autotronics of St. Peter how often they should have a particular service done. It’s a great thing to ask. You can look at your owner’s manual or have your St. Peter, MN, service advisor at Autotronics of St. Peter look up your vehicle in a service database. What you find is often a surprise to people – there are actually two service schedules.

One is the regular schedule and the other is the severe service schedule. Service intervals are shorter on the severe service schedule. When asked, most folks in St. Peter will say that their driving is normal and that the ‘regular’ schedule probably applies to them. ‘Severe service’ sounds pretty extreme – ‘I don’t drive like that.’

Well, here is what the manufacturers say constitutes severe driving conditions; you can draw your own conclusions.

• Most of your trips are less than four miles (six and a half kilometers).
• Most of your trips are less than ten miles (16 km) and outside temperatures are below freezing.
• The engine is at low speed most of the time – not on the highway. You operate your vehicle in dusty areas.
• You regularly tow a trailer or carry heavy loads.
• You drive with a car-top carrier.
• You do a lot of stop-and-go driving.
• You drive in very hot or very cold weather.

If that’s severe driving, what constitutes regular driving? Well, it would look something like this: I live somewhere with moderate temperatures all year round – I’m thinking San Diego here. And I live close to a freeway on-ramp. Everywhere I need to go is right off the freeway, at least four miles (six and a half km) from my home. I can drive at a steady 60 miles per hour (100 kph) when I’m on the freeway.

I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sound like my normal driving. It sounds more like ideal conditions. I live where it gets hot in the summer and cold in the winter. I run short errands around St. Peter. Occasionally we load up for family trips.

For me, normal driving includes elements of severe service driving. So here’s what I tell people: think about how you drive, where you live, where you go and what you are expecting to with your vehicle in the near future.

Picture a line with ‘regular’ on one end and ‘severe’ on the other, and make a judgment on where you fall. If your regular oil change recommendation is 5,000 miles (8,000 km) and the severe service recommendation is 3,000 miles (5,000 km), when should you change your oil? For me, it’s closer to 3,000 miles (5,000 km). For my wife, it’s closer to 5,000 miles (8,000 km). Your St. Peter, MN, auto service advisor at Autotronics of St. Peter will be happy to have this discussion with you and help you sort it out.

Just a quick word on why severe service intervals are shorter. One has to do with heat. That can either be external heat from the weather, engine and transmission heat from stop-and-go driving or working extra hard moving heavy loads or towing. The heat causes the fluids like oil and transmission fluid to break down more quickly, and then they aren’t as effective.

Another factor is water. Moisture naturally collects in fluids as they cool. In your motor oil, for example, if you don’t drive long enough for the oil to fully heat up, the water won’t evaporate. Water in the oil can lead to the buildup of damaging sludge.

If you live where the air is dusty or polluted, fluids will become contaminated and filters will get dirtier more quickly.

So make an honest evaluation of your driving conditions. You’ve made the commitment to take care of your vehicles, so it only makes sense to follow the right schedule.

Autotronics of St. Peter
111 Jefferson Avenue
St. Peter, MN 56082
507.934.9290
http://autotronicsstpeter.com