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When And Why To Replace Brake Rotors
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By Counterman
Continental’s line of ATE replacement brake fluids feature special formulations designed to help maximize brake-system performance in all types of electronic, hydraulic and racing systems.
The full line includes ATE Super DOT 5.1, the technological standard for brake fluids; ATE SL.6 Brake Fluid, the ideal replacement for ESP, ABS and ASR electronic brake systems; ATE SL for hydraulic brake and clutch systems; and ATE TYP 200 for high-performance and racing applications.
ATE Super DOT 5.1 Premium Brake Fluid’s formulation sets a new performance standard for brake fluids, according to Continental. It combines a high wet boiling point of 356 F with outstanding viscosity at very low temperatures to deliver a capability that previous brake fluids were unable to achieve. With a maximum of 750 mm²/sec. at minus 40 F, ATE Super DOT 5.1 viscosity values exceed even those of ISO Class 6, which are well above the specifications for DOT 5.1 class brake fluids, according to the company.
ATE SL.6 brake fluidis the optimum replacement for DOT 4 fluid in ESP, ABS and ASR brake systems. Its low-viscosity texture allows electronic brake systems to react more quickly for improved safety. ATE SL.6 offersexcellent application coverage for the advanced braking systems used in high-end vehicle makes and models.
ATE SL brake fluidis an excellent DOT 4 replacement for use as hydraulic fluid in brake and clutch systems. It features a mixture of polyethylene glycol ethers, polyethylene glycols and boric acid esters of polyethylene glycols with anti-corrosion/anti-aging agents. ATE SL meets and exceeds the requirements of the brake-fluid standards FMVSS-No. 116 – DOT 4, SAE J1704 and ISO 4925, Class 4, among others.
ATE TYP 200 brake fluid exceeds all DOT 4 standards and excels under the extreme demands of high-performance driving. Compatible with all DOT 3, DOT 4 and DOT 5.1 brake fluids, the formula delivers a minimal drop in boiling point due to outstanding water-binding properties that result in a long-lasting fluid that can provide optimal performance for up to three years under normal highway driving conditions, according to Continental. The high wet and dry boiling points make this fluid an excellent choice for street-driven vehicles as well.
“ATE brake fluids are the result of many years of experience and expertise in developing OE brake systems,” notes Dan Caciolo, head of product management at Continental. “The viscosity, boiling point and pressure behavior of our fluids interact perfectly to allow the braking system to react quickly and reliably in any application. Our boiling points and viscosity exceed legal specifications, while our high-quality additives help deliver outstanding corrosion protection and optimum compatibility with brake system’s sealing materials.”
ATE is an aftermarket brand of Continental. For more information, visit
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By Race Brake Shop
It is important to bed in your new brakes during the installation of new brake pads or brake rotors. Race Brake offers a very simple procedure to link hidden, please login to view. Our installation process should be followed as per the application-specific brake pad installation instructions. The total bedding process should not take more than 10-15 minutes.
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By Counterman
In the past, the lack of end-of-life batteries meant that the Li-ion (lithium-ion) recycling market had little opportunity to prosper. The transition to electric vehicles (EVs) is changing this, IDTechEx says in a recent report. Recycling enables countries to domesticate battery material supply, hedge risks of fluctuating metal prices, and reduce reliance on unsustainable mining practices. Various stakeholders across the value chain are upping recycling capacity to prepare for the mass availability of valuable end-of-life Li-ion batteries due to supply, regulatory and environmental motivations.
It seems that recovering valuable material by recycling Li-ion batteries is a no-brainer. However, the reality is more complicated, IDTechEx says. The profitability of recycling is dependent on EV-battery trends and whether OEMs will play a role in facilitating circularity in the battery supply chain.
