Air quality affects us wherever we are in Salina. Many decades ago, Salina residents began to become aware of how air pollution negatively affects health. But what about the air inside your vehicle?

Cabin air filters are now coming on most new sedans since the 2000 model year. These filters clean the air in the passenger compartment. They can filter particles down to three microns, so that’s good enough to clean out dust, pollen and most pollutants. If you suffer from allergies in Salina, this is very good news.

You can look in your sedan owner’s manual to see if you have a cabin air filter. If you do, there’ll be a recommendation for replacing it when it gets dirty. If you live where there’s a lot of dust, pollen or pollution, you may need to change it more often. You can also ask your friendly service advisor at Sankey Auto Center in Salina.

How hard it is to change a cabin air filter depends on your vehicle. Some are quite accessible; others take some doing to get to them. They’re usually in the sedan engine compartment or under the dashboard.

Because cabin air filters are so new on the scene, some Salina motorists haven’t heard of them – even people who have cabin air filters. Sankey Auto Center service advisors report customers complaining of an unpleasant odor in their vehicle and it turned out to be a dirty cabin air filter.

An important note for Salina hybrid owners: there is a special air filter that cleans the air that cools the hybrid battery pack. This filter should be inspected every time the cabin air filter is inspected and replaced if it is dirty so that the battery pack doesn’t overheat.

Give us a call

Sankey Auto Center
785.827.0000
801 East Crawford
Salina, KS 67401

At Sankey Auto Center in Salina KS (67401) we install quality NAPA replacement parts. Give us a call at 785.827.0000. To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com.

The Check Engine Light strikes fear into the hearts of some Salina drivers and is totally ignored by just as many. Just what it means is a mystery to most of us in KS.

First, if your sedan check engine light is flashing, that means that something is wrong that could cause severe damage to the catalytic converter or other components. Get that taken care of right away. If your check engine light is flashing, you shouldn’t drive at Salina highway speeds, tow or haul heavy loads. Take it easy all the way to Sankey Auto Center in Salina.

If the light is glowing steadily, you should keep an eye on it for a day or two. If the light doesn’t go off, schedule an appointment with your Salina service advisor to get it checked out.

Some more information from Sankey Auto Center on how the Check Engine Light works may be informative. Most of your sedan engine functions are controlled by a computer, not surprisingly, called an engine control computer. The computer is able to adjust many engine parameters for environmental conditions, engine condition and even the way you drive in Salina.

In order to make these adjustments, the sedan computer relies on a network of sensors to provide data. The computer knows the proper operating range for each sensor. When a sensor reading is out of range the computer runs some tests and may turn on the Check Engine Light.

The sedan computer will also try to make adjustments to compensate for some readings. If it can do so, it’ll then turn off the Check Engine Light.

If the problem can’t be resolved then the light will remain on and you should get your sedan looked at at Sankey Auto Center. Your friendly service technician will plug a scanner into the on-board diagnostic port and read the trouble code stored in the computer. The trouble code will give your Sankey Auto Center technician a starting place as he diagnoses the cause of the problem.

At Sankey Auto Center, we also offer chassis lubrication and tune up.

Give us a call

Sankey Auto Center
785.827.0000
801 East Crawford
Salina, KS 67401

At Sankey Auto Center in Salina KS (67401) we install quality NAPA replacement parts. Give us a call at 785.827.0000. To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com.

Your sedan cooling system’s job is to keep your engine cool. Coolant (also called antifreeze) mixed with water flows through your engine and absorbs heat. The mixture then flows out to the radiator where it’s cooled by air flowing over the radiator. From there the cooled mix circulates back through the sedan engine to absorb more heat.

Coolant, or antifreeze, is specially formulated to keep your engine safe in a wide range of environmental and operating temperatures in Salina.

Without coolant, the sedan’s metal engine parts would expand so much that the engine would seize up and stop running.  Expensive parts could be broken or warp so badly they would have to be replaced at Sankey Auto Center in Salina. It could even be so bad that the whole engine is ruined and has to be replaced.

