eAir Repair: August 2009

              August 2009 edition
In This Issue
Aftermarket Catalytic Converter Efficiency
When My Phone Rings
C.A.N. Conference
Dashboard tip of the Month
Up Coming Seminars
Articles needed for eAir Repair
Aftermarket Catalytic Converter
Efficiency
By: Jeff Myers from The Car Doctor Inc. in Schaumburg
We recently had a 1998 Ford Escort come to our repair facility with a reject issue.
The vehicle originally failed with a P0420 CAT code in April, and repairs were done
shortly after by an independent repair shop. The repair shop used an aftermarket
catalyst for this repair. After several rejects for the CAT monitor not running, he was
directed to a Ford dealer to complete the repairs. It cost $700 at the first shop and
$900 at the dealer and was still getting rejected.
This very frustrated customer then brought the car to our shop. I explained to him that I would diagnose the problem
and give him an estimate on what repairs needed to be made. I also gave him our guarantee that his vehicle would pass
the test, or he gets his money back. Since the vehicle was still hot, I immediately jumped in the car with a scanner and
ran down the highway observing the downstream O2 sensor. The temperature and all other values looked good, but the
O2 sensor was fluctuating more rapidly than what it should have been. Our test of the downstream O2 sensor showed
no problems. That led me to a possible solution. The aftermarket CAT just wasn’t good enough to set the monitor. In the
old days of I/M 240, a propane test would work well to determine CAT efficiency, but with OBD, you have to rely on
the PCM. CATs are expensive, and it is hard to sell a manufacturer's CAT especially on an 11 year old car. There are a
few direct fit CATs that can do the trick, but you really don’t know until you bolt it on. A replacement direct fit CAT
was installed and the car fully trained within 6 miles on the highway and passed the emissions test within 3 hours of
the customer dropping off the car.
The moral of the story is to remember that even though you replaced a part, it does not always mean that particular part is
a good one--especially when dealing with aftermarket converters. If you are not setting a code for CAT, and there are
no other pending codes present, but the monitor will not run, make sure to watch the efficiency of the CAT.
back to top
When My Phone Rings
By: Dave Alder from ApplusTechnologies, Inc.
This is the first of many articles for eAir Repair. For those of you who do not know me,
I work for Applus Technologies as the Repair Industry Outreach Coordinator. I
frequently receive phone calls related to repairing emissions systems. For the most
part, when my phone rings, there is usually someone having an emission's repair
problem on the other end of the line. Let me share a couple of interesting calls. The
first came from a shop owner who just saw the newly printed REPORT CARD booklet
and felt that an error had been made when calculating his shop's grade. You should know that at the end of every
quarter, shop owners are responsible for logging on to the DASHBOARD website and verify all of their grade details. If
there is a discrepancy, shop owners need to call the Illinois Vehicle Emissions Outreach Program at (847)758-
3434. Unfortunately, if you are calling after the booklet is printed, it is way too late to make changes. (Please mark
your calendar NOW to check your score on October 1, 2009.) After the REPORT CARD booklet has been printed, there
is nothing that can be done about a score. I explained to the owner how to verify his data on the DASHBOARD. He felt
that there was no way that his shop's grade could only be a “C.” After a brief review, I saw that their shop made repairs on
a car that subsequently failed the test and worked on cars that ended up with four monitor rejects. I explained that
since February 1, 2009, after a repair EACH monitor REJECT counts the same as a FAIL.
The second call I want to share was about readiness monitors. A shop called me after completing a repair and clearing
the codes on one of those difficult to set 1997 cars. He had been driving the car for days, and there were two monitors
still not set to “ready” status. I asked which two monitors did not set. He said they were the CAT and EVAP monitors. After
a brief discussion, I found out that the technician had no idea what was required to get this car to pass, and I am sure he
is not alone. The “MIL” must be commanded off with no active power train fault codes (more on that next month) and
from 1996-2000, all but 2 non-continuous monitors must run unless the car is on the monitor exception table (see past
Air Review issue). Vehicle model years 2001 and newer need all but one monitor. The exception to this is a CAT code.
