december2022 - A14

ADAS EFFECT
to perform the calibrations, resulting in
labor shortages. "
Brian Screeton, supervisor of technical
service training at Bendix, said
radar alignment tends to be one of the
top issues technicians encounter. " While
radars today do a great job in adjusting
their alignment, it can still happen that a
radar needs to be aligned by the technician, "
he said. " The other issues typically
tie to the braking system. If the ABS goes
out, then both stability and collision
mitigation are deactivated. If stability
goes out, then collision mitigation is
deactivated. "
Often, issues with ABS are tied to
The safety benefits of ADAS is understood, but the lack of regulation has slowed adoption.
UNDERSTANDING THE
IMPORTANCE OF TOOLS
Marcos Obispo, director of sales for Cojali
USA, said everybody seems to understand
the safety benefits of ADAS, however, the
lack of regulation has slowed adoption,
and therefore the need for shops to invest
in calibration equipment and training for
technicians.
Calibration tools are helping to provide
all necessary information to technicians, so
they can prepare for the calibration and better
estimate the time to repair, Krebs said.
Alexander said advanced scan tools
will include detailed steps on how to set
up the targets and framework, providing
technicians greater confidence.
McGuire said his technicians utilize
OEM information as well as calibration
tools. " We like to have both. For a technician
to work on it without a tool, they
become almost a liability rather than an
asset, " he said. " You can have a great technician,
but without accurate, up-to-date
service information, you're chasing things
you shouldn't have to chase. "
Completing an ADAS calibration using
the standard OE process can take up to
an hour, McKinney said, but with Bosch's
DAS 3000, that exact calibration can be
completed in under 10 minutes.
14 DECEMBER 2022 VehicleServicePros.com
Obispo said calibrations could be
either dynamic or static, which are not
interchangeable. Some systems can be calibrated
by driving the vehicle while using a
handheld or diagnostics device connected
to the ADAS, which is the dynamic calibration.
According to the manufacturer, the
tool will tell the technician how to drive
during the calibration. Static calibrations
are performed with the vehicle stopped.
" In this case, we would need specific, sensitive
calibration equipment to calibrate
and test the ADAS modules to ensure their
correct functioning, " he explained.
Not all shops have the right tools
needed to perform static calibrations,
which can cause them to lose income.
If repairers want to continue being
competitive, they will have to seriously
consider this new market demand,
Obispo explained.
MEETING TECHNICIANS' CHALLENGES
The most common obstacle techs face is
familiarity with the calibration process.
" As with any newer technology, it is taking
time for technicians to become comfortable
with ADAS and gain the knowledge
specific to calibrations, " Alexander
said. " Until that time, a limited number
of technicians will be willing and trained
wheel speed sensors, with the gap between
sensor and tone ring being too great
because the sensor was pushed back in the
clip during a previous wheel end repair or
a worn spring clip, Screeton said. Another
area often overlooked is some type of wiring
harness issue, such as a wire casing
that may be cut.
One of the stumbling blocks for
technicians when repairing ADAS is
not looking beyond it. ADAS relies on
information from many other parts of
the vehicle, including the ABS and stability
systems. " Other systems, mainly
the drivetrain, supply information that
ADAS requires to function correctly, "
Screeton said. For example, an 'Adaptive
Cruise Fault' could be activated by
ADAS, and the root cause of the fault
could stem from an engine issue.
A somewhat common situation that
can cause lost repair time is not paying
attention to J1939 communication errors
first, especially ones that are being reported
by multiple systems, Screeton said. " We
recommend that technicians resolve those
diagnostic troubleshooting codes first, then
rerun the Bendix ACom PRO diagnostic
software to see what remaining DTCs may
remain, " he said.
Systems have unique ways that they
are calibrated and require different tools
and procedures to perform calibration and

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december2022

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