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Rob joins forces with Bryan and Bill to break down a third round of the more popular Regular Maintenance questions on our Hey Schierl Tire FAQ. Our cars exist to get is from one place to another. It’s rare that we hop in and think “When was the last time I checked my oil level” instead of “Time to get to Grandma’s place – I hope the construction in her neighborhood is done.” When you’re driving, your eye’s on the prize!

For the most part, our vehicles are almost comically reliable. But as soon as something goes wrong, one of the first thoughts is: wait, did I forget to check something? Join us for the ride as we break down some easy ways to head off that question – or at least answer it with a “nope, I didn’t forget!”

 

How often should I get my oil changed?

Bryan’s first answer: Boy, that’s a tough question. He explains that there are a lot of variables at play, like mileage, driving conditions, and other factors (like oil leaks) that contribute to how much life you’ll see on an oil change. A good rule is to change your oil about every 3,000 miles. Full synthetic oil should be able to last around 6,000 miles. If you drive fewer than 3,000 or 6,000 miles in a year, then time is your enemy – we recommend changing your oil annually if you don’t drive often.

Some vehicles can stretch up to 7,500 or even 10,000 miles, but Bryan wouldn’t recommend that. The reason not to push it is because oil does a lot for your engine. Variable cam timing is a feature in most modern engines that relies on oil pressure to work, which makes it tougher on your oil. With all the work your oil needs to do, it slowly breaks down. Technically, oil won’t spoil or break down by itself over time, but even light driving will introduce water vapor and other by products that contribute to oil degradation.

In the end, Bryan recommends checking your owner’s manual and following your car manufacturer’s recommendations. Outside of your manufacturer’s recommendations, we’ll just summarize:

• If you’re not sure, change your oil every 3,000 miles.
• If your car boasts higher mileage between oil changes, still plan to change your oil every 6,000 – 7,500 miles.
• When in doubt (or if you don’t drive much), change it every year just to be safe.

Regular oil changes are one of the most important things you can do for your car.

During our recording, Bill asks if there’s really a difference between oils – after all, how much variation can there be? According to Bryan: hundreds. There are differences in oil weight (0W20, 10W30 and so on), additives (some of which are recommended for specific models of car) and more. When in doubt, of course, any oil is better than none! Most modern cars will even estimate your remaining oil’s life. Bryan says if your car has that system, trust it. They tend to be fairly accurate, which means less guesswork for you!

Bonus Question: What’s this “courtesy check” listed on your website?

If you take your car in to Schierl Tire & Auto Service, we do a little extra with each oil change. Not only do we change your oil to manufacturers’ specifications, our techs also rotate your tires (based on mileage), check and top off your other fluids, check your lights, test your battery, belts, steering, suspension, brakes, and more. You’ll get a full report card on how your car is doing.

We’re not the only service center that does this of course. Other service centers will do some of these checks, but we do them all. It’s called our 32-Point Courtesy Check, and it’s kind of a point of pride for us. We want our Guests to stay safe.

Just remember if we do rotate your tires (and we’ll let you know) to re-torque them after 50-100 miles. This is another service we provide for free if you bring your car in - even if you had the work done somewhere else.

So why re-torque your tires after they’ve been rotated or repaired? When tires are removed, any foreign material that’s built up like rust, dust, etc. gets shaken loose. This means the wheels don’t fit back on the same way. Not only that, but most modern tire rims are aluminum or alloy material, and the brake rotor or drum it bolts to is steel. Those two metals heat and cool at different rates with regular driving, which can sometimes cause newly-torqued lug nuts to loosen as the metals expand and contract. Both factors contribute to the possibility that a tire that has been removed and replaced may loosen unless it’s re-torqued after things have had the chance to settle over the first 50-100 miles.

Can Schierl Tire & Service replace my air filters?

Yes – and “filters” (more than one) is also correct! When we change your oil, we also inspect your air filter and your cabin filter! There’s an air filter for your engine that filters out dust and other road debris, so it doesn’t get into your engine. Most (but not all) modern cars also have a cabin air filter to filter the cabin air you breathe when running the heater or air conditioning as you drive. Because who wants to breathe in all that road dust and pollen?

The cabin air filter gets a workout on dirt roads, so if you live in rural Wisconsin, it’s really earning its keep. Changing your cabin air filter annually is a good rule. If you’ve never changed it, check your owner’s manual to see if your car even has one. If it does, get it changed! You might notice better heating and air conditioning performance, and the end of that “old car” smell.

How often should you change your windshield wiper blades?

Wiper blades are one regular maintenance item that you don’t notice until it’s too late! The only way to tell if they’re working is in the rain. Bryan recommends changing them at least once a year. Most wiper blades are out in the open all the time, getting bombarded with UV rays from the sun as well as all the wild weather we expect from Wisconsin. We don’t recommend clearing ice and snow with your wiper blades, but we’ve all done it for sure.

After some time out in the elements, the rubber starts to harden and crack. When they’re damaged like that, they don’t clear the rain like they should. That’s why it’s a good idea to change them when you start to see streaks or when they’re not working like they used to. We keep almost all varieties of front wipers in stock (back wipers we might need to order) and we’re happy to install them for you when you buy them.

