eAir Repair: November 2009

              November 2009 edition
Don't Overlook Monitor Criteria
In This Issue
Don't Overlook Monitor Criteria
When My Phone Rings
C.A.N. Conference
Dashboard Tip of the Month
Upcoming Seminars
Articles Needed for eAir Repair
By: Jeff Napoleoni J&S Ultimate Automotive, Inc.
This is a situation I encountered and would like to share with your readers. The
vehicle was a 1999 Saturn 1.9 DOHC.
Description of Problem:
● Vehicle rejected for monitors.
● Scanned vehicle and found MIL off with three history codes: P0341
camshaft position sensor circuit, P1599 engine near stall, and P1620
coolant level circuit. No current codes.
● CAT not ready, EVAP not ready, EGR not ready.
● Mode 6 data—CAT steady cruise failed (marginal); oxygen sensors look OK; high bias by .7xx VDC on downstream
oxygen sensor PID (but not the following upstream oxygen sensor). Again there were no hard codes.
● Drove car from a cold start and all the PID's looked normal. Made a mental note that the vehicle did not reach operating
temperature and never got above 124° F.
Solved The Problem:
● Decided to look at monitor enabling criteria. For each of the three failed monitors, coolant temperature needed to be
above 144° F for EVAP and 170° F for CAT and EGR.
● Recommended and installed a new thermostat.
● Made a trip around town, and sure enough both the EVAP and EGR had cleared monitors with the CAT soon to follow.
Advice:
● The moral of the story is that when monitors do not set, something is hanging them up. Research monitor enabling criteria
and follow it.
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When My Phone Rings
By: Dave Alder from Applus Technologies, Inc.
In-Range Sensor Failure
I would like to share some advice I gave to a couple of repair shops this month.
Calls came in related to diagnosing problems with vehicle monitors not setting.
One particular vehicle had been rejected at the testing station, and the shop
owner commented that he also had another vehicle in his shop with the same problem.
As a matter of fact, they were the same year and same model vehicles. When I
asked what work was done to the vehicles, the shop owner said that for the past few weeks, they had done a lot of
"driving around." After that, they started "changing out parts," including oxygen sensors and the PCM. They still couldn’t
get the monitors to run. The shop owner made the following statement, "There is nothing wrong with the car. The MIL is
not on." I asked him how the MIL gets turned on, and he said, "The PCM does it." This statement is true except that the
PCM does it after the monitors have run. You need to consider what might be preventing the monitors from running.
What about an "in-range" sensor failure?
As an example, I recently worked on a vehicle that was rejected due to monitors. I hooked up my scan tool and looked at
the data stream. Even though it was the end of summer, the ambient temperature sensor read 34° F. Thus, the car
always thought it was the middle of winter, even in the warm summer months. On this vehicle, the monitors would not
run because the drive cycle was from a cold soak. The coolant temperature never got close to the ambient temperature,
so the monitors never ran. By the way, the MIL was not on because the PCM for this particular vehicle is programmed
to accept a reading ranging from +130° F to -40° F without setting a code. In this situation, the problem was an "in-range"
sensor failure. The point that I am trying to make here is to carefully check all of the sensors, then check whether
the readings from the MAF sensor were out of range. Just a couple of grams per second could skew the readings enough
to keep monitors from running. Oxygen sensor frequency is also another area of concern. A slow oxygen sensor can
also keep the CAT monitor from running. Remember that any "in-range" sensor failure can keep a monitor from running
and the MIL will not be commanded on.
That’s it for this month. Please call me at (847) 616-6064 if you have any questions. If you have a good question, it
may appear in a future issue to share with fellow technicians and shop owners!
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The Chicago Automotive Networking (C.A.N.) Conference
From: the Illinois EPA Repair Industry Outreach Team
Hundreds of repair industry professionals attended the Chicago Automotive
Networking Conference, presented by the Automotive Service Association of
Illinois Mechanical Division (ASA) on October 17th in Rosemont. Dozens of
vendors presented seminars and displays designed to help technicians and shop
owners perfect their skills. The conference also proved to be a great opportunity for
the Illinois EPA to reach out to those who had not yet signed-up for access to
the Dashboard. You can use the Dashboard to report repair data via the internet, to review your shops’ grade
details, lookup vehicle test histories and test results, register for seminars, and use a repair industry forum to
leave messages seeking help or tips on successful repairs. If you are interested in obtaining access to the Dashboard, go
to our secure website: https://www.ildashboard.com and click on the "Repair Community Sign Up" icon at the top of the page.
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Dashboard Tip of the Month
From: the Illinois EPA Repair Industry Outreach Team
Make Sure to Change Assigned Password
Your assigned password will expire December 1, 2009. When you initially signed-up for access to the Dashboard, a
default password was assigned. It is now time to change that password to a unique password of your choice. The
assigned default password will expire on December 1, 2009. If you haven't done so already, simply navigate to the
"Change password" link at the top of the Repair Community page, or click here: Change password
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November and December 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
K207 Dec. 3, Thursday Oakton Community College
Diagnostic Techniques for OBD Failures
This seminar will focus on the use of OBD scan data, freeze frame, and failure records as a means to a successful
OBD repair. The Illinois "Dashboard" website will also be included in the diagnostic process. The overall goal of this
presentation is to emphasize efficiency in testing and repair techniques for OBD failures.
ID Date Location
K108 Dec. 1, Tuesday Truman College
Waveform Analysis
The emphasis of this seminar is on real world applications 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
S505
Dec. 16, Wednesday
(Note date change.)
Collinsville State of Illinois Complex
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. OBD 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
S104 Nov. 23, Monday Morton College
S105 Dec. 8, Tuesday Universal Technical Institute
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
S204 Nov. 24, Tuesday Morton College
S205 Dec. 9, Wednesday Universal Technical Institute
Readiness Monitor Challenges
This seminar will address the growing problem of OBD emissions test rejects due to monitor status being "not ready."
The new changes in the testing program will make first retest rejects count against a shop’s grade, so making sure
monitors run to completion is critical. Case studies of vehicles with difficult to set monitors will be studied. A strategy
for addressing vehicles that won’t run monitors will be discussed along with using scan tools and Mode 6 to help
determine a solution to this often challenging problem.
ID Date Location
S406
Dec. 15, Tuesday
(Note date change.)
Collinsville State of Illinois Complex
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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. Many of you have gathered information for
successful emissions repairs. It is time to share those tips with your fellow technicians. Please help us out by writing a
brief story (a couple of paragraphs) about your success or fix.
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