Also, if it’s freezing outside in Salina, the water in your engine could freeze while your vehicle is sitting out in the KS cold. This is why you check coolant levels frequently and have your cooling system inspected for leaks. Also your manufacturer has a maintenance requirement for draining and replacing your coolant. These recommendations can vary widely, so check your Salina owner’s manual or ask your service advisor at Sankey Auto Center in Salina.

The reason you need to change the coolant is that it has additives in it to protect the cooling system. As you can imagine, with all the heat, the cooling system’s a pretty harsh environment. The additives keep the fluid from becoming corrosive and damaging the radiator and other Salina cooling system components. Over time, the additives are depleted and the coolant just has to be replaced. A simple pH test can measure the coolant’s acidity.

You may have noticed that there are different colors of antifreeze at Sankey Auto Center: it is very important that you use the correct type.  The different coolant types are different colors so you don’t mix them up.  Manufacturers use different materials to make the cooling system, and they require different types of antifreeze to protect them.

So check with your friendly Sankey Auto Center service advisor or owner’s manual for the right kind because using the wrong coolant can void the warranty for your sedan cooling system.

Ask us about water pump replacement, tune up and electrical system test.

Give us a call

Sankey Auto Center
785.827.0000
801 East Crawford
Salina, KS 67401

At Sankey Auto Center in Salina KS (67401) we install quality NAPA replacement parts. Give us a call at 785.827.0000. To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com.

You may not be familiar with all of the items on Sankey Auto Center’s menu board so here is a quick description of some of the typical services that might be listed. Remember, the board is there for reference; speak to your Sankey Auto Center Service Adviser about other possible needs or services.

Sankey Auto Center Fuel System Cleaning: Over time, the fuel system gets gum and varnish built up. A fuel system cleaning at Sankey Auto Center gets rid of that and cleans out the fuel injectors. Saves gas as you drive around Salina and on Salina freeways, by the way.

Sankey Auto Center Headlamp Replacement: Halogen and standard headlamps gradually fade. When one burns out, replace both so they’ll have the same brightness. Also, if your headlamp lenses are yellowed or cloudy, you can have them professionally restored to like new-condition. As your friendly Sankey Auto Center advisor for information.

Sankey Auto Center Inspections: Salina drivers get inspections for many reasons. Maybe they’re going on a trip or just want to make sure their vehicle’s ready for summer or winter in Salina. Maybe they just bought a used car and want to give it the once over. An inspection at Sankey Auto Center may reveal some things that are broken or are getting close to having a problem.

Sankey Auto Center Oil Change Service – there are several options: Some Salina auto service centers offer just an oil change and new filter as an option. Most will also check and top off all of your other fluids and do a quick visual inspection with a full service oil change. There may also be options for higher mileage fluids or an upgrade to synthetic oil.

Sankey Auto Center PCV Valve Service: PCV stands for Positive Crankcase Ventilation valve. It’s a little part that releases pressure from the engine. It can get gummed up and that can lead to engine damage. Just needs to be changed now and then.

Sankey Auto Center Power Steering Service: Often overlooked. Your Sankey Auto Center technician will evacuate the old fluid, clean out the system and replace it with clean fluid. Keeps the system running well for a long time.

Sankey Auto Center Serpentine Belt Replacement: That’s the belt that powers the engine’s accessories like the alternator, air conditioner, power steering and brakes. You’ll want to replace the serpentine belt at Sankey Auto Center before it breaks or wears down too much, because that’ll lead to other problems.

Sankey Auto Center Shocks and Struts Replacement: This starts with an inspection of the suspension components. Shocks last a long time and wear out slowly, so many Salina motorists don’t notice when it’s time to change them. If they’re worn or leaking, they need to be replaced.

Sankey Auto Center Transmission Service: This involves removing the transmission fluid and replacing it with clean fluid. It’s like an oil change for your transmission.

Sankey Auto Center Tire Rotation and Wheel Balancing: The tires are rotated from front to back using the recommended rotation pattern. This helps tires wear more evenly. Wheels need to be balanced from time to time to keep them turning without any wobble or bounce. Helps the ride and saves tire wear as you drive around Salina.

Give us a call

Sankey Auto Center
785.827.0000
801 East Crawford
Salina, KS 67401

At Sankey Auto Center in Salina KS (67401) we install quality NAPA replacement parts. Give us a call at 785.827.0000. To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com.

