AutoPlug, a way to connect cars’ electrical hardware to the

[Chuckt]

AutoPlug, a way to connect cars’ electrical hardware to the internet.

http://www.dailypennsylvanian.com/artic ... e-vehicles

[brad]

I actually bought one of those OBD USB cables to fault find our car. But wireless would be an even better approach!

[bitfogav]

I guess it has its Pros and Cons though, I do alot of electrical fault finding and software updates on motor vehicles, im doing one software update at the moment that takes nearly 3 hours to complete, I guess this system wouldn't be good for that but on the other side it sounds like a good idea.

[brad]

3 Hours. i wonder why it takes so long?

Surely there can't be too much data on there - or is it transferring at only a few bits per second

[bitfogav]

well im putting it down to the fact that the software is being transferred from a USB stick. lol..

[Chuckt]

3 Hours. i wonder why it takes so long?

Surely there can't be too much data on there - or is it transferring at only a few bits per second

Most mechanics around here estimate how long it will take to fix something and charge a rate. Changing the fuel filter is easy for someone who knows what it looks like but I wouldn't know what to look for unless I had a book. Can you believe they charged me a half hour to change the filter? If they make $60 an hour, they basically charged me $30 to change the fuel filter and I know it doesn't take them that long.

It would be interesting to know if the car's (electronic communication) slowness is because it is communicating through an interrupt or just using security.

[bitfogav]

Well it also takes that long has there are several systems that need to be updated one after the other, as far as I can say there is no interrupt on the communication system, the communication system is know has CAN bus, you can actually find CAN bus on some microcontrollers.

Some info on CAN bus: Its a serial communication network which usually sends 11bits as an ID and then a byte or bytes of data, theres also a 120ohm resistor at the end of the line to terminate any data, and the speed usually of the network is 500kbps.

*Chuckt* you said they charged you $30 for half hour? well the hourly rate at my place is £100 so thats about $160.. hehe

[brad]

*Chuckt* you said they charged you $30 for half hour? well the hourly rate at my place is £100 so thats about $160.. hehe

Are you serious! that is a huge amount for a mechanic, I'm not even sure if our mechanic charges $60 per hour.

[Chuckt]

*Chuckt* you said they charged you $30 for half hour? well the hourly rate at my place is £100 so thats about $160.. hehe

Are you serious! that is a huge amount for a mechanic, I'm not even sure if our mechanic charges $60 per hour.

I go to the dealer because I've become frustrated with the mom and pop repair shops. I'll need new wipers and the little shops will take off the arms of my wipers to fit some third party wiper blade and then when I go to change them myself, I'm lost trying to find something that fits so I ended up buying the original arms for my wipers from the dealer because some mechanics throw your original parts away without even asking.

I use to change the spark plugs myself and then came the day when I couldn't get one spark plug out so I took it to the local shop and the mechanic got it out and put it right back in again which served no purpose. My problem was that I couldn't get the spark plug out.

I've had some dealers try to take advantage of me but I'm not trying to out them. Imagine being told they can't put a new screw in an old hole because it is a safety issue and they have to sell you a new part for $200? A dealer should be able to tell you exactly what is wrong with your car or they may not be any good. I go to one dealer and they don't mess with the contents or play games with me.

Then there is this "reputable" dealer that serviced the vehicles at my work and they kept finding problems but it never ended up getting fixed so they basically took $20,000 and put parts on that were too small but fit.

Then I bought a car with hallogen bulbs and every time I went over a bump the hallogen bulb went out. I had to take the battery out just to get the lights out and this went on for months. I use to change the lights in the cold and I got it down to 15 minutes where I just slid the battery over without disconnecting it.

I do do business with a local mom and pop store that my mother in law has dealt with for 30 years. They are cheaper but the dealer doesn't recognize the work even though they are licensed and it is something as easy as an oil change. But I opened the hood and find that they forget to put bolts back on minor stuff which I don't really like.

[bitfogav]

*Chuckt* you said they charged you $30 for half hour? well the hourly rate at my place is £100 so thats about $160.. hehe

Are you serious! that is a huge amount for a mechanic, I'm not even sure if our mechanic charges $60 per hour.

Yes Brad that is our hourly rate at my place of work, it is a main dealer, but alot of the main dealers charge around that in the UK..

[Chuckt]

*Chuckt* you said they charged you $30 for half hour? well the hourly rate at my place is £100 so thats about $160.. hehe

Are you serious! that is a huge amount for a mechanic, I'm not even sure if our mechanic charges $60 per hour.

One of my co-workers was married to a doctor and he showed me pictures of his Rolls Royce. He sold it before he moved here because he thought it would be vandalized. The dash board is wood and they keep the tree alive that it comes from so if it ever gets ruined they can get another piece. It uses mineral oil for the hydrolic brakes.

We were talking about Maserati's because there is a store on the main line. He said the cost for an appointment for anything which could just be changing the oil and wipers is about $2,000. I don't know how accurate it is because I don't really know but it is interesting how the other half lives.

[brad]

Maybe I could cut down a tree and replace my dash?