AFA – 9 Crankshafts 4/22/2001

Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts Slide 1 -- Welcome to a continuation of our

failure analysis seminar. In this section we
Click to edit Master title style will learn to apply failure analysis principles
to crankshafts.

Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts
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Slide 2 -- First we will review some facts
about crankshaft functions, materials, and
manufacturing processes. Then we will
review crankshaft operation and normal
appearance. Finally we will look at crankshaft
failure analysis using the eight steps and our
visual examination procedure to discover road
signs that can guide us to the root cause of
failure.

Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts Slide 3 -- Diagnosing crankshaft failures is

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simplified by the fact that there are very few
ways for a crankshaft to wear or break. We
will find that most wear is adhesive or
abrasive caused by lube system or bearing
problems while fractures are bending or
torsional fatigue due to overloading,
remanufacturing, material or processing.

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AFA – 9
Applied Failure Analysis
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Applied Failure Analysis
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Crankshafts 4/22/2001
Crankshafts Slide 4 -- Let's begin by looking at crankshaft
nomenclature, function and structure.
Crankshafts are heat-treated forgings
consisting of rod and main journals held
together by webs or counterweights. Each
journal blends through a fillet into sidewalls.
One main journal has specially ground
sidewalls called thrust faces. Rod journals
contain lightening holes reducing the weight
of steel orbiting around the main journals.
The main and rod journals contain drilled oil
passages that provide an oil path from the
block to the main and rod bearings. Some
crankshafts have flanges on the front and rear
to provide oil-sealing surfaces, or to hold
gears, dampers, and flywheels.
Crankshafts Slide 5 -- Crankshafts perform six functions:
1) change reciprocating (up and down)
motion into rotary motion
2) carry heavy bending, torsional, and thrust
loads
3) deliver pressurized oil to main and rod
bearings
4) provide hard wear resistant surfaces for
main and rod bearings
5) deliver power to gear trains and flywheels
6) provide sealing surface for front and rear
main oil seals.
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Applied Failure Analysis
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Applied Failure Analysis
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Crankshafts 4/22/2001
Crankshafts Slide 6 -- Crankshaft rod journals are offset
from the main journal centerline so that as
pistons and rods move up and down, the rod
journal moves in a circular motion. This
effectively converts the linear motion of the
piston into the rotational motion of the
crankshaft.
Crankshafts Slide 7 -- In the process of converting
reciprocating to rotational motion, the
crankshaft is subjected to tremendous bending
forces in the rod and main journal fillets,
twisting (torsional) forces on the rod and main
journal surfaces, and thrust (axial) forces on
the thrust journal sidewalls. Piston
combustion gas loads are transferred to the
rod journals in some cases producing fillet-
bending loads exceeding 100,000 psi. Gear
and flywheel loads, as well as loads from
pistons being in various portions of the power
cycle, produce torsional and thrust loads
strong enough to break crankshafts through
thick rod and main journals if problems occur.
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AFA – 9 Crankshafts
Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts
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Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts
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Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts
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Slide 8 -- To carry these extreme loads,
crankshafts are supported in blocks with half
shell bearings. Bearing lubrication is provided
through oil passages i drilled in the rod and
main journals. Pressurized oil flows from the
block into the main journal oil passage
continuously. Oil flow proceeds through the
web into the rod journal oil passages and out
to the rod bearings.
Slide 9 -- To minimize bearing friction and
wear, crankshaft main and rod bearing
journals have hard, wear resistant surfaces
ground to very smooth finishes. Cat cranks
are hardened above Rc 40 and polished to a 5
micro-inch surface finish, the best in the
industry.
Slide 10 -- The strong forged and heat treated
crankshaft structure transmits power to both
ends of the shaft where it is used to perform
useful work in gear trains, pulleys, flywheels,
transmissions, and generators.
The crankshaft also prevents oil loss past the
front and rear main journals by providing a
smooth wear seat for front and/or rear oil
seals.
AFA – 9 Crankshafts
Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts
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Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts
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Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts
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Slide 11 -- To perform these functions, Cat
crankshafts are forged from plain carbon
steel. Forging maintains natural metal flow
lines that follow crank contours. This gives
greatly increased resistance to fillet cracking
from bending loads and exceptional axial
strength to withstand torsional loads.
Slide 12 -- Rough forgings are first machined
and then heat-treated. 3200, 3300, 3400 and
3508 crankshafts made from medium carbon
steel are furnace heated and water quenched
to produce a Rc 48 minimum surface hardness
with a case about .100 inches (2.5 mm) deep
over the main and rod journal wear surface
and fillets. This hardened material reduces
journal wear and gives fillets increased
