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Get Smart: A Closer Look At Key Programming
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By Counterman
The WAI LIN2 wiper motor carries the latest technological advancements, according to the company.
The new smart motors process operation requests sent over a bidirectional LIN 2 (local interconnect network) Bus interface with the SCCM (steering column control module) and rain sensor (optional).
WAI’s LIN2 smart wiper motors are designed to deal with common faults and failures of wiper motors. Through replacement, WAI’s LIN2 smart wiper motors have shown to reduce replacement comebacks, by simplifying a complex and often difficult part replacement, according to the company.
The LIN2 protocol offers the latest in intelligent control and ensures accuracy and compatibility for all vehicles that use it. With built-in diagnostics, the smart wiper motor will automatically align to the vehicle settings for wiper speed and matches the number of speed increments.
The wiper motor electronics smart technologies feature Transpo intelligent design. Transpo electronics design is a critical part of the WAI Global product development. Transpo is well known for designing and engineering innovative and high-quality electronics pulse boards, chip technologies, and rotating electronics components.
“WAI engineering works hard to develop solutions for smart wiper technologies that support all connection protocols including LIN2,” said Bizhan Roozrokh, head of engineering at WAI. “Our goal is to enable installers to be able to complete a wiper motor replacement quickly with no technical programming steps. The product should be plug-and-play to get customers on their way. The electronic ecosystem is a rock-solid foundation that reliably and accurately adapts and controls all wiper functionality regardless of environmental circumstances.”
WAI implements a design principle called the synergistic design platform that is applied to advance all sub-elements of the product. This results in improvements and innovations such as ultra-light aluminum housings that are engineered to prevent sensitive electronics failure due to corrosion, leading to a longer service life.
Each unit contains 100% all-new, precision-assembled components.
“WAI has extensive coverage to ensure we have you covered with our extensive range of all makes and models,”
link hidden, please login to view said in a news release. “All parts and components are tested against OEM specifications to equal or exceed them.” The post
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By Counterman
The Consumer Access to Repair (CAR) Coalition is commending a bipartisan letter from 28 state attorneys general urging lawmakers to approve bipartisan legislation protecting consumer rights in the post-collision auto repair market.
Specifically, the attorneys general are urging key members of Congress to advance the SMART and REPAIR Acts, which have recently been reintroduced in the 118th Congress.
“We applaud the bipartisan group of attorneys general for urging Congress to pass commonsense right to repair legislation, like the recently reintroduced SMART and REPAIR Acts,” CAR Coalition Executive Director Justin Rzepka said. “These attorneys general, as chief consumer protection and antitrust enforcers, are well aware of the pressure of rising prices on the people in their states. Swift federal legislation is critical to protecting consumers’ right to repair the products they purchase – restoring choice to the repair process, increasing competition and lowering costs.”
The letter states in part: “The Right-to-Repair is a bipartisan issue that impacts every consumer, household and farm in a time of increasing inflation. It is about ensuring that consumers have choices as to who, where, when and at what cost their vehicles can be repaired. It is about ensuring small automobile businesses and ‘mom-and-pop’ auto shops can remain competitive against a closed system favored by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).”
The letter can be read in full
link hidden, please login to view The Save Money on Auto Repair Transportation SMART Act (H.R. 1707) would put an end to automakers’ unfair use of patents by reducing from 15 years to 2.5 years the time that automakers can enforce design patents against alternative parts manufacturers on collision repair parts, including common parts like side mirrors, quarter panels, and bumpers.
The Right to Equitable and Professional Auto Industry Repair (REPAIR) Act (H.R. 906), would ensure consumers have access to their vehicle’s data and the repair tools needed to maintain modern vehicles.
