Since driving requirements and lifestyles differ among St. Peter car owners, minivan manufacturers publish two auto maintenance schedules: the regular schedule and the severe service schedule. Which schedule should St. Peter auto owners follow?
Here are some questions to ask yourself:

Are most of your trips less than four miles around St. Peter?
Are most of your trips less than 10 miles in below-zero MN temps?
Are most of your trips off-highway in MN?
Do you drive often in dusty Cleveland 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 freeway on-ramp and enjoy a non-stop commute to Cleveland or Kasota? 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 and the standard recommendation is 5,000 miles. You know that you need to change the oil somewhere between 3,000 and 5,000 miles. 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 auto owners 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 harmful oil sludge that clogs up your engine and doesn’t let the oil protect it adequately. That’s why MN car owners 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 bright 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 dangerous 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, not to mention your gas mileage. If you want some expert advice, talk with your knowledgeable Autotronics of ST Peter advisor. We can help you restore your minivan to good working order and help you know the best schedule to follow.

To learn more, watch our informative AutoNetTV auto video tips at the top of this post.

Autotronics of ST Peter
507.934.9290
111 Jefferson Avenue
St. Peter, MN 56082

Today we’re going to be talking about serpentine belts for our St. Peter, MN customers. Let’s start by talking about the accessories that are driven by the serpentine belt. First is the alternator. That’s the essential device that makes electricity to power the minivan and recharge the battery. Then there’s the air conditioning compressor that makes cool air for you while you’re driving around MN in the summer.

The power steering and power brake pumps are driven by the serpentine belt in most St. Peter car owners’ vehicles. Those pumps provide important pressure that assists your steering and braking.

In many minivans, the water pump is driven by the serpentine belt. The water pump is what circulates the coolant that protects your engine. In some cars around St. Peter, MN, the water pump is driven by the timing belt.

The radiator cooling fans on some minivans are also driven by the serpentine belt. Some have separate electric motors. That’s really a lot of essential work for one belt.

But modern engine design has a single belt that snakes around the front of the engine and drives most if not all of these accessories. Serpentine belts do a lot of critical work, but they’re tough and can last St. Peter motorists for thousands of miles.

Just how long will they last? That’ll vary for each individual car in the St. Peter, MN area. Your auto maker will have a recommendation for when it should be changed, but it could need it sooner. The good news is that a visual inspection at Autotronics of ST Peter can detect a belt that’s getting close to failing.

Your knowledgeable Autotronics of ST Peter service advisor can look at the belt: if it has more than three or four cracks per inch, it needs to be replaced. A deep crack that’s more than half the depth of the belt – replace. Frayed, missing pieces, a shiny glazed look? Toss it.

What’s involved in replacing the belt at Autotronics of ST Peter? First the old belt is removed. Then a new one is fitted around all the pulleys for the accessories and the drive. There’s a special pulley called a tensioner.

This pulley is mounted to the engine block with a spring loaded arm. Its vital job is to apply the correct amount of tension to the belt to keep it from getting loose and maybe slipping off. Because the spring in the tensioner pulley wears out, AutoNetTV and the automotive professionals at Autotronics of ST Peter recommend St. Peter motorists replace them at the same time as the belt. It just makes sense.

What are the warning signs that there’s a problem with the serpentine belt? You may hear a squealing sound from under the hood when accelerating around our St. Peter streets. A loose belt might give you a slow, slapping sound.

What do you do if your belt breaks? If you’ve actually had that happen on a busy Cleveland interstate, it can be a little scary. The first thing St. Peter auto owners usually notice is that they have no power steering or power brakes. Don’t panic – you can still steer and brake, but you’ll have to do the work. It’ll be harder to steer and you’ll need more time and effort to stop, so plan accordingly.

Your dashboard will light up will all kinds of warnings. You’ll see a warning about your cooling system if you have a water pump that’s driven by the serpentine belt. This is vital because without your cooling system working, your engine will overheat. If you don’t stop you’ll have massive engine damage, maybe to the point that you need a new engine. Open your windows and turn the heater on full blast to provide a little engine cooling. Pull over as quickly as you safely can!

The battery light will come on because the alternator isn’t working. If your car’s water pump isn’t driven by the serpentine belt, you’re not in danger of overheating so you can drive a little further if necessary. But the battery will run down to the point where the car will just shut off. You don’t want that to happen while you’re driving in our local St. Peter, MN traffic.

Remember, St. Peter drivers can avoid this stressful scenario if they replace their minivan serpentine belt on schedule. Ask your knowledgeable Autotronics of ST Peter service professional to check your belts and hoses from time to time so you can take care of them if they need to be replaced prematurely.

Autotronics of ST Peter
111 Jefferson Avenue
St. Peter, MN 56082
507.934.9290

When your car breaks down in the St. Peter, MN area, or just needs some routine service, it can make St. Peter car owners a little nervous. Because your car’s so important to your life, you need to be back on the road as soon as possible. And with the problem fixed right the first time.

We’ve been checking into some of the important training our St. Peter MN technicians receive, and we’re very impressed. It’s amazing how much knowledge and skill goes into diagnosing and repairing a modern car. So it’s not like when your uncle worked on his hot rod over weekend.

Today there are four cylinder engines around St. Peter that make more power than the V-8’s in luxury cars 20 years ago. A new V-6 Toyota Camry could beat Sonny Crocket’s Ferrari in a race to 60 mph.

Our engines are more and more powerful and at the same time their gas mileage keeps inching up. And they’re so reliable. This is all due to engineering. But the benefits come to St. Peter motorists at the price of simplicity. Modern cars are so much more complex from a mechanical standpoint that it makes your head spin.

Then there’s the electronics. Some cars on MN expressways area have several networked computers controlling most of the engine functions and many other vehicle functions as well. St. Peter car owners take all of this sophistication for granted – but somebody has to fix it when it breaks.

It’s a real challenge for the service professionals at  Autotronics of ST Peter and other St. Peter auto service centers to keep up. It requires a high level of commitment on the part of the auto technician and the service center as well. In addition to the training, there’s the financial commitment to purchase the diagnostic and repair tools as well.

So where do St. Peter service professionals go for training? There’re many sources. It’s usually a combination of formal classroom training, training provided in the service center by auto parts and equipment manufacturers, on-line courses and home study courses. There are many independent certifications available all the way up to Master Technician.

And AutoNetTV produces monthly training for St. Peter automotive service centers called The Pro Channel. If you were to watch the Pro Channel segment on re-flashing the engine control computer, you’d be amazed at how much is involved: special software, hardware interfaces and a tremendous amount of knowledge and skill.

Service centers in St. Peter, MN have a lot of other resources available as well. No one can know everything, so service centers like Autotronics of ST Peter subscribe to data services, technical libraries and even on-line communities that can help them with they run into a difficult problem.

It’s like those medical diagnosis shows on TV. Here are the symptoms – what’s the diagnosis and treatment. Diagnosis is every bit as much an art as a science. St. Peter auto owners want everything to be simple, straight forward and cheap – and sometimes it just isn’t.

So, be more relaxed next time you take your minivan in. St. Peter car owners can trust their knowledgeable Autotronics of ST Peter techs. You’re in good hands. The more you know, the more comfortable you can be with your automotive service decisions at Autotronics of ST Peter. Visit AutoNetTV.com to see more great auto tips videos about many service topics.

At Autotronics of ST Peter, we provide quality automotive service including brake service, fuel system cleaning and used car inspection.<br><br>