Remove and reinstall front bumper
I have a customer that had asked me to install and aftermarket air horn into his 2019 Acura TLX….. yeah I know, I know. lol Anyway, I was trying to figure out exactly where and how I would go about mounting it when I realized that I would probably need to remove the front bumper that has the sensor for the adaptive cruise control mounted in it and it changed his mind about the air horn due to the cost of recalibration that Acura charges. This got me thinking 🤔 what if it was a rad, A/C condenser, factory horn or whatever that I would need to re and re the bumper to change? Do I have to get the system recalibration done whenever I remove the bumper? Never had to do more than a wheel alignment on those systems up to this point and there's alot of misinformation floating around so I figured I'd ask people who are currently dealing with them or know more than I do about them. Thanks in advance.
Update: this has helped me so far get a better understanding of how to at least approach a plan for working on vehicles equipped with ADAS. I looked into service info for a 2020 Toyota CH-R (wife's car) and it also states to recalibrate radar/millimeter sensor after removing and reinstalling the bumper. Then explains how by doing X,Y,Z, and a few back flips apparently. I'm going to do some digging and see if the calibration processes for various cars require such specifics or if it's a matter of basically setting the system into calibration mode and going for a drive now a days? If so, then an investment into the reasonably priced autel scanner would be worth it I feel.
From my understanding, there is no programming or calibration in a bumper fixed distance sensor. They are a distance radar sensor to prevent following too close with cruise control activated. If the system involves lane departure and the forward camera, then it would need ADAS calibration.
So, the lane departure usually use the cameras behind the windshields in most cars? For that part of the system? Or are you saying that if it has land departure (as this vehicle does) then it will need calibration if I removed the bumper?
Can't help with advice on the bumper R&R and possible recalibration, but I would mention that: 1) The air horn doesn't need to be in the front. One of our customers had someone install actual train horns where the spare tire was under the bed of his pickup. 😂 If the horns are loud enough, it doesn't matter where they are located. 2) You could have the customer supply a set of 3 or 4 tone…
I'm good with him not installing it period. Lol I believe his 1400watt stereo should be good enough to make noise with. But I was curious about the bumper for future repairs that I might have to make.
Amen to that. The air horn thing is usually a "look at me" toy. At least with a stereo, it's only his hearing that really suffers. A loud horn is a benefit, but only to a point.
The caddy horns use 4 notes, A, C, D,F 1 is rare to find and sells for crazy prices unless you pull them yourself. Unfortunately, some vehicles, like my Silverado come with a very weak single note. (Especially when mounted to fill with water) A good pair of aftermarket hella horns are more than good enough for actual use and is what I spec for replacements or upgrades for customers.
Lol…I wouldn't know. In fact I've never contemplated the actual musical not that the horn may be playing 🤔. See, this is why I like this site. People bring to light stuff that I've never even considered as part of the engineering of a vehicle. But of course there us probably a guy making 100k just to find the appropriate sound. Lol
If you read service information for front bumper R&R the front radar most definitely needs calibrated afterwards. This is common on almost any make. This is a lucrative business for mobile guys servicing body shops.
This is where it gets a bit murky for me. I know that for a collision and a replacement would merit calibration, but if I were to just re and re it for the purposes of replacing other components like a radiator or condenser is where my concerns about the radar sensor calibration was.
Hmmm…..ok, I'll take a dig into the service info when I have a chance. Probably what I should have done, but the service info doesn't always give you a great idea of how it works. What I mean is that if you try and follow flow chats for diagnostic, it's not usually the best approach and alot of the times for even the simplest of tasks it tends to start with “disconnect negative cable”. So was…
you only need to calibrate those systems if the bumper is damaged within 300mm within the area of any edge of the distance sensor. if the vehicle gets a wheel alignment. if the radar is replaced or removed from the vehicle. on hondas the radar is typically mounted to brackets and is mounted to the impact bar or behind the bumper fixed to brackets so if you just r and i the bumper cover you…
So removing and reinstalling the same sensor should be ok? I really don't have an understanding yet as to how picky or sensitive the systems are. We do general repairs and maintenance at our shop and not collision repairs so as of now an investment in the equipment is not in our budget “according to the boss”. Just don't want to be turning away radiators and condenser…ect if I don't have too.
So, I'm in much the same boat as you. At this point we have some calibration capability with factory scan tools and some targets, but our coverage is pretty poor. I hate to pass on radiators and condensers, but we have to at times. I seriously doubt that the aim would change much if things are put back like they were, lining up bolt marks etc. However, here in the US we love to sue each other. A…
Where did the 300mm specification come from? According to the service information I found (and attached in my previous reply), the system requires calibration if the bumper cover is removed. I'm not saying that I think that the calibration would necessarily be affected if the bumper cover were removed and replaced. However, Honda is saying to perform the calibration as far as I can tell, and…
Per the service information you'll need to aim the “Multi-View Front Camera” if you remove and replace the bumper. See attached - step 5.
Awww jeezzzz. That seems pretty clear cut : ( thanks foe the info. Canada isn't as bad for being sued, but I still want to do the job properly. Just don't want to be over quoting customers about the calibration and then they go some other places and it gets done without issues without doing it. It's a damed if you do or don't situation I suppose.
The ACC radar and Multi view camera are 2 different things.
No argument. However, the instructions provided by Honda say to aim the camera if the bumper is removed, so as far as the people who designed the car are concerned, there's a link between the radar sensor under the bumper cover and the Multi-View Front Camera. Or maybe it's an error and some tech writer or engineer had a brain fart. It didn't make a lot of sense to me, seeing that the camera is…
Paul I believe the multiview camera is in the grill, and the multipurpose camera is up behind the windshield, 2 separate cameras
You're right! Thanks for the clarification :) There's both a “Multi-purpose camera" behind the windshield and a “Multi-view camera" mounted to the bumper cover. In addition, there's a millimeter wave radar mounted to the bulkhead behind the bumper cover. I've attached pictures for anyone interested. It now makes perfect sense that the multi-view camera would need calibration after removing the…
Thanks for the additional info. I hope we have some engineers in this site. At the very least they can be entertained by how they manage to torment us on a regular basis. Lol
Hi Roddy, The issue and reason it needs calibration is there no way to tell if you’ve put the bumper on exactly the same way when you R&I it without performing a calibration. The calibration is to check the installation angles and if within spec, store the offset in the module. A difference of 1 degree on the sensor will make a huge difference a few hundred feet down the road. You will…
Ahhh, I see. Hey, it says that you're a mobile technician in your profile. Do you do the ADAS calibrations? If so, do you go through the extensive song and dance setting up hardware, areas of space free from metal objects and level suction cups that is described in the service information…ect. Or is it now more of having the software and putting it into calibration mode similarly to let's say…
In general terms, it depends on the vehicle. Some require dynamic calibration which is driving the vehicle in a particular way to allow the system to calibrate. Some, like this Acura, require a static calibration with targets and enough space and a very precise setup. Honda/Acura is unique in that the radar calibration first checks the area with no target in it to ensure it’s an adequate space…
Ok. So targeting hardware is still a thing. I seen at snapon headquarters where I live, that there's a new machine that they have that has a screen that I suppose “mimics” the various targeting hardware “or so I've been told” this will cover most vehicle calibrations and doesn't require the excessive space set up. However it's about the same price as an alignment machine. Currently just a taaaad…