The economics of recycling primarily depends on three factors: Li-ion battery chemistry; metal prices; and process costs, which are expected to decrease as recyclers scale. There’s a lot of variety between the chemical composition of EV batteries, particularly in the cathodes. The demand for higher energy density in EV batteries is causing a shift toward higher-nickel cathodes. However, the desire to drive battery costs down favors lower-value LFP cathodes – which some OEMs have recently switched to for their entry-level models. This is likely to impact the value of metals that recyclers can extract from end-of-life
EV batteries.
The most value can be extracted from LCO cathodes due to their high cobalt content, but these are typically used in consumer electronics, which will account for a small percentage of Li-ion batteries recycled, and it’s challenging to develop collection networks for them. In the new IDTechEx report, “Li-ion Battery Recycling Market 2022-2042,” the recycling value of each cathode type is compared. IDTechEx has investigated these trends and their impact, alongside metal price, to evaluate the economics of the Li-ion battery
recycling market.
OEMs are often subject to Extended Producer Responsibility regulations, meaning they are responsible for EV batteries when they reach their end of life. Therefore, it’s in the OEMs’ best interests to develop efficient, economic routes for waste end-of-life batteries, and the environmental credentials associated with recycling also are beneficial.
Volkswagen is developing a vertically integrated recycling and second-life business through “Volkswagen Group Components” and commissioned a pilot plant for recycling Li-ion batteries in 2021. Differing from most EV OEMs, Renault operates a battery-hire scheme on three of its models, as well as full ownership options. Renault optimizes the end-of-life management of its EV batteries using second-life applications and recycling with partners, such as Veolia. Tesla claims to be developing a battery recycling system at its Gigafactory in Nevada, having relied on third-party recyclers in the past, and BMW has formed strategic partnerships with recyclers, seeking to design cells with recycling in mind, says IDTechEx.
Involvement of these major OEMs looking to boost the sustainability of their EVs reflects the anticipation of the part Li-ion battery recycling will play in the future value chain. Not only are the OEMs likely to carry a legal responsibility for end-of-life Li-ion batteries, but the trends they influence also will impact the profitability of recycling. In addition to creating partnerships with recyclers from other sectors, OEMs themselves are acting and investing in their own processes and supply circularity.
IDTechEx has identified nearly 90 battery recyclers globally and observed that most of the current recycling capacity is in China. In 2021, there was a deficit in the number of Li-ion batteries available for the recycling capacity, presenting a market imbalance. Timing growth with end-of-life battery availability will be one of the biggest challenges that recyclers will face, and battery manufacturing scrap is likely to facilitate an increase in capacity before EV batteries begin reaching their end of life.
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By Counterman
When I hear good and bad in the same sentence, I think of the classic Clint Eastwood movie, “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.”
This isn’t the Old West, but I can draw a perfect parallel between the title and the fight we sometimes have with alternators.
When they’re good, they’re good. When they’re bad, they’re bad. So, what’s the ugly? That’s when they’re good, but we think they’re bad because there’s an electrical problem that prevents them from working properly. It gets even uglier when the problem is hard to find, and probably the ugliest when a good alternator is called bad.
What an alternator does is simple, or at least we’ll keep it that way for now. It outputs direct current (DC) to power vehicle electrical systems and maintain and recharge the vehicle battery. An alternator is aptly named because it generates an alternating current (AC), which is, in turn, converted to DC.
We can divide the alternator into two different systems: the mechanical and the electrical. On the electrical side, you have the components that are responsible for generating and managing the electrical current, which include the rotor, stator, regulator and rectifier. The rotor and stator are the main components that generate electricity, based on fundamental electromagnetic principals. The regulator is what controls the output of the alternator, and the rectifier is what converts AC to DC.
The Good
When an alternator is good, alternating current is being generated by the rotor and stator, the rectifier is converting it to direct current and the regulator is controlling the output. If a problem develops with one of these, the result is either no voltage, too much voltage or an AC-voltage output. Any of those are bad.