I think one of the belts in my car is damaged – what should I do?

Bryan says of course it depends on which belt. A lot of cars only use one belt, called a serpentine belt. If that breaks, you will lose your alternator, water pump, air conditioning, and usually power steering! Sometimes if a belt is wearing out, you might hear a squealing sound as your engine runs. If your alternator light comes on, you lose heat or air conditioning, or your car suddenly becomes very hard to steer, you may have a broken serpentine belt.

Keep in mind that different cars use different systems. Sometimes if your power steering still works, that could be because your car uses an electronic system for steering. If your water pump is still working, that could be because it’s driven by a different system. No matter what, if your car starts behaving strangely, pull over as soon as it’s safe to get to the side of the road.

In the old days, manufacturers used one belt for each system. That meant if one broke, the rest of the car wasn’t affected. But they didn’t last as long, so you would be replacing all these different belts at many different times. These days, the serpentine belt tends to last around 100,000 miles.

Listen for the high-pitched chirping sound or examine your serpentine belt for small cracks. Not all belts are easy to find, so check your owner’s manual! Some cars have the belts hidden behind housings to keep the engine looking clean and the belt itself protected. When you have your oil changed at Schierl Tire & Service, we do inspect your belts to make sure they’re in good shape. And since they’re kind of a pain when they fail, we will let you know if it’s starting to wear so you’re not surprised on a long trip.

Fun fact: the text in our logo that says “Schierl Tire & Service” is a font called Serpentine!

How often should I get my transmission fluid flushed?

Honestly, some car manufacturers don’t recommend changing transmission fluid at all! But those aren’t the norm. There are a lot of different transmission systems on the road, and many of them take certain types of transmission fluid.

On average, most cars should have their transmission fluid flushed and replaced every 100,000 miles. About 15 years ago you’d have to change it every 30,000 miles, but technology has advanced both in transmission design and fluid production. To find out when, or even if, you should have your transmission fluid changed, say it with us: Check your owner’s manual!

There’s so much great information specific to your car in your owner’s manual. If you get bored one night, read through it. Use Post-It notes to mark pages of interest, like maintenance tips, fluid types and measurements, and other information you might want to find in the future.

The reason we call changing the transmission fluid “flushing” is because we hook it up to a machine that draws all the old fluid out and replaces it with new fluid to make sure everything is fresh. Draining the fluid will get less than half of it out of the transmission system, since most of the fluid collects in the torque converter, a doughnut-shaped part of the mechanical transmission assembly. By flushing the fluid out, we make sure to replace all the old fluid in one process.

I just filled my tires with air, but my TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring System) light is still on. What do I do now?

Bryan says, in most cases: drive! The tire pressure monitoring sensor is sending data to the car’s computer, and there is a certain reset period it goes through when you fill up your tires. Most of the time, once you’ve properly inflated your tires you might just have to drive a couple miles for it to reset. In rare cases, your spare tire might have a tire pressure sensor that could cause your light to go on if it’s underinflated.

So how do you know what pressure to fill your tires? Check your….information placard inside your driver’s side door! (You thought we were going to say owner’s manual, didn’t you?) It’s a decal on the inside of the door or the door jamb that tells you exactly what PSI you should inflate your tires to. What’s written on the tire itself might not be appropriate for your car!

And remember as the weather changes, tires can lose a pound of pressure for every 10-degree drop in temperature. If your TPMS light comes on in the morning, you’re probably a little low after a cold night.

If you’ve done all you can and the TPMS light is still on, bring it in and we can check it. Sometimes the tire pressure sensor can fail or lose connection to the car system. We can re-calibrate it, reconnect it, or even replace it if it’s failed. You’ll know the sensor has died if your TPMS light is flashing.

If you want to find out some more answers to popular questions, check our Hey Schierl Tire page. And if we haven’t answered a question you might have, send us an email at [email protected] and we’ll add your question to our answers list!

 

Road Trip: Mitchell Park Domes

Snuggled in downtown Milwaukee, the Mitchell Park Domes allow Wisconsinites to experience a wide variety of different climates any time of the year. This can, of course, be a welcome change in the winter months! There are three huge domes, each one seven stories high, offering not only a great tourist stop but event spaces that can be booked for wedding receptions and more. Bill has been there and said it’s a great way to be transported into a new environment, whether you’d prefer a desert, a tropical area, or a floral area, whose displays change five times a year.

Built in the 60s, the Domes are hitting their expected life span, so Milwaukee and the surrounding county are working to establish it as a historical site. They would like to repair or move them to make them available to future generations.

They feature changing art exhibits to enjoy, with the most recent being Earth Art of Nature which features the beautiful architecture of nature. Visitors can also find a huge variety of exotic plants, such as the corpse flower, which blooms only every 7 to 9 years. The bloom is huge but short-lived…and smells terrible.

Bryan has a quiz for Bill and Rob: What is the largest desert in the world? Rob and Bill want to say the Sahara, but that’s too easy. Bryan explains that a desert is classified by the amount of annual precipitation, like rain or snow. When they finally give up, he tells them the answer: Antarctica!