strength to counteract the stress concentrating
effect of the small fillet radii.
Slide 13 -- Most other crankshafts are made
from high carbon steel, induction heated and
water quenched on the main and rod journal
wear surfaces only, to provide a hard, wear
resistant surface. The larger fillet radii of
these cranks can be sufficiently strengthened
by shot peening and do not require heat
treatment. Shot peening leaves beneficial
compressive stresses in the fillets that
increase fatigue strength and resist crack
formation.
AFA – 9 Crankshafts
Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts
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Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts
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Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts
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Slide 14 -- Heat treated forgings are carefully
finish ground and polished to the 5 micro inch
surface finish requirement. All crankshafts are
magnetic particle inspected for heat treat or
grinder cracks, forging laps, seams or other
flaws before being cleaned and assembled
into engines.
Slide 15 -- For crankshafts to operate
properly, they must be correctly assembled
and installed. Crankshaft assembly consists of
installing plugs in the cross drilled oil
passages, pressing on oil seal wear sleeves,
bolting on counterweights (certain models),
and pressing on front and rear gears.
Slide 16 -- Installation consists of positioning
the crankshaft carefully in the main and thrust
bearings, torquing the main bearing caps in
place, and installing the connecting rods. See
the fastener and con rod modules for more
information about these operations. After
main and rod bolts are properly tightened, the
crankshaft should be checked for freedom of
rotation, proper bearing clearance, and
amount of endplay. A current service manual
should be consulted for correct procedures
and specifications.
AFA – 9 Crankshafts
Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts
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Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts
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Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts
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Slide 17 -- As engines are first started,
crankshafts begin rotating on the bearing's
residual oil film. This results in some asperity
contact between crank journals and bearings
until normal oil film thickness minimizes
friction. Piston gas loads cause bending,
torsional and thrust loads that the shaft must
be strong enough to carry.
Slide 18 -- Combustion loads push con rods
against rod journals creating high tensile
stresses in the rod journal fillets. The slight
journal bending that occurs puts compressive
stresses on the main journal fillets. The
forging flow lines and shot peened or heat-
treated fillet material carry the rod journal
tensile stresses preventing crack formation.
Slide 19 -- As pistons complete the power
stroke, they create low tensile stresses in the
main journal fillets and compressive stresses
in the rod journal fillets. Later, when we
discuss bending fatigue failures, this
information will be very useful to us.
AFA – 9 Crankshafts
Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts
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Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts
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Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts
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Slide 20 -- As pistons fire, each rod journal
sees different loads, but must move in unison
with the others. Resistance to movement at
either end of the shaft adds to this load as
gears and flywheels transfer power into
mating gears or transmissions. The combined
effect produces twisting or torsional
crankshaft loading. This causes the crankshaft
to wrap up slightly like a spring producing
flexing during operation.
Slide 21 -- As power is taken from the shaft to
drive gear trains, accessories, vehicle
transmissions, etc., axial forces develop that
push the crankshaft one direction or the other
in the block. These axial forces are called
thrust loads that are carried by one main
journal thrust wall acting against a thrust
bearing in the block.
Slide 22 -- Normal crankshaft appearance
after operation is not much different from new
appearance. Main and rod journal polishing
produces a brighter appearance where
bearings support them, and oil seals may
produce a shallow abrasive wear ring where
they make contact. Some brownish lacquer
may develop on areas not worn by bearings
after thousands of operating hours.
AFA – 9 Crankshafts
Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts
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Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts
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Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts
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Slide 23 -- Crankshafts undergo both wear
and fracture. Crankshaft wear usually results
from lube system or bearing problems.
Alignment or taper problems are an exception
to this, and may cause adhesive wear that
shows itself on the bearings. Crankshaft
fractures are more likely to be the fault of the
crankshaft application, remanufacturing,
materials, or processing.
Slide 24 -- The safest way to proceed in
analyzing crankshaft failures is to use the
Eight Steps of Applied Failure Analysis. This
helps us gather necessary facts, identify
fracture types, and follow road signs to the
real root cause of failure.
Slide 25 -- Basic application, operation and
maintenance background facts should always
be recorded when analyzing failed
crankshafts. We can ask about total service
hours, bearing roll-ins, any crankshaft repairs,
etc. We should also investigate conditions a
month or two prior to failure and ask
specifically about problem indicators, such as
unusual noises or starting problems that may
give us clues to the cause of failure.
AFA – 9 Crankshafts 4/22/2001

Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts Slide 26 -- To do the best failure analysis, we

need to obtain, identify and protect all parts
Click to edit Master title style related to failure. In most cases, this will only
involve the crankshaft, main, thrust, and rod
bearings.

Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts Slide 27 -- If parts must be moved to another

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location for analysis, they should be left
uncleaned and carefully packaged to protect
them from physical and corrosive damage.
When failures are allowed to deteriorate this
badly, failure analysis becomes nearly
impossible since road signs have been
obliterated.

Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts Slide 28 -- It is extremely important before

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beginning analysis to properly clean fracture
faces. Many fracture details cannot be seen
until parts are thoroughly cleaned. This is best
done with a mild, non-corrosive solvent such
as Stanisol and a soft bristle brush. This will
remove oil, grease and foreign material
without disturbing any clues on the parts.

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AFA – 9 Crankshafts 4/22/2001

Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts
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Slide 29 -- Road signs are easily removed by
careless or improper cleaning. Use of glass
beading, grit blasting, wire brushing, or
aggressive solvent cleaning should be avoided
to prevent damaging or completely
obliterating road signs.

Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts
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Slide 30 -- We should look for road signs on
all surfaces using angled lighting to create
contrast that better reveals wear and fracture
types. Magnifiers can be very useful for
identifying stress raisers at crack initiation
sites.

Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts Slide 31 -- Before beginning visual

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examination, all involved parts should be
arranged as they were removed from the
engine. A careful inspection of bearings can
tell us if crankshaft taper or alignment was
bad, if a spun bearing generated lots of heat
on a rod journal, if fillet contact was a result
of crankshaft failure or a cause, etc. Fracture
examination can tell us types of fractures
present, where they started, what stress raiser
started the crack, and whether they were
causes or results.

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AFA – 9 Crankshafts 4/22/2001

Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts Slide 32 -- We should especially look for

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evidence of heat, misalignment or competitive
parts. Heat from a bearing failure may be
severe enough to make the crankshaft
unrepairable. Misalignment road signs, best
seen on bearings, may indicate a bent shaft or
incorrectly align bored block. Absence of
typical Cat markings can be the clue that the
crankshaft is a competitive part.

Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts Slide 33 -- Crankshaft wear is usually a result

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of bearing or lube system problems. When
heavy abrasive scratching of journals occurs,
it is usually caused by hard material
embedded in bearings but sticking up enough
to scratch the journals.

Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts
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Slide 34 -- Adhesive wear can originate with
the bearings/lube system or with the
crankshaft. If the crank is suspected, bearings
should be arranged as they were located in the
engine and the wear patterns in the overlay
examined. Refer to the bearing module for
more information on this topic.

