Search Results for: c

How to Turn OFF the Seatbelt Chime in an F150

Jul 28 2015

My neighbour discovered this. I didn’t believe him, so he hauled out the manual to prove it.

Turn to page 44 in your Ford F150 manual (don’t know if this works on older models.)

Note the two front seats must be done independently. And this won’t work if you’re using a Ford MyKey.

Before starting:

– ignition is OFF
– truck is in Park (P)
– the parking brake is ON
– both front seat belts are unbuckled

Follow these steps:

1 – turn the key, but not all the way to start the engine

2 – wait about 1 minute until seat belt warning light goes off. Once off, wait 5 more seconds before starting step 3

You must complete steps 3 – 4 within 30 seconds.

3 – buckle and unbuckle the belt 3 times. End in unbuckled position. The warning light will turn on.

4 – With the light on, buckle then unbuckle again. The light will flash for confirmation.

Do it all again to turn the chime back on.

I canNOT believe this exists.

The Worst Traffic Lights in Toronto

Jul 28 2015

The light is green. Really tough to tell eh, and we’re not far from them even.

The sidewalk sign is easily seen, and when the light changes to yellow it’s obvious too, but not the green.

Here, I’ll blow up the photo:

Located at the Yonge and Richmond Street, a one-way road travelling west.

They’re not in need of replacing, they’ve been like this for years. This makes no sense! Every other green light downtown can be seen from far, why are these ones so dim?

Maybe it’s intentional? Like, keep the lights faded so I don’t know what I’m driving into, and naturally slow down.

Then I remembered a story I wrote for the paper in 2013. Maybe these lights have to do with that?

60 intersections in downtown Toronto
are equipped with Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence was added to traffic lights so they could talk to one another, and adjust their timing. When tested, gridlock was reduced up to 40% and travel time was reduced up to 26%.

To instal AI into each intersection costs between $20,000 – $40,000, and the city that was chosen to be the test city is… Toronto.

Read it on Autonet here.

How a Car Stops

Jul 27 2015

Above is inside your brakes. Technically, fluid is what stops you when you depress the pedal.

1 – the calliper, which contains the pistons
2 – the brake pad within the calliper
3 – which clench the rotor

How it works: the brake fluid pushes the pistons within the calliper > which in turn pushes the pads onto the rotor like a vise > and slows down the vehicle. The harder you push on the pedal, the harder the pads push on the rotor.

It’s a good idea to check the condition of both the rotors and pads, as well as the colour and level of the fluid.

Above are the old & new rotors.

My neighbour taught me while changing his.

The pitting on both the pads and rotor is what caused the car to stutter down the road during our test drive.

Worst Part of Buying a New Car – Glovebox Fabric

Jul 27 2015

The fabric that lines a glovebox – and sometimes a centre console compartment – is easily the worst part of a new car.

Because see how it sheds?

It sticks to everything, is difficult to remove, and one time a hair got under my contact lens and I practically died from the pain.

I drive a new car every week so have been tracking this for years. It’s not localized to one automanufacturer, it’s across almost all of them, luxury or not.

Adding to my “potential column topics” spreadsheet, think I’ll investigate why it seems all badges are being held hostage to use the same sub-par fabric supplier.

First Time a Vehicle is Remotely Hacked

Jul 22 2015

WIRED magazine published a story yesterday about the world’s first documented wireless attack of a vehicle. A pair of security researchers put a journalist behind the wheel of a Jeep Cherokee and took control of it while he was driving miles away.

Read my synopsis on Autonet, here’s the original WIRED story by Andy Greenberg, and below are the key things to know.

This security update does NOT affect Canadian vehicles

I contacted Chrysler, and got this quote for Autonet:

“An FCA representative in Canada tells Autonet, “Due to market access to cellular connectivity in the Canadian marketplace, FCA Canada vehicles are not affected by this condition and therefore do not require a system upgrade.”

It does however, affect American vehicles, specifically American mid-2013 to 2015 Fiat-Chrysler vehicles that are equipped with the Uconnect infotainment system.

WIRED estimates about 417,000 are affected. Download the security update from FCA here, or take it to a dealership mechanic.

What happened to the car?

Radio, A/C and wipers were all turned on high, and Andy spun the control dials with zero affect. They altered the dashboard screen image.

They cut the transmission, and an 18-wheeler came barrelling up behind him, then they disengaged the brakes and sent Andy into a ditch.

They turned the SUV into a surveillance tool, tracking its GPS coordinates and tracing it on a map.

How was the car attacked?

The pair gain wireless control of the Cherokee via the vehicle’s Uconnect infotainment system which is connected to the Sprint network.

They enter the car through its cellular connection, then move to an adjacent chip in the head unit and rewrite the chip’s firmware to include their malicious code. Now they’re able to send commands through the car’s computer network – CAN bus – and control physical components like the brakes and transmission.

What’s next?

The pair will present their findings at the upcoming Black Hat online security conference in Vegas, as well as share their code. A key vulnerability will be omitted, but the code to do the dashboard tricks will hit the internet.

Why? They say 2 reasons: for peer review, and it “sends a message: automakers need to be held accountable for their vehicles’ digital security.”

Overall Takeaway

What Charlie said:

“We shut down your engine—a big rig was honking up on you because of something we did on our couch,” Miller says, as if I needed the reminder. “This is what everyone who thinks about car security has worried about for years. This is a reality.”