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MAHLE Selects Remaining Winners of 2023 Engine Giveaway
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By Counterman
On modern vehicles, overheating is a rare occurrence thanks to high-quality hoses, thermostats and better engine management. Unfortunately, the weak point is still the coolant. Whether it’s a 100,000-mile or 150,000-mile coolant, eventually it will break down and lose the ability to protect the components with which it comes into contact.
Coolant at 100,000 miles may look the same as coolant with zero miles, as the real difference between good and bad coolant can’t be seen with the naked eye; it is in the chemistry and based on mileage.
Coolant contains additives called buffers that keep it at a neutral pH but these buffers are meant to last forever. When these chemicals become depleted, the pH can’t be controlled. It rises dramatically in a short period of time the moment the buffers are fully depleted. This is why replacing the coolant at the recommended interval is critical.
Coolant has two specifications that can be used to justify replacement — the condition of the additive package and the freezing point.
The additive package is the secret sauce for a coolant. Its main function is to control corrosion. Other components of the additive help with heat transfer and cavitation reduction. Some additive packages use seal conditioners to extend the life of the gaskets and plastic carriers.
The freezing point is measured by the overall specific gravity of the coolant, which has a direct relationship to the coolant/water mixture. This test can help spot coolant that has been compromised by the owner topping off with water. This measurement works well on systems that do not have pressurized reservoirs.
The strength or freezing point of coolant can be measured with a simple hydrometer. This device uses a calibrated float or plastic balls (not as accurate) to show the specific gravity of the coolant. This, in turn, shows how much freezing/boiling protection the coolant offers. You must remember to compensate for temperature because the specific gravity (density) of the coolant is lower when the coolant is hot.
The more professional tool for this purpose is an optical refractometer because it is very accurate and automatically compensates for temperature. Be aware: these are not simple, inexpensive tools. A refractometer can cost up to $300 or more because of the precision optics in its lens. Ethylene glycol (EG) and polyethylene glycol (PG) antifreeze have slightly different densities, so you have to use a hydrometer or refractometer with the appropriate scale (or one with a dual scale) for accurate test results.
Color-coded chemical test strips that are dipped into the coolant can be used to quickly and easily reveal the condition of the coolant. These strips of coated capillary paper react to the presence of certain dissolved minerals in the coolant and change color to give a good, marginal or bad indication of the coolant’s pH condition. Some test strips also show the concentration of antifreeze in the coolant.
The added benefit of test strips is that the results can be shared with the owner by attaching the used strip to the inspection form.
But, mileage is the gold standard for any coolant replacement recommendation. Engineers and chemists spend a lot of time formulating the coolant to match the engine and interval.
If you are performing a water pump, heater core or hose repair, recommend a full coolant flush. Just topping off the coolant can lead to a mixed bag when measuring the pH and freezing point. Also, check the specific gravity before a repair. Many customers know how to top off their coolant with water that could dilute the coolant concentration.
Selling any fluid maintenance service is difficult these days. But, if you document and educate customers on the importance of coolant, it becomes more than just an “add on” service.
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By Counterman
Schaeffler earlier this month published its 2023 Sustainability Report, highlighting the progress along its “three ESG dimensions.”
“Sustainability is an integral part of our corporate strategy,” Schaeffler CEO Klaus Rosenfeld said. “Schaeffler has always been known for its innovative strength and technological expertise – building on this, we want to bridge the gap between sustainability and cost efficiency. We have set ourselves ambitious targets. Despite all the progress we have made in recent years, we are aware that we still have a fair way to go.”
The
link hidden, please login to viewincludes the definition of 10 actionable areas for the implementation of Schaeffler’s sustainability strategy, which are assigned to the three areas of environment, social and governance (ESG). “Sustainability & Engagement” is a subprogram of “Roadmap 2025,” Schaeffler’s overarching business strategy. The program was updated in 2023 with its Climate Action Plan, which was devised in 2022 and details specific measures for reducing CO2e emissions.
Schaeffler is currently focusing on seven key ESG goals in the implementation of the sustainability strategy, including climate neutrality, efficient use of resources, environmental protection and occupational health and safety.
For example, Schaeffler said it aims to achieve climate neutrality across production and its supply chain by 2030 and 2040, respectively.
The company said it instituted measures in 2023 that will lead to an annual reduction in freshwater consumption of 150,000 cubic meters.
The Schaeffler Group reduced its freshwater consumption by around 9% in the reporting year, with 27 water-saving measures implemented and verified externally in 2023, according to the company. The measures are expected to account for a minimum annual savings of 265,000 cubic meters from 2024.
Among other highlights, the global nonprofit environmental organization CDP awarded Schaeffler an “A” score in the climate-change category for 2023 by for corporate transparency and performance, and an “A-“ in the water category.