Let’s focus on stopping in wet Salina conditions. In order for a tire to have good contact with the road, it has to move the water out of the way. If it can’t move the water, the tire will actually ride on top of a thin film of water.

That’s called hydroplaning. At Sankey Auto Center we want our customers to know that if it’s really bad, you can actually spin out of control. At best, you won’t stop as fast.

So how does a tire move water? It has channels for water to flow through. Look at a tire and you’ll see channels: channels that run around the tire and channels that flow across the tire. They’re designed to direct water away from the tire so it can contact the road better.

And the deeper the channel, the more water it can move. A brand new tire has very deep channels and can easily move a lot of water. As the tire wears down, the channels become shallower and can move less water. When it wears down enough, it can seriously affect your ability to stop on wet Salina roads.

So that’s why it’s so important for Salina drivers to replace the tires on their sedans when they get worn. Consumer Reports and other advocate groups call for a standard of 3/32 of an inch and they have the studies to prove it.

By comparison, you’ve probably seen the wear indicator that’s molded into tires. When tires are worn 3/32 of an inch, the tread wear bar is visible. So the recommended standard has twice the tread depth as a completely worn out tire.

And that little bit of additional tread makes a big difference. Stopping distances are cut dramatically on wet roads. A safe stop from KS freeway speeds with 4/32 of an inch of tread would result in a crash with worn out tires.

There’s an easy way to tell when a tire’s worn to 4/32 of an inch. Just insert a quarter into the tread. Put it in upside down. If the tread doesn’t cover George Washington’s hairline, it’s time to replace your tires. With a Canadian quarter, the tread should cover the numbers in the year stamp.

You’ve probably heard of this technique using a penny and Abe Lincoln’s head. That measure gives you 2/32 of an inch – half the suggested amount.

Of course, tires are a big ticket item for Salina car owners. Most of us want to get as many miles out of them as we can. But there’s a real safety trade-off. It’s your choice.

At Sankey Auto Center in Salina KS (67401) we install quality NAPA replacement parts. Give us a call at 785.827.0000. To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com.

Many people in the Salina area may not realize that the first federally mandated pollution control device was in 1960: the PCV valve.

‘PCV’ stands for Positive Crankcase Ventilation. The crankcase is the lower part of the engine where the crankshaft is housed and where the engine oil lives. When fuel is burned in the engine some of the explosive gases from combustion squeeze past the pistons and down into the crankcase.

Now this gas is about 70 percent unburned fuel. If it were allowed to remain in the crankcase, it would contaminate the oil and quickly turn it to sludge. Sludge is like Vaseline and clogs passages in the engine leading to damage.

Also, the pressure build up would blow out seals and gaskets. In the old days, there was just a hose that vented the crankcase out into the air. Obviously, not good for the environment.

Enter the PCV valve. It’s a small, one-way valve that lets out the gases from the crankcase, and routes them back into the air intake system where can be re-burned in the engine.

As you might imagine, the valve gets gummed up over time. If you skip oil changes now and then, the PCV valve gets gummed up even faster. If the PCV valve is sticking you could have oil leaks. Fortunately, the PCV valve is very inexpensive to replace. Some can even be checked for function by your technician.

Manufacturer’s usually recommend they be changed somewhere between twenty and fifty thousand miles. Unfortunately, PCV valve replacement is left out of some owner’s manuals, so you may need to ask your service advisor.

Come down to Sankey Auto Center and have us take a look at the condition of your PCV valve to ensure you are running at top efficiency. Just come by our service station in Salina, KS 67401, or give us a call at 785.827.0000.

At Sankey Auto Center in Salina KS (67401) we install quality NAPA replacement parts. Give us a call at 785.827.0000. To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com.

Automatic transmissions have gotten more sophisticated in recent years for Salina car owners. Take the number of gears for starters: The base is four speeds, five is very common. Many manufacturers are using six speeds and several have seven or even eight speeds. As you can imagine, this means more parts in your sedan’s transmission.

Today’s transmissions are computer controlled. Some high end transmissions have two or three computers. Our experienced technicians at Sankey Auto Center in Salina receive ongoing training on transmission service and repair.

