Category: Uncategorized

Automotive Tips from Autotronics of St. Peter: Serpentine Belt System Wear

The primary job of the serpentine belt for St. Peter drivers is to provide important traction to spin the accessories. As the belt wears it loses some of its grip and the accessories may not spin at optimal speeds. For example, if your alternator doesn’t spin fast enough, the battery will not completely recharge while you’re driving and you could end up stranded around St. Peter with a dead battery.

In short, a worn serpentine belt will stress all of the accessories it powers leading to premature wear and possible early replacement. When as little as 5% of belt material is lost, the serpentine belt cannot provide the proper traction for the accessories. Your friendly and professional Autotronics of St. Peter service advisor can inspect your belt for excessive wear and replace your serpentine belt system if it’s excessively worn.

Give us a call.

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

When Metal Meets Metal (Wheel Bearings)

What part of your vehicle has little metal balls inside that are lubricated and allow you to cruise on down the road? They are wheel bearings, and automotive designers might argue they are human beings’ second greatest invention of all time (the first is, of course, the wheel!).

You have a wheel bearing at each wheel. They allow your wheels to turn freely, minimizing friction that would ordinarily slow you down when metal meets metal. When one of your wheel bearings starts to go bad, it lets you know. A wheel bearing does its work quietly when it’s in good health but starts getting noisy when it isn’t. People describe the noise differently. Sometimes it sounds like road noise, a pulsating, rhythmic, sound. That pulse speeds up when your vehicle speeds up.

Here’s what’s happening when you hear that sound. As mentioned, the bearing has these little metal balls inside a ring. They have a lubricant inside to reduce friction between the balls; modern wheel bearings are sealed and they’re intended to do their job without any maintenance.

Wheel bearings take a beating; you hit some rough potholes or go over some uneven railroad tracks. Sometimes water can get into a bearing and reduce the ability of the lubricant to do its job. Time starts to take its toll, too. When the lubricant isn’t reducing friction like it should, the bearing can heat up. One of those little balls can start shedding pieces of metal and soon those shards start grinding up the other balls. Friction takes over and soon your wheel isn’t turning smoothly. That’s what’s causing the sound. If a wheel bearing is not fixed, it could eventually seize up completely, and you can be stranded.

It’s a lot easier if you heed the early warning signals, that pulsating noise. Now, sometimes a similar noise can be caused by a bad tire, but in either case, it’s important to have it checked out. Our Autotronics of St. Peter technicians will be able to tell you fairly quickly what the problem is and offer a solution.

Wheel bearings generally don’t fail often and usually last from 85,000-100,000 miles/140,000km to 160,000km. But consider them a long-term maintenance item that, once fixed, will keep you heading smoothly to the next destination.

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

Autotronics of St. Peter Engine Air Filter Replacement

When your experienced Autotronics of St. Peter technician changes your oil, he will also inspect your air filter. You shouldn’t need a new air filter at every oil change, but you will need to change it regularly. Heed your technician’s auto advice if they tell you to change your air filter.

An air filter does what its name implies: it filters stuff out of the air. Air is drawn into your engine through the filter because your engine needs air to burn fuel. If the filter weren’t there, a lot of dust and debris would come into the vehicle engine with the air when you are driving around St. Peter. That dust and debris would get hot, burn and produce all kinds of ash and gumminess that would eventually clog up your engine.

Drop in an air filter and voilá! Problem solved.

But air filters themselves get clogged up with all the junk they clean out of the St. Peter air. This doesn’t allow the junk into the vehicle engine, but it does block up the airflow. A blocked airflow will reduce engine efficiency.

St. Peter residents who get a charge out of the feeling of power in their engine might consider upgrading their air filter. Talk to your friendly and knowledgeable Autotronics of St. Peter service advisor. Premium air filters have been proven to increase horsepower and torque. So with the cost of a premium air filter, you can increase the horsepower in your engine — there’s no cheaper way to do that!

It’s also one of the simplest elements of routine preventive maintenance – and it protects against damage to expensive vehicle electronic systems. No St. Peter resident should have an excuse to drive around MN roads and highways with a dirty air filter.

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