In the EcoVadis sustainability rating, Schaeffler improved its score to achieve a total of 79 out of 100 points, earning itself Platinum status again and a repeat ranking in the top 1% in its peer group in 2023.
Focus on Decarbonization
Decarbonization is a key focus area for Schaeffler. Sustainable supply chains (Scope 3 upstream) and the purchase of low-emission materials and services are a few of the strategies Schaeffler is employing in this area.
“Through close and trusting partnerships with our suppliers, we have already achieved initial successes and set the right course,” said Andreas Schick, chief operating officer at Schaeffler. “Transparency and dialog with our suppliers are now crucial to mastering the challenges ahead of us together and achieving our goal of a climate-neutral supply chain in 2040.”
At Schaeffler, the decarbonization of production (Scope 1 and 2) is largely based on the use of renewable energies, increasing energy efficiency and retrofitting plants to use renewable energies. For this reason, the internal generation of renewable energies is being developed at sites across the Schaeffler Group as an extension to the existing energy-efficiency program.
Since 2023, Schaeffler says 100% of the electricity purchased at almost every plant in Europe, Greater China and the Americas has come from renewable sources, with the plants in the Asia/Pacific region set to follow suit in 2024.
The Schaeffler Group has seen a reduction in production-related greenhouse gases of around 24% compared with the previous year, resulting in a decrease from 493,000 tons CO2e tons 375,000 tons CO2e, according to the company.
“Sustainability and innovative strength are firmly rooted in the Schaeffler Group’s DNA,” said Uwe Wagner, chief technology officer at Schaeffler. “This is the only way for us to overcome the challenges of tomorrow and pave the way to a sustainable and eco-friendly future.”
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By Counterman
It seems like everything old is new again. TV and movie producers love to “reboot” our favorite classics, musicians regularly cover or sample from songs we all know (and sometimes loved). Fashions from high school that make us cringe will be back in style sooner or later.
It can serve to bring us together by introducing younger generations to the things their parents knew and loved, or drive a wedge between us as we argue over which version is better. For the record, I’m the grumpy old guy who argues that the original is always better … but I don’t think I ever expected to see another Mazda with a rotary engine.
The Wankel rotary engine was a unique (if somewhat flawed) design that had last appeared in the 2012 Mazda RX8. Designed by German engineer Felix Wankel in the 1950s, various displacements of the two-rotor engine appeared in Mazda production vehicles beginning in 1967. In addition to the more familiar RX7 and RX8 sports cars, Mazda also produced roughly 15,000 rotary-powered B-series pickups from 1974-1977, and even put its tiny 1.3-liter rotary into a small bus in 1974. A prototype four-rotor engine powered Mazda to a win at LeMans in 1991.
The rotary design is unique in that it only has three moving parts. An eccentric shaft and a pair of three-sided rotors move inside a pair of roughly oval chambers, completing the traditional Otto-cycle of intake, compression, combustion and exhaust without the use of reciprocating pistons or a valvetrain. Instead, the twin rotors spin around the eccentric shaft like a hula-hoop. The secret to the Wankel design is the geometric shape of the rotor, known as a Reuleaux triangle. The fattened triangular shape of the rotor has a constant width, always sealing the chamber in three places throughout the cycle … in theory.
Sealing was an issue for the early Mazda rotary engines, with the apex seals at the three points of the triangle tending to fail. Like a piston ring in a reciprocating engine, the apex seal is responsible for maintaining compression throughout the cycle. This problem dogged the brand for years, but another inherent issue is in the housing design itself.
With the intake and compression strokes occurring at the top of the oval chamber, and the combustion and exhaust events at the bottom, the housing experiences uneven heat buildup. This leads to one of the more confusing cataloging elements of the rotary Mazdas: “leading” and “trailing” spark plugs.
Due to the heat differential between the upper and lower portions of the housing, the stock spark plugs are of different heat ranges. The leading plug (the “lower” position) is a hotter plug than the trailing (“top” position), although some enthusiasts prefer to run trailing plugs in all four positions. (Each rotor/chamber houses a pair of plugs.)
Inability to meet increasingly strict fuel-efficiency and emissions requirements ultimately killed the original rotary engine, but in 2023, Mazda resurrected the design. A single-rotor 830cc Wankel engine can now be found in the Euro-spec MX-30 e-Skyactiv R-EV plug-in hybrid. Unfortunately for RX enthusiasts, the engine serves only as a range extender for the PHEV variant of the MX-30, powering a generator rather than powering the drivetrain directly.
With improved compression, gasoline direct injection and an EGR system, this engine is much cleaner and efficient than previous rotaries. We’ll see if this improved technology can make its way back into the U.S. market, but for now, the European-engineered Wankel rotary engine has returned to its roots, thanks to the Mazda engineers who have believed in this funky little powerplant for nearly 60 years.
