Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 24, 2015 8:52:24 GMT -6
I read an article that said car companies want to ban car owners from working on their own cars. Ford was one of them. It seems like a freedom issue. They have a whole list of reasons why they don't want you working on your own car. Messing with the cars computer was of them.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 24, 2015 11:04:26 GMT -6
I read an article that said car companies want to ban car owners from working on their own cars. Ford was one of them. It seems like a freedom issue. They have a whole list of reasons why they don't want you working on your own car. Messing with the cars computer was of them. Of course they don't want people working on their own cars. That's money the dealer is not getting. That would be a hard sell, people will do what they choose when it comes to their own property.
|
|
|
Post by matador on Apr 26, 2015 20:32:20 GMT -6
I read an article that said car companies want to ban car owners from working on their own cars. Ford was one of them. It seems like a freedom issue. They have a whole list of reasons why they don't want you working on your own car. Messing with the cars computer was of them. The average owner who use to do their own maintenance really can't do it anymore unless they have a degree in computer programming and a thousand dollars worth of high tech equipment. What auto makers want to do is protect their software using the digital rights like they do for music and movies. Punish anyone who changes or copies the software that keeps the vehicle on the road. What this really means is to put companies like Bully Dog out of business. There are about a half dozen companies out there that allow you to change the computer setup to make the vehicle get better gas mileage, better performance, or in the case of a truck, have better towing capacity. Some companies use modified chips and some like Bully Dog use programmers that download the factory software and uploads a modified copy of the factory software. The auto makers feel that nobody is smart enough to change the setup to get better gas mileage or to switch to high performance because they don't want you to do it. You can take you vehicle to a dealer and they will change the settings but it will cost almost twice as much as a Bully Dog programmer or ten times as much than a chip would cost.
|
|
|
Post by rdlb on Apr 30, 2015 8:34:57 GMT -6
Since my secular employment does require me to use a number of software programs for Material Handling Equipment I can attest to the issue and problems concerned. Most of the modern automobiles, trucks and such are using proprietary onboard computers with their own firmware and software installed. Even if Bosch supplied the computer for several different manufacturers for example, they were made according to the specifications per the individual manufacturer and are not usually compatible or interchangeable. There are companies who can reverse engineer components and add aftermarket systems to augment performance functions. However, doing so may void warranties and or cause performance parameters to exceed a vehicle's physical operating limits. Many of the OBD2 aftermarket scan tools that connect to most if not all vehicles manufactured are "read only" instruments for diagnostics and can "clear codes". To change or augment internal computer firmware/software requires specific proprietary software usually only available from the specific manufacturer. (CDF files such as those ending with a .hex extension are used to change parameters) In our industry we are rapidly approaching a time where I can only work on our manufacturers equipment and some older competitor's equipment. Manufacturers are closing doors to their products internally and dealerships have the upside of training and computer programing software availability. My laptop requires passwords to the many programs that I must use and those passwords have to be changed monthly/quarterly. If I leave this company my passwords are no longer valid.
|
|
|
Post by matador on Apr 30, 2015 13:38:35 GMT -6
Since my secular employment does require me to use a number of software programs for Material Handling Equipment I can attest to the issue and problems concerned. Most of the modern automobiles, trucks and such are using proprietary onboard computers with their own firmware and software installed. Even if Bosch supplied the computer for several different manufacturers for example, they were made according to the specifications per the individual manufacturer and are not usually compatible or interchangeable. There are companies who can reverse engineer components and add aftermarket systems to augment performance functions. However, doing so may void warranties and or cause performance parameters to exceed a vehicle's physical operating limits. Many of the OBD2 aftermarket scan tools that connect to most if not all vehicles manufactured are "read only" instruments for diagnostics and can "clear codes". To change or augment internal computer firmware/software requires specific proprietary software usually only available from the specific manufacturer. (CDF files such as those ending with a .hex extension are used to change parameters) In our industry we are rapidly approaching a time where I can only work on our manufacturers equipment and some older competitor's equipment. Manufacturers are closing doors to their products internally and dealerships have the upside of training and computer programing software availability. My laptop requires passwords to the many programs that I must use and those passwords have to be changed monthly/quarterly. If I leave this company my passwords are no longer valid. In time this will get to the courts just like the first such case when the TV and movie industry sued BetaMax because it could copy off the air programs, then again when copy protection was added. they lost due to the defense of fair use practices where if you owned the product then you could make personal copies. The major problem in the auto industry, which is nothing compared to generic programs like MS Word, is that not all drivers or owners are the same. The program the manufacturers use is generic and does not give you the best gas mileage or the best towing. When I am not towing I want the best gas mileage I can get, but when I do tow I want to be able to have the better setup there. When I took a trip out to the west coast I averaged 17.1 mpg for the trip. That was going up mountains, so I would set for gas mileage on the flat and towing when going up mountains. Worked great considering I have a 5.7L Hemi in the truck. Around town I went from a stock 15mpg to 18mpg and on the highway from a stock 20mpg to 23mpg. Those programmers make a great difference. Oh, I do use the Bully Dog Gas programmer. I have not tried the performance settings because I don't race the truck. Maybe the manufacturers need to actually put something in new vehicles that allow you to adjust the settings to maximize the driver's driving style.
|
|