If this seems too simple, it is on purpose. We can get much deeper into it, which will make it more difficult, but the way we do things today has changed the process of diagnosing the charging system. Things were different years ago. We used to take alternators apart. We’d check the windings of the rotor and stator. Then we’d check the diodes in the rectifier, and finally check the regulator. As a matter of fact, regulators used to be separate from the alternator and they were mechanical devices compared to solid-state electronics. We’d take everything apart, check it all, determine what was bad and replace only what was needed.
We don’t do that anymore. Alternators have been self-contained for many years. Regulators are built in. If an alternator isn’t working, we replace it. That’s it. We don’t think about why, nor do we even toy with the idea of taking it apart. Just send me a new one.
On the mechanical side, you have the bearings that support the rotor, and the pulley that’s driven by the belt. If the bearings are bad, they’re loose or noisy. Pulleys used to be fixed chunks of metal. Now we see overrunning alternator pulleys (OAP) or overrunning alternator decouplers (OAD). When these go bad, they’re often noisy, or they may not spin the alternator.
The brushes in an alternator are another mechanical part of it. They’re made of conductive materials that physically contact and rub against the slip rings. This is how the electrical current from the regulator flows into the rotor. But we don’t replace brushes anymore, nor do we replace bearings. We don’t even think about taking the alternator apart. We just replace it. The pulleys are the only parts we may replace separately.
The Ugly
When an alternator needs replaced, the process usually isn’t too difficult, but that’s when it can get ugly.
As counter professionals, you deal with technicians, and you deal with do-it-yourselfers. Either way, when they ask for an alternator, you’re hoping the diagnosis is correct. The last thing you want is an alternator return. You might ask a few questions to see if they’ve done some basic diagnosis, but you’re in a tough spot. You don’t want to show disrespect, but you don’t want the original coming back covered in grease, because they found the “real” problem after they replaced it and it didn’t fix the problem.
Do DIYers make mistakes? You bet. Do professional technicians make mistakes? We sure do. It’s not always easy, and diagnosis can be difficult. Any time electrical diagnosis is involved, the potential for mistakes can be greater, and charging systems are no exception. One problem is that alternator failure isn’t uncommon, and if the charging-system indicator is illuminated, that’s likely the problem.
It’s easy to see the warning light, and even maybe check battery voltage with the engine running. If the battery voltage is at or below 12.6 volts, the alternator must be bad, right? After all, we would normally see 13.5 to 14.5 volts. This is what I like to call a reactive diagnosis. We react based on what we know is common and think that what we initially see tells the story. Sure, it’s possible that the alternator may be bad, but only possible. A fact of electrical diagnosis is that the majority of all electrical problems are caused by higher-than-normal resistance – in other words, a poor connection.
Diagnostic Tips
How, as technicians do we keep from making this mistake? We have to remember that electrical systems are far more complicated than they have been for years, and they require correct system voltage in order for all of the computers and electronics to work properly.
Battery condition is critical, and a weak battery can prevent an alternator from properly charging. It’s also not unheard of to get a vehicle in that has both a bad alternator and a bad battery. It does happen.
When diagnosing charging systems, an important detail not to overlook is performing a voltage-drop test on the battery and alternator cables. It’s safe to say that higher than normal resistance is responsible for the good majority of misdiagnosis and comebacks.
The traditional tools we use for battery and charging-system diagnosis are a digital battery tester, a multimeter, a load tester and an amp clamp. However, for modern charging-system diagnosis, a scan tool has become a must-have. Modern charging systems are no longer stand-alone systems, with the vehicle ECM playing a large part in their control and operation.
A power-management system is a more accurate name than charging system, and it includes the alternator, battery and ECM. These systems have been developed to improve fuel economy, battery life and alternator operation, and not only do they monitor battery condition, but some systems also can estimate battery condition as well. They control and adjust charging output and they also can perform diagnostics and set diagnostic trouble codes. Good alternators can go bad, but if you’re faced with answering questions and giving advice to your customers at the counter, make sure they’re covering all the bases of diagnosis, so a good alternator doesn’t turn ugly.
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