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Applied Failure Analysis
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Applied Failure Analysis
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Crankshafts 4/22/2001
Crankshafts Slide 35 -- Since crankshaft fractures are
fatigue fractures, let's briefly review what we
learned about fatigue in the fractures section
of the seminar. Fatigue fracture road signs are
flat, smooth fracture surfaces with beach
marks radiating away from the crack initiation
site and ending at final fracture. If several
fatigue cracks grow side by side, ratchet
marks develop between them until the
individual cracks join up to form one large
advancing crack. Ratchet marks mean a
severe stress concentrator or high loading
exists at the initiation site. The type of stress
raiser can tell us where to look next for clues
to cause of failure.
Crankshafts Slide 36 -- Crankshafts fail in bending or
torsional fatigue. Bending fatigue starts in the
main or rod fillet at or near the surface.
Application, remanufacturing, materials, or
process problems can cause it. Torsional
fatigue starts on the main or rod journal
surface area and spirals around the shaft. It is
usually caused by material or process
problems. Major improvements in steel
cleanliness over the last decade are making
material related failures rare. We will become
familiar with road signs of bending and
torsional fatigue after that we will look at
various kinds of stress raisers and their road
signs.
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AFA – 9 Crankshafts 4/22/2001

Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts Slide 37 -- This is a rod journal and adjacent
web from a D348 crankshaft. What road signs
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Ans. -Flat smooth fracture, beach marks,

ductile final fracture, and a fillet initiation site
indicating this is a bending fatigue fracture.

Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts Slide 38 -- When we have located the

initiation site, we should look more closely
Click to edit Master title style for additional road signs. What additional
road signs do we see here and what are they
telling us?

Ans. -Ratchet marks and multiple initiation

sites indicating the presence of high tensile
stresses or some type of defect acting to raise
the stresses.

Where did the fatigue crack start and how

does this relate to the crank loading we
learned about earlier?

Ans. -The crack started in a main journal fillet

meaning combustion loading was probably
not responsible. Combustion loads put main
fillets into compression and tensile stresses
are required to make cracks start.

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Applied Failure Analysis
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Applied Failure Analysis
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Crankshafts 4/22/2001
Crankshafts Slide 39 -- Let's take a minute to think with
the facts we have gathered this far and
determine where the road signs are leading us.
The fatigue fracture initiation site and the
ratchet marks are telling us tensile stresses in
the main journal fillet were very high. The
loads responsible cannot come from
combustion since it does not put high tensile
stresses on the main fillets.
The loads must be due to unusual main
journal bending forces. The road signs are
telling us to look for sources of main journal
stress such as align boring problems,
improper fillet blending, insufficient fillet
shot peening, attachment loads, etc.
Crankshafts Slide 40 -- This is another D348 rod journal
and web. What fracture road signs are
present?
Ans. -Flat, smooth fracture with beach marks
starting at the main fillet. Also a fatigue crack
with beach marks and ratchet marks starting
at the rod fillet. Ductile final fracture occurred
where the two fatigue cracks met.
Which fatigue crack started first?
Ans. -The main journal crack since it has
grown longer under lower loads as evidenced
by the fine, close spaced beach marks.
What caused the ratchet marks and second
fatigue crack at the rod fillet?
Ans. -Once the main fillet crack had
weakened the web cross-section, the high
combustion forces overloaded the rod fillet
starting a crack growing the other direction.
This is called reverse bending fatigue.
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Applied Failure Analysis
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Applied Failure Analysis
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Applied Failure Analysis
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Crankshafts 4/22/2001
Crankshafts Slide 41 -- Now let's look at torsional fatigue
road signs. As with bending fatigue, torsional
fatigue results in flat smooth fractures with
beach marks radiating away from the crack
initiation site where ratchet marks may be
present. Unlike bending fatigue, torsional
fatigue spirals around a rod or main journal
starting from stress raisers in oil holes or
lightening holes, or from material flaws at or
just below journal surfaces.
Crankshafts Slide 42 -- This rod journal from a 3208
crankshaft has undergone torsional fatigue.
To correctly identify the crack initiation site
we should look for the area where beach
marks are very fine or cannot be seen. Coarse,
wide spaced beach marks indicate we are
approaching final fracture, while close spaced
or difficult to see beach marks indicate we are
near the crack origin. Using these road signs,
we locate the crack initiation site at the
bottom of the lightening hole. We would next
look for stress raisers such as undercutting by
the drill point or quench cracks.
Crankshafts Slide 43 -- Armed with this understanding of
crankshaft bending and torsional fractures, we
will now look at various types of stress raisers
that cause crankshafts to fail, learning to
recognize the characteristic road signs of
incorrect application, material defects, and
processing errors.
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Applied Failure Analysis
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Applied Failure Analysis
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Crankshafts 4/22/2001
Crankshafts Slide 44 -- Sometimes crankshafts are used to
supply power to auxiliary equipment through
pulleys, belts or gear trains. If the application
has not been thoroughly studied and approved
by Cat Engineers, there is the risk of
overloading the front or rear main journal in
bending. Road signs of this condition are
bending fatigue fractures initiating at the front
main or first rod journal fillet with no
evidence of stress raisers. Beach marks are
usually so closely spaced near the crack
initiation site that they cannot be easily seen.
The crack grows very slowly towards the
adjacent fillet until the weakened section
becomes overloaded and fails. When we
suspect an application problem, we should
investigate the installation and determine if
Cat specifications have been exceeded.
Crankshafts Slide 45 -- Some crankshaft fractures result
from material flaws and processing errors.
Since steel mills, forgers, and Caterpillar
carefully control materials and processes,
very few crankshafts fracture in service.
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Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts Slide 46 -- Material flaws such as inclusions,