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By Advance Auto Parts
Advance Auto Parts Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Results
02/28/2024 RALEIGH, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Advance Auto Parts, Inc. (NYSE: AAP), a leading automotive aftermarket parts provider in North America, that serves both professional installer and do-it-yourself customers, announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 30, 2023.
“As we closed out 2023, we continued to act with a sense of urgency to stabilize the business and position the company to return to profitable growth,” said Shane O'Kelly, president and chief executive officer. “Our full year results are well below our expectations, and we are focused on instilling greater discipline and accountability both in the fundamental business and in how the organization executes across the board. In addition to the operational improvements we are implementing, we are strengthening internal controls and enhancing the quality of our accounting information to help better inform how we drive the business forward.
“We continue to advance our ongoing operational and strategic review of the business, including the separate sales processes for Worldpac and our Canadian business. We have streamlined and reorganized the company’s leadership structure and have made several important new hires, including the appointments of Ryan Grimsland as Chief Financial Officer and Elizabeth Dreyer as Chief Accounting Officer. Building on the $150 million in annualized SG&A reductions our team executed in the fourth quarter, we recently launched an initiative to eliminate costs related to our indirect spend by an additional $50 million on an annualized basis. We are also moving forward with the consolidation of our supply chain to a single, unified network to create efficiencies and better serve customers. Looking ahead, we are committed to driving enhanced value for shareholders by executing on the fundamentals of our business – focusing on the customer, investing in our frontline and strengthening our competitive position.”
Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Results (1)
Fourth quarter 2023 Net sales totaled $2.5 billion, a 0.4% decrease compared with the prior year. Comparable store sales for the fourth quarter 2023 decreased 1.4%. For full year 2023, Net sales of $11.3 billion increased 1.2% from 2022. Comparable store sales for the full year decreased 0.3%.
The company's Gross profit decreased 11.9% from the fourth quarter of the prior year to $950.8 million or 38.6% of Net sales compared with 43.6% in the prior year quarter. This result reflects both business performance and atypical drivers, primarily attributable to a change in inventory related items and elevated supply chain costs. The company's full year Gross profit was $4.5 billion, or 40.1% of Net sales, representing a 414 basis points decrease from the prior year primarily driven by inventory related items and costs not fully covered by pricing actions.
The company's SG&A was $999.4 million in the fourth quarter, or 40.6% of Net sales compared with 38.8% for the prior year quarter. This was primarily driven by a year over year increase in occupancy costs and store labor. The company's full year SG&A was $4.4 billion, or 39.1% of Net sales compared with 38.2% in the prior year.
The company's fourth quarter Operating loss was $48.6 million, or (2.0)% of Net sales compared with the fourth quarter of the prior year Operating income of $119.3 million or 4.8% of Net sales. The company's full year Operating income was $114.4 million, or 1.0% of Net sales, compared with $670.3 million, or 6.0% of Net sales, in the prior year.
The company's effective tax rate in the fourth quarter of 2023 was 42.3%. The company's Diluted loss per share was $0.59 compared with Diluted earnings per share of $1.39 in the fourth quarter of the prior year. The company's effective tax rate for full year 2023 was 6.6%. The company's 2023 Diluted earnings per share was $0.50 compared with $7.65 in the prior year.
Net cash provided by operating activities was $0.3 billion for the full year 2023 versus $0.7 billion for the prior year. The decrease was primarily driven by lower Net income and working capital. Free cash flow for the full year 2023 was $43.7 million, compared with $312.5 million for the prior year.
During management’s review, the company identified issues with certain previously reported financials. All comparisons are based on the corrected historical results as depicted in the financial tables herein, which include the correction of non-material errors in previously reported results.
The company filed a Form 12b-25 with the Securities and Exchange Commission and disclosed that it expects to file its Form 10-K prior to the expiration of the extension period.
(1) All comparisons are based on the same time period in the prior year. Comparable store sales include locations open for 13 complete accounting periods and excludes sales to independently owned Carquest locations.
Capital Allocation
On February 13, 2024, the company declared a regular cash dividend of $0.25 per share to be paid on April 26, 2024 to all common stockholders of record as of April 12, 2024.
Subsequent Events
On February 26, 2024, the company entered into an amendment to its revolving credit facility to enable certain addbacks to financial covenants for specific write-downs of inventory and vendor receivables. As of December 30, 2023, considering the amendment, the company was in compliance with the credit facility’s financial covenants.
Full Year 2024 Guidance (1)
"In 2024, we are refining our operational improvement plans and building on the decisive actions we have taken to turn around the company’s performance. We are committed to improving overall productivity and taking a disciplined approach to reducing expenses, which will support our focus on investing in our team members. Our 2024 full year guidance is reflective of the steps we must take to reset the business and solidify our foundation for the long term," said Ryan Grimsland, executive vice president and chief financial officer.
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