AUTONET TV

Ask S T Foreign Auto Service: What Happens When a Serpentine Belt Breaks?

The serpentine belt is aptly named since it snakes around under your hood. It may lack its namesake's fangs, but it sure packs a wallop when it breaks.

The serpentine belt powers a lot of engine systems. It runs the alternator, which charges the battery; the water pump (on some vehicles), which cools the engine; the air conditioning, which cools the driver and passengers; and the power steering pump, which allows for easier steering. When the belt breaks, all of these systems shut down.

Okay, so maybe you can live without air conditioning and power steering for a while, but your battery can't live very long without an alternator, and when the cooling system goes down, your vehicle engine will overheat. That's why Syracuse drivers should never wait to get a serpentine belt replaced.

Serpentine belts are fairly inexpensive at S T Foreign Auto Service in Syracuse. And they look downright cheap when you compare them to the cost of an overheated vehicle engine, a tow truck, time lost on the road, inconvenience, and the potential safety consequences of being stranded.

Good car care means never putting off preventive maintenance. Do yourself a favor. Ask your friendly and knowledgeable S T Foreign Auto Service  technician to glance under your hood and give that serpentine belt a quick look-over.

S T Foreign Auto Service
415 E Brighton Ave.
Syracuse, NY 13210
315-478-2161
http://www.stforeignauto.com

Stay Safe in Syracuse by Putting Your Cell Phone on ICE

We don't want to think about it, but each Syracuse resident who drives or rides in a vehicle is potentially an accident victim. In the worst-case scenario, those people are unconscious and unable to communicate with NY rescue workers.

Rescue workers and Syracuse police are well aware of this difficulty, even if the rest of us don't stop to think about it. They can all recount stories of searching through glove compartments, pockets, wallets, purses and cell phone directories for a person's name and for contact information for someone who can help them get the person the medical care they need.

This contact information is critical in an accident because Syracuse medical workers need to know about allergies and potential drug interactions. Also, in NY, some medical treatments can't be provided without authorization or consent, and there can be insurance and billing issues if the person's medical care is not properly arranged.

ICE provides a solution for these concerns. ICE stands for In Case of Emergency and is a way for others to quickly identify emergency contacts in your cell phone.

Bob Brotchie, a paramedic from Cambridge, England, developed the idea for ICE in 2005. It soon spread around the globe. The system is simple, affordable and highly functional. Syracuse rescue workers can tell you that they can't always find purses and wallets at the scene of an accident. But these days, almost no one in NY goes anywhere without their phone.

To add ICE to your phone, simply put ICE in front of the names of those people who should be contacted in case you are in an emergency. For example, “ICE-Dad,” or “Ice-Deborah,” or “ICE-Dr. Mitchell.” Syracuse rescuers can quickly identify and access this information, saving valuable time. The only thing Syracuse drivers have to do after that is to keep their contacts current. Every time you change the batteries in your smoke alarm, it is a good idea to double-check your phone and make sure your ICE cell phone numbers are up-to-date. Of course, we'd rather avoid an accident in the first place. It's good advice to keep up with preventive maintenance (we can help you with that at S T Foreign Auto Service in Syracuse) and practice good car care and driving habits. Those can go a long way to keeping you safe on the road. Planning for the unthinkable helps your rescuers find the information they need quickly. Let's put the world on ICE.

 S T Foreign Auto Service
415 E Brighton Ave.
Syracuse, NY 13210
315-478-2161
http://www.stforeignauto.com

S T Foreign Auto Service Maintenance Tips: The Belt Goes On

All Syracuse service advisors know that without the alternator, the battery will go dead in a few miles.

The serpentine belt may also run the pumps for both the power steering and power brakes. And on many vehicles, the serpentine belt powers the water pump. The water pump circulates coolant through the engine to keep it within normal operating temperatures. (On some vehicles, the water pump is powered by the timing belt instead of the serpentine belt.)

So you can see the serpentine belt does a lot of work. And it if breaks, it affects a lot of systems. That's why your vehicle manufacturer and your service advisor at S T Foreign Auto Service have recommended that it be changed every so often so that it doesn't fail.

Your friendly and knowledgeable S T Foreign Auto Service service advisor can perform a visual inspection of the belt to see if it has any cracks that signal the belt could fail soon and will measure the amount of belt material to make sure there is enough.

Your serpentine belt works in tandem with a spring loaded pulley attached to the engine called the tensioner pulley. Its job is to make sure there's a constant tension on the serpentine belt so that it doesn't slip. The spring can become worn and no longer provide the necessary pressure to keep the belt tight. At S T Foreign Auto Service in Syracuse, we recommend that the tensioner be replaced at the same time as the serpentine belt.

S T Foreign Auto Service
415 E Brighton Ave.
Syracuse, NY 13210
315-478-2161
http://www.stforeignauto.com

The S T Foreign Auto Service Guide to Vehicle Diagnosis

Modern Syracuse vehicles have several computers on board that control all kinds of things like engine functions, transmission shifts, traction control, anti-lock brakes, stability control, emissions – and on some vehicles, even steering, braking and the throttle.

Think about that for a minute – things that used to be controlled by simple mechanical connections now have electronic controls that rely on computers, software and sensors. It's no wonder that when something goes wrong with their vehicle it can be pretty complicated for Syracuse drivers to track down the source of the problem.

To help your service advisor at S T Foreign Auto Service figure out what's wrong, your vehicle is equipped with on-board diagnostics. The Check Engine light comes on to tell you there's a problem and the engine management computer stores a trouble code. Your friendly and knowledgeable S T Foreign Auto Service technician connects a scan tool to your vehicle's diagnostic port and retrieves the trouble codes as well as other important data.

Trouble codes are like clues for the technician to follow as he diagnoses what's wrong with your vehicle. In a way, it's like going to your Syracuse doctor with a problem. She'll run some additional tests and gather the information she needs to make a diagnosis and form a treatment plan. How much a vehicle diagnosis costs at S T Foreign Auto Service in Syracuse depends on how much time it takes to sort out the symptoms and find the underlying problem.

Give us a call.

S T Foreign Auto Service
315-478-2161
415 E Brighton Ave.
Syracuse, NY 13210
http://www.stforeignauto.com