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seams, pipe,
flakes, etc. were discussed in the metallurgy
section of this seminar. Any of these defects
can be present in crankshaft steel, but
inclusions and flaking are most common. The
road sign of material related failures is fatigue
initiating from a subsurface origin.

Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts Slide 47 -- This 3512 crankshaft was returned
to Cat for failure analysis.
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Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts Slide 48 -- The fracture appears to be bending

fatigue occurring between a rod and main
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Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts
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Slide 49 -- A closer look at the fracture faces
shows the bending fatigue fracture initiated in
a main journal fillet with final failure at the
rod journal fillet. No ratchet marks are present
but the beach marks are very distinct.

Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts Slide 50 -- Tracing the beach marks back to
the origin, we see what appears to be a fatigue
Click to edit Master title style fracture starting right at the main journal
fillet.

Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts Slide 51 -- Using better lighting and

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magnification, we see the initiation site is
internal and a stress raiser is present. This
inclusion was large enough and close enough
to the highly stressed fillet to initiate a fatigue
crack. Subsurface fatigue creates circular
beach mark patterns radiating away from the
flaw. Sometimes, overloading a part may
cause an internal crack to start from a flaw
that would not have caused a problem had
loading remained normal. We should avoid
blaming the material flaw until we check the
loading conditions.

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Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts Slide 52 -- This bending fatigue failure

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occurred in a 3408 crankshaft at the web
between the first main and rod journal.
Fatigue initiated well below the rod journal
surface. The stress raiser in this case is a
hydrogen flake present in the steel before
forging. Notice the road signs are identical to
those of an inclusion related failure. We may
not be able to tell the difference between
types of material flaws, but we can recognize
the similarity of the road signs that say a
material flaw was involved. Large flaws or
overloading can make the material defect the
weakest link in the chain.

Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts
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Slide 53 -- Process errors can occur during
forging, heat-treating, straightening or
grinding. We will take a few minutes to look
at typical fracture road signs produced by
each.

Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts
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Slide 54 -- This 3408 crank failed after 80
hours of service in a 988B. The fracture
through the web shows smooth areas, road
signs of fatigue, and rough areas that may be
brittle or ductile.