If there was a CAT code, the CAT monitor must run. Please feel free to call me at any time with your questions. If it is a
good one, it might wind up in a future article.
Please call if you have any questions: (847)616-6064
back to top
The Chicago Automotive Networking (C.A.N.) Conference
From: Automotive Service Association of Illinois
ASA is hosting the Chicago Area Networking (CAN) Conference on October 17th and 18th in Rosemont, Illinois. A variety
of topics will be covered for both technicians and shop managers.
For for details and registration information, download the event flyer.
back to top
Dashboard tip of the month
From: the Illinois EPA Repair Industry Outreach Team
FORGOT YOUR USER NAME AND/OR PASSWORD?
You need both your user name and password to utilize the functions on the Dashboard website, such as: looking up
a vehicle's test history, finding the registration status of a vehicle, entering repair data, registering for seminars, etc.
While logging in, if you forgot your USER NAME, it's not a problem! Just email us at epa.repair.outreach@illinois.gov or
call us at Repair Industry Outreach: (847)758-3434.
If you remember your user name but can't remember your PASSWORD, just click on the line "Forgot your password?" and
it will be immediately sent to your e-mail address.
By the way, you won't need your user name or password to receive copies of the eAir Repair Newsletter. They
are automatically sent to your e-mail address.
back to top
September, October 2009 Seminar Schedule
All Seminars are from 6-10 pm on dates below.
They are sponsored by the Illinois EPA for the repair industry and they are free!
● 2009 Complete Seminar Schedule
Communication Protocol Testing for OBD Failures
This seminar will review proper testing techniques for communication issues with the PCM and various modules as it
relates to OBD failures. The communication topology that will be discussed will focus on GM, Ford, and Chrysler
systems. This is a “must attend seminar” for serious OBD repair technicians.
ID Date Location
K204 Oct. 5, Monday Morton College
K205 Oct. 8, Thursday Truman College
Waveform Analysis
The emphasis of this seminar is on real world application of labscopes and graphing scan tools for driveability
diagnostics. Discussion topics will include scope features that aid diagnosis, waveform capture and storage
techniques, graphing scan tool and scope analysis case studies, and a live demonstration using PowerPoint to build a
case study. Creating repair files using PowerPoint is one of the best ways to build a repair database for later review or
for in-shop technician training.
ID Date Location
S504 Oct. 15, Thursday College of DuPage
OBD Code Repair Using Lab Scopes
This seminar is devoted to helping technicians develop a plan for successfully repairing OBD emission failures using
labscope testing strategies. OBDII testing will be reviewed and actual failure case studies will be looked at to help
understand the test capabilities of scopes and probes. Using computerized information systems and code charts will
be discussed to make diagnosing OBD code problems easier.
ID Date Location
S102 Sept. 23, Wednesday Joliet Junior College
S103 Oct. 27, Tuesday Kennedy-King College
OBD Repairs Using Scan Tools
This seminar will show repair technicians the capabilities and enhanced functions of a variety of aftermarket and
factory scan tools for system testing and OBD vehicle repair. Emphasis will be placed on bi-directional controls for
testing and diagnosis found in many of the scan tools available today. Graphing scan data analysis and testing
strategies will be discussed. The goal is to get the most from these tools and shorten diagnostic times. Actual vehicle
case studies will be shown to illustrate these points.
ID Date Location
S202 Sept. 24, Thursday Joliet Junior College
S203 Oct. 28, Wednesday Kennedy-King College
back to top
Articles needed for eAir Repair
From: the Illinois EPA Repair Industry Outreach Team
We are always looking for short articles of interest for eAir Repair. We all have information and tips on successful
emissions repairs. It is time to share them with your fellow technicians. Please help us all out by writing a brief story
(a couple of paragraphs) about your success or fix. Don’t worry about grammar or punctuation.
Those tips can be e-mailed to epa.repair.outreach@illinois.gov.
back to top