St. Peter Drivers Severe Service Maintenance Schedules

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

On Board Diagnostics for St. Peter Motorists

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

Tire Maintenance In Saint Peter

With the recent focus in Saint Peter on improving fuel economy, we’ve been told how important it is to maintain our tire pressure.

St. Peter auto owners know that tires wear out, but we want to make them last as long as possible because they’re not cheap to replace. In addition to saving gas, properly inflated tires last longer. Under-inflated tires will wear out more quickly.

Some Saint Peter drivers wonder if they should add a few extra pounds of pressure when they fill up their tires. Bad idea. In fact, there are very good reasons not to over-inflate your tires. For one, the middle of the tread will wear unevenly because the full tread is not contacting the road properly. That also adversely affects your handling.

Stop by Autotronics of ST Peter to see about tire maintenance for your St. Peter, MN vehicle.

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

Every vehicle in the Saint Peter area has a sticker on the driver’s side door jamb that tells you the auto manufacturer’s recommended tire pressure. This recommendation is an integral part of the vehicle’s suspension tuning. A lot of engineering actually goes into the recommended tire pressure, so it’s vital for Saint Peter motorists to follow it.

What else do St. Peter motorists need to know about tire maintenance? Tire rotation and balancing are very important. Let’s start with rotation. Because the front tires handle the brunt of turning forces, the shoulders of the front tires wear more quickly than the rear tires. At Autotronics of ST Peter in St. Peter, we rotate the tires so that they all get to do some duty on the front and they’ll all wear evenly over their life.

For most vehicles, front tires are rotated to the rear and vice versa. Others recommend a cross rotational pattern. Some vehicles use an asymmetrical tire so those tires need to stay on either the right or left side – it’ll say which on the tire. Some high performance cars have asymmetrical tires and different sizes on the front and rear. These can’t be rotated at all. Your owner’s manual will have details for your car or speak with your knowledgeable Autotronics of ST Peter tech.

How often should Clevelandauto owners rotate their tires? Your owner’s manual will have a recommendation. Your knowledgeable Autotronics of ST Peter technician at Autotronics of ST Peter in St. Peter can do a visual inspection to let you know if it looks like it should be done. The interval is typically around 5,000 miles.

You know, some St. Peter people don’t think new tires need to be balanced. What they aren’t taking into account is the wheel. Between the wheel and the tire – even a new tire – there’s enough variation to require balancing.

When you add the valve stem and tire pressure monitoring sensors required on new cars, balancing is definitely important. When a tire’s out of balance, it’s actually hopping down the road. St. Peter drivers with tires out of balance will feel the vibration through the steering wheel if a front tire’s out of balance and through the seat if it’s a rear tire.

Proper wheel balance promotes tire life and increases safety for Cleveland auto owners and their passengers. Historically, lead weights have been attached to the wheel to bring it into balance. Lead gives some environmental concern, so steel weights are starting to be substituted.

The team at Autotronics of ST Peter also wants to remind you that it is essential to always use the same size tire on an axle. Different size tires on the front or on the back can lead to some real handling problems. And MN tire manufacturers recommend that when you get two new tires, they be installed on the rear because that’s where you need the most traction to avoid spinning-out.