The introduction of the SMART and REPAIR Acts builds on growing momentum for the consumer protections in the post-collision repair market, including endorsements from
link hidden, please login to view and link hidden, please login to view, along with an unprecedented show of support from federal lawmakers in the link hidden, please login to view and spotlights at two link hidden, please login to view link hidden, please login to view. According to link hidden, please login to view from the CAR Coalition and DePaul University College of Law, anti-competitive practices from automakers cost American consumers more than $1.5 billion per year in higher auto repairs. The post
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By Counterman
Metallurgy is the study of the physical and chemical properties of metal, and when comparing different metals, the question becomes whether one wants to pursue a complicated degree in science, or whether you’re OK with accepting the basic facts around it.
The science is cool stuff, but I’ll leave it for my next life. I’m OK with the basic facts, and it’s the knowledge of these facts that makes it much easier to understand the basic types of crankshafts, or “cranks” for short.
In this industry, whether you’re interested in performance or not, you can’t escape the conversation of it, and one of the first things that always comes up is the term “forged” crank. Everyone knows the term and knows they’re better, but why?
Back up to the era of muscle cars and the exploding popularity of hot-rodding and aftermarket performance parts. As the horsepower wars accelerated throughout the ‘60s, the high-performance variants of any engine had one thing in common: a forged crank.
When you think about what a crank does, it harnesses all the power created by combustion and transfers that power to the transmission. Visualize what they go through: The power of combustion transfers through the piston and rod and into the rod journal to drive the crank into rotation. Meanwhile, the next cylinder in the firing order is compressing an air/fuel mixture in preparation for firing and driving the piston downward. Add to this engine speed and the momentum of pistons and rods that are holding on for dear life – not to mention the shock to the system by dumping a clutch to launch – and you can paint an easy picture of the immense forces pulling and twisting on the crank, just waiting to expose a weakness.
The bottom line is the crankshaft needs to handle the abuse it gets, and everything from compression to rpm to how hard the vehicle will be driven are factors that must be considered. This is why during the heyday of muscle cars the top performers had forged cranks. It was more than just handling the horsepower; it was the fact that these cars were going to be run hard over and over again, and many of them on the track.
Iron vs. Steel
Iron is a natural element that comes from the earth. Steel is a man-made alloy that’s a result of mixing iron with carbon, and it’s ultimately a stronger material. Those are some of the basic facts I was talking about. Metallurgy 101. Done.
Casting
For years, the traditional or “standard” crank was made of cast iron by pouring molten metal into a mold. When the casting is removed, it’s very close to the finished dimensions and comparatively requires minimal finishing. The entire process has a considerably lower cost than any other. As a result, this has been the standard crank of choice for automakers for many years.
Now, cast iron certainly is no wimpy material – think frying pan – and cast-iron cranks are very functional, but they have a limit to the amount of power they can handle in an engine. Generally, they’ll perform well up to the range of 450 to 500 horsepower, but when you reach that level (especially when driven hard on a regular basis), it’s time to move to something more durable, and the forged crank enters the picture.
Forging
A forged crank starts as a large cylinder of steel, heated to the molten state. It’s then pressed and/or twisted into shape by large dies. The ultimate difference between a casting and a forging is the resulting grain structure of the metal. A casting produces a sand-like grain versus the uniform flowing-grain structure of a forging. This grain structure is the reason for the difference between the strength of a cast and forged crank.
Billet
A billet crank starts as a large cylinder of steel, which then is machined into a crankshaft. Since a billet crank isn’t pressed or twisted in a forging process, the resulting grain structure runs parallel throughout the entire piece. Is a billet crank stronger than forged? Arguments go both ways, but billet seems to get the nod most of the time.
Just a Little More Metal
Cast cranks can be made of iron, nodular iron or steel. Add a small amount of carbon to iron and you have nodular iron. Steel has the greatest amount of carbon, and by definition is an alloy. There are thousands of different types of steels. Forged cranks, as well as billet, are made of multiple grades of these steel alloys. The difference in all – from least expensive to most – is tensile strength. Tensile strength is another term related to metallurgy. It refers to the amount of force that a metal will withstand before it begins to stretch.
So, the two underlying factors in crank strength are material and manufacturing process. Ultimately, you can go from bottom to top, aligning tensile strength, price and how much horsepower a crank will handle. Less costs less, more costs more. It’s that simple!
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