AUTONET TV

Keeping Your Cold Spring Air Fresh When Driving With a Clean Cabin Air Filter

Pop quiz: What is a cabin air filter?

A. A filter for your Cold Spring house?
B. A fresh, piney scent?
C. A filter for the passenger compartment of your car?

Clever you, it's C.

A cabin air filter cleans the outside air before it comes into the passenger compartment of your vehicle. It filters out common MN air particles like dust, pollen, spores, bacteria, pollutants, exhaust gas, odors and even sparrows.

These high tech filters can block particles larger than 3 microns. By contrast, a grain of sand is about 200 microns.

Not all Cold Spring vehicles have cabin air filters. They are fairly new on the scene in MN. Last check, about 40 percent of new vehicles sold in Cold Spring come with cabin air filters, but the number is growing every year.

Cabin air filters make driving a lot more pleasant for people in Cold Spring. Your vehicle can be a haven during our MN allergy season with very little dust and pollen getting into the cabin. Of course, like all filters, the cabin air filter eventually gets clogged. When this happens, your heating and air conditioning flow can become restricted. The filter can even get kind of smelly.

Check your owner's manual for replacement guidelines. If your vehicle owner's manual doesn't mention your cabin air filter, ask your friendly and knowledgeable service advisor at Bauer Auto Service for a recommendation. It's usually every year or 12,000 miles /19,000 kilometers. Change it sooner if you drive in dusty conditions around the Cold Spring area, or if you start to notice a funky smell coming from your vents.

The team at Bauer Auto Service urges Cold Spring drivers to keep their cabin air filter cleans. It may not help with your brother-in-law in the backseat, but it will make your driving experience around Cold Spring more enjoyable.

Come by and we'll take a look at your cabin air filter for you.

Bauer Auto Service
14455 State Hwy 23
Cold Spring, MN 56320
320-685-8846

Automotive Tips from Bauer Auto Service: Timing Belt Overview

In your engine, valves over each combustion chamber open to allow fresh air in, close during the combustion event, and then other valves open to let out the exhaust. All of this happens over and over thousands of times a minute when you are driving around Cold Spring. The timing belt’s important job is to make sure that all of this happens as it should – at precisely the right time. If the timing is off, your engine won’t run efficiently or maybe not at all – so a good timing belt is important. If it should break, you could end up at Bauer Auto Service with expensive engine damage.

Ask your friendly and professional Bauer Auto Service service advisor when your timing belt is scheduled for replacement.

Give us a call.

Bauer Auto Service
14455 State Hwy 23
Cold Spring, MN 56320
320-685-8846

Battery Maintenance Tips From Bauer Auto Service

When it comes to your vehicle, it all starts with the battery. Proper battery maintenance is important for two reasons:

First, your vehicle won't start or run without it. Second, it is the key to the long life of your auto electrical system. If your battery isn't working efficiently, your alternator has to work overtime to make up for it, and other electrical components can suffer as well.

A number of years ago sealed batteries were introduced to the local Cold Spring, MN, market. They were hailed as being 'maintenance-free batteries.' While it is true that you can't get in and adjust the electrolyte levels of a sealed battery, it is by no means maintenance free.

Batteries are very sensitive to changes in the weather around MN. Temperature really affects auto battery performance. A battery inspection is an important part of your spring and fall checkups. Next time you're under your hood, take a look at your battery.

• Is it clean and free of residue? A dirty battery will drain.
• Is there corrosion at the terminals where the battery cables attach to the battery? If there is, the corrosion can interfere with how efficiently electricity passes back and forth from the battery.
• Are the cables loose? Make sure they are tight.
• Are the cables themselves corroded? Corrosion can actually eat through the battery cables.

Bauer Auto Service service advisors can inspect and test your battery. If the inspection warrants a cleaning, have it done. If the battery test indicates that replacement of the battery or cables is in order, you will be lucky to have caught the problem before it becomes a major inconvenience.

Your battery will also last longer if you keep your fuel system and ignition system clean. It's all part of your commitment to regular maintenance, to keep your vehicle running on Cold Spring streets at its best for a long, long time.

Bauer Auto Service
14455 State Hwy 23
Cold Spring, MN 56320
320-685-8846

Coolant Service at Bauer Auto Service

Cold Spring residents' vehicles have to operate in a wide range of MN temperatures which requires the engine coolant to be able to perform 'no matter what.' Think for a moment about the environment where the coolant does its thing. Very hot, high pressure, corrosive...

And all the while, it has to protect the components of the cooling system from corrosion. These components are made from steel and aluminum, plastics and rubber. The coolant has to be formulated to protect against corrosion for all of these different materials. That's why vehicle manufacturer’s recommend different types of anti-freeze for our Cold Spring, MN, vehicles.

There are several different 'families' of anti-freeze available to us here in Cold Spring. Your owner's manual will tell you what kind you should use. Of course, the automotive professionals at Bauer Auto Service will know the right kind for your vehicle.

It's important to stay on top of this because coolant system failure is the most common mechanical problem people have here in Cold Spring, MN. Regular service needs to be done at Bauer Auto Service to avoid failures and also to keep your warranty in place.

While the specifics of the service required may vary from vehicle to vehicle, your friendly and knowledgeable Bauer Auto Service service advisor will know what to do. You'll be advised to replace the coolant at specified intervals.

Some recommend periodic coolant system flushes. A flush adds a cleaning step to the fluid replacement process. Again, check to see what your owner’s manual recommends.

Bauer Auto Service
14455 State Hwy 23
Cold Spring, MN 56320
320-685-8846

Automotive Tips from Bauer Auto Service: Wiper Blades ? Signs of Wear

90% of our driving decisions are based on vision. Anything that impedes your vision can affect your driving safety – including a dirty windshield. In that sense, your wiper blades are an important safety system. Most Cold Spring drivers will wait until their wipers have failed before they replace them. Then they find themselves in a driving situation around MN when they really need forward visibility only to discover that their wipers are worn or maybe even torn and can’t clear snow or rain from the windshield.

As an important safety system, wiper blades should be replaced BEFORE they fail. Test your wipers at least once a month. If they are not doing the job, your friendly and professional Bauer Auto Service service advisor can replace them for you.

Give us a call.

Bauer Auto Service
14455 State Hwy 23
Cold Spring, MN 56320
320-685-8846