Assaria, Bennington, and Brookville car owners trust that transmissions are engineered to last. But KS motorists need to understand that they are also engineered to tighter tolerances. If a portion of the transmission is starved for lubrication, it can lead to failure.

This can happen with not enough fluid. And, if the transmission fluid gets dirty or sludgy, small passages in the transmission can get clogged, then the lubricant is blocked and can’t get to all the parts to protect them, so they wear out prematurely.

Most newer vehicles in Salina, Bennington, and Brookville require special transmission fluids – at Sankey Auto Center we can make sure you get the type your manufacturer recommends.

As you can imagine, repairing one of these new transmissions can be quite costly at most Salina auto repair shops. That’s why manufacturers have a schedule for how often Salina drivers should change the fluid and what type of fluid to use.

At Sankey Auto Center in Salina KS (67401) we install quality NAPA replacement parts. Give us a call at 785.827.0000. To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com.

First, the serpentine belt drives your air conditioning system. Next, the belt powers the alternator.

The serpentine belt may also run the pumps for both the power steering and power brakes. In some sedans, power steering may have an electric drive and power brakes can be vacuum driven.

And, on many vehicles, the serpentine belt powers the water pump (on some cars, the water pump is powered by the timing belt).

Your Sankey Auto Center service technician 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.

Salina drivers should be aware that there’s a special, spring loaded pulley attached to the engine called the tensioner pulley and sometimes an extra pulley call the idler pulley. Their 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. That’s why it’s often recommended that the tensioner, and the idler pulley if so equipped, be replaced at the same time as the serpentine belt.

All in all, the serpentine belt’s an important part for the function of your sedan. And it’s not that expensive to replace at Sankey Auto Center – so it’s good to do so before it fails.

At Sankey Auto Center in Salina KS (67401) we install quality NAPA replacement parts. Give us a call at 785.827.0000. To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com.

The crankcase is the bottom area of the engine that holds the oil. When the sedan engine’s running, fuel is burned to generate power. Most of the exhaust from combustion goes out through the exhaust system. But some exhaust blows by the pistons and goes into the lower engine, or crankcase.

These hot gases are about seventy percent unburned fuel. This can dilute and contaminate the oil, leading to damaging engine oil sludge. It can also cause engine corrosion in your sedan. At high speeds, the pressure can build up to the point that gaskets and seals start to leak.

Assaria car owners need to know that over time, the vented gases will gum up the PCV valve and it won’t work well. That can lead to all of the problems I’ve already described, oil leaks, excessive oil consumption and wasted gas.

Fortunately, it’s very easy to test the PCV valve and quick and inexpensive to replace it at Sankey Auto Center. Even so, it’s often overlooked because many Assaria drivers don’t know about it.

Check your sedan owner’s manual or ask your Sankey Auto Center advisor. If this is the first time you’ve heard of a PCV valve, you might be in line for a PCV valve replacement.

Please ask us about your PCV valve. For the price of a couple of burger combo meals, you can avoid some very expensive deep engine repairs.

At Sankey Auto Center in Salina KS (67401) we install quality NAPA replacement parts. Give us a call at 785.827.0000. To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com.

Now when you hear “severe service”, you may think it doesn’t apply to you because you don’t feel your driving conditions are severe or extreme – it’s just normal everyday driving around Salina. At Sankey Auto Center, we discuss the conditions that manufacturers classify as severe so that you can make the judgment on your own driving.

• Most trips are less than four miles
• Most trips are less than ten miles and outside temperatures are below freezing in Salina
• You drive in very hot KS weather
• Driving at low speed most of the time (under 55 mph)
• Stop and go driving
• Operating your vehicle in dusty, polluted or muddy conditions
• You tow a trailer, regularly carry heavy loads or carry a car-top carrier on your sedan

Most Salina drivers operate under severe driving conditions at least some of the time. How do you know which schedule to follow for your sedan?

Carefully think about your driving conditions and decide if you should do your preventive maintenance closer to the severe service recommendation or the regular recommendation. Of course, your Sankey Auto Center advisor can help you with your decision.

At Sankey Auto Center in Salina KS (67401) we install quality NAPA replacement parts. Give us a call at 785.827.0000. To learn more about NAPA AutoCare, visit www.NAPAAutoCare.com.