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Applied Failure Analysis
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Applied Failure Analysis
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Applied Failure Analysis
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Crankshafts 4/22/2001
Crankshafts Slide 55 -- A closer look under better lighting
shows the crystalline brittle areas acted as
initiation sites for fatigue that grew to the web
surfaces. The large brittle areas are forging
burns that occur when the steel is overheated
during forging creating internal melting. The
large grains that form on cooling do not stick
to each other and form internal cracks that
grow under load. Again, the road signs are
subsurface originating fatigue, and in this
case, large subsurface ratchet marks.
Crankshafts Slide 56 -- Heat treat quench cracks may
occur during the severe water-cooling of the
forging from 1600oF (870°C). If oil hole
chamfers are not right, or quench water
becomes too cool, stresses set up during
quenching can cause small thumbnail shaped
cracks in the oil holes. These tiny quench
cracks become stress raisers that initiate a
fatigue crack in service. Careful visual
examination at the fatigue origin will usually
reveal the small crack that started the entire
problem. Such a crack is located just above
the center of this slide.
Crankshafts Slide 57 -- Here's another bending fatigue
failure starting in the main fillet of a 3208
crankshaft. Road signs are beach marks,
ratchet marks and an unusual appearing
fracture between the fillet surface and the
internal fatigue crack initiation site. This area
is a pre-existing crack caused by over
straightening. The crack was present when the
crank went into service, acted as a severe
stress raiser, and initiated a fatigue crack with
the large ratchet marks we see here. Anytime
we see fatigue initiating below the part's
surface, we know a pre-crack existed or a
material flaw was present.
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Applied Failure Analysis
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Applied Failure Analysis
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Applied Failure Analysis
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Crankshafts 4/22/2001
Crankshafts Slide 58 -- Grinder burning or cracking may
not be detrimental unless it occurs in a high
load area such as fillets or oil holes on journal
surfaces. The fracture road signs that indicate
a grinder related failure is the presence of
ratchet marks indicating severe stress
concentration. If the fatigue process has not
polished the origin too badly, we might also
see small thumbnail shaped cracks at the
initiation site.
Crankshafts Slide 59 -- This D348 crankshaft failed in
bending fatigue. The crack initiated in the
main fillet and progressed towards the rod
fillet resulting in reverse bending fatigue. At
the initiation site are several large ratchet
marks, road signs of a stress raiser such as
grinder cracking. To confirm this, we can
magnetic particle check for the presence of
small fillet cracks or have a met lab acid etch
the crank to reveal burns.
Crankshafts Slide 60 -- Another major source of
crankshaft failures is not related to Caterpillar
materials, suppliers or processes. Many
crankshafts are reconditioned by machine
shops that are not aware of the materials and
processes used to make Cat cranks. During
reconditioning, they introduce stress raisers
by using processes that are not compatible
with the materials or previous processes used
to make the shaft.
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Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts Slide 61 -- This 3408 crankshaft was returned
for new parts warranty with a fatigue fracture
Click to edit Master title style in the thrust main fillet after just a few
hundred hours of operation.

Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts Slide 62 -- Looking carefully at the fracture,

we notice beach marks appear to start well
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Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts Slide 63 -- Looking at the other side of the
fracture, we find identical beach marks and
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Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts
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Slide 64 -- A closer look fails to show any
beach or ratchet marks in the polished area,
but does reveal that another crack existed
from the fillet surface down to the polished
area. This shallow pre-crack resembles a
straightening crack but fatigue does not begin
there.

Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts
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Slide 65 -- The road signs are telling us this
failure is very unusual, and we should gather
facts from the rest of the crank. Looking at
the thrust face, we see two irregular dark lines
running around the ground thrust surface.
Since this is abnormal, we should investigate
it further.

Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts Slide 66 -- Looking at the other side of the
fracture, we see the entire thrust face has
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grooves going around it.

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Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts Slide 67 -- Using angled lighting and

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magnification, we find an obvious weld bead
at one location in this area giving us the
answer to the riddle. This crankshaft had
failed, possibly due to a thrust plate installed
backwards. It was then sent to a rebuilder who
machined the thrust face, filled it with weld
metal, and reground it.

Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts
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Slide 68 -- We must always watch for unusual
failures such as this to avoid being fooled into
thinking we have a material or process
problem from the factory, when in fact a
competitive or non-Cat remanufactured
crankshaft was responsible.

Applied Failure Analysis Crankshafts Slide 69 -- This concludes our look at

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crankshaft failure analysis. Using the eight
steps and good visual analysis examination
techniques will reveal the road signs that lead
us down the right path of investigation. After
the problem is correctly diagnosed, only half
the job is done. We must remember to get the
payoff by communicating with the customer,
making the best repairs at the lowest possible
cost, and following up to insure the problem
is corrected.

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