Page 852 of 906

WAVEFORMS - INJECTOR PATTERN TUTORIAL
Article Text (p. 8)
1990 Volkswagen Corrado
For Volkswagen Technical Site: http://vw.belcom.ru
Copyright © 1998 Mitchell Repair Information Company, LLC
Thursday, March 23, 2000 09:52PM
Here is one example. Imagine a vehicle that has a faulty
injector driver that occasionally skips an injector pulse. Every
skipped pulse means that that cylinder does not fire, thus unburned O2
gets pushed into the exhaust and passes the O2 sensor. The O2 sensor
indicates lean, so the computer fattens up the mixture to compensate
for the supposed "lean" condition.
A connected dwell/duty meter would see the fattened pulse
width but would also see the skipped pulses. It would tally both and
likely come back with a reading that indicated the "pulse width" was
within specification because the rich mixture and missing pulses
offset each other.
This situation is not a far-fetched scenario. Some early GM
3800 engines were suffering from exactly this. The point is that a
lack of detail could cause misdiagnosis.
As you might have guessed, a lab scope would not miss this.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DWELL & DUTY CYCLE READINGS TABLE (1)ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄDwell Meter (2) Duty Cycle Meter
1
ø .................................................... 1%
15
ø .................................................. 25%
30
ø .................................................. 50%
45
ø .................................................. 75%
60
ø ................................................. 100%
(1) - These are just some examples for your understanding.
It is okay to fill in the gaps.
(2) - Dwell meter on the six-cylinder scale.
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ THE TWO TYPES OF INJECTOR DRIVERS
OVERVIEW
There are two types of transistor driver circuits used to
operate electric fuel injectors: voltage controlled and current
controlled. The voltage controlled type is sometimes called a
"saturated switch" driver, while the current controlled type is
sometimes known as a "peak and hold" driver.
The basic difference between the two is the total resistance
of the injector circuit. Roughly speaking, if a particular leg in an
injector circuit has total resistance of 12 or more ohms, a voltage
control driver is used. If less than 12 ohms, a current control driver
is used.
It is a question of what is going to do the job of limiting
the current flow in the injector circuit; the inherent "high"
resistance in the injector circuit, or the transistor driver. Without
some form of control, the current flow through the injector would
cause the solenoid coil to overheat and result in a damaged injector.
VOLTAGE CONTROLLED CIRCUIT ("SATURATED SWITCH")
Page 860 of 906
WAVEFORMS - INJECTOR PATTERN TUTORIAL
Article Text (p. 16)
1990 Volkswagen Corrado
For Volkswagen Technical Site: http://vw.belcom.ru
Copyright © 1998 Mitchell Repair Information Company, LLC
Thursday, March 23, 2000 09:52PMFig. 3: Identifying Current Controlled Type Injector Pattern
CURRENT WAVEFORM SAMPLES
EXAMPLE #1 - VOLTAGE CONTROLLED DRIVER
The waveform pattern shown in Fig. 4 indicate a normal
current waveform from a Ford 3.0L V6 VIN [U] engine. This voltage
controlled type circuit pulses the injectors in groups of three
injectors. Injectors No. 1, 3, and 5 are pulsed together and cylinders
2, 4, and 6 are pulsed together. The specification for an acceptable
bank resistance is 4.4 ohms. Using Ohm's Law and assuming a hot run
voltage of 14 volts, we determine that the bank would draw a current
of 3.2 amps.
Page 863 of 906

WAVEFORMS - INJECTOR PATTERN TUTORIAL
Article Text (p. 19)
1990 Volkswagen Corrado
For Volkswagen Technical Site: http://vw.belcom.ru
Copyright © 1998 Mitchell Repair Information Company, LLC
Thursday, March 23, 2000 09:52PM
This time we will look at a GM 3.1L V6 VIN [T]. Fig. 8 shows
the 1, 3, 5 (odd) injector bank with the current waveform indicating
about a 2.6 amp draw at idle. This pattern, taken from a known good
vehicle, correctly stays at or below the maximum 2.6 amps current
range. Ideally, the current for each bank should be very close in
comparison.
Notice the small dimple on the current flow's rising edge.
This is the actual injector opening or what engineers refer to as the
"set point." For good idle quality, the set point should be uniform
between the banks.
When discussing Ohm's Law as it pertains to this parallel
circuit, consider that each injector has specified resistance of 12.2
ohms. Since all three injectors are in parallel the total resistance
of this parallel circuit drops to 4.1 ohms. Fourteen volts divided by
four ohms would pull a maximum of 3.4 amps on this bank of injectors.
However, as we discussed in EXAMPLE #1 above, other factors knock this
value down to roughly the 2.6 amp neighborhood.
Now we are going to take a look at the even bank of
injectors; injectors 2, 4, and 6. See Fig. 9. Notice this bank peaked
at 1.7 amps at idle as compared to the 2.6 amps peak of the odd bank (
Fig. 8). Current flow between even and odd injectors banks is not
uniform, yet it is not causing a driveability problem. That is because
it is still under the maximum amperage we figured out earlier. But be
aware this vehicle could develop a problem if the amperage flow
increases any more.
Checking the resistance of this even injector group with a
DVOM yielded 6.2 ohms, while the odd injector group in the previous
example read 4.1 ohms.Fig. 8: Injector Odd Bank w/Normal Current Flow - Current Pattern
Page 864 of 906

WAVEFORMS - INJECTOR PATTERN TUTORIAL
Article Text (p. 20)
1990 Volkswagen Corrado
For Volkswagen Technical Site: http://vw.belcom.ru
Copyright © 1998 Mitchell Repair Information Company, LLC
Thursday, March 23, 2000 09:52PMFig. 9: Injector Even Bank w/Normal Current Flow - Current Pattern
EXAMPLE #3 - VOLTAGE CONTROLLED DRIVER
Example #3 is of a Ford 5.0L V8 SEFI. Fig. 10 shows a
waveform of an individual injector at idle with the Lab Scope set on
200 milliamps per division. Notice the dimple in the rising edge. This
dimple indicates the actual opening of the injector (set point)
occurred at 400 milliamps and current peaked at 750 milliamps. This is
a good specification for this engine.
The next waveform pattern in Fig. 11 shows an abnormality
with another injector. With the Lab Scope set on 500 milliamps per
division, you can see that the current waveform indicates a 1200
milliamp draw. This is a faulty injector.
Abnormally low resistance injectors create excessive current
draw, causing rough idle, and possible computer driver damage.Fig. 10: Single Injector w/Normal Current Flow - Current Pattern
Page 867 of 906
WAVEFORMS - INJECTOR PATTERN TUTORIAL
Article Text (p. 23)
1990 Volkswagen Corrado
For Volkswagen Technical Site: http://vw.belcom.ru
Copyright © 1998 Mitchell Repair Information Company, LLC
Thursday, March 23, 2000 09:52PM
The next waveform is from the same type of engine, except
that it shows a faulty injector. See Fig. 16. Notice that the current
went to almost 5 amps and stayed at 1 amp during the hold pattern.
Excessive amounts of current flow from bad injectors are a common
source of intermittent computer shutdown. Using a current waveform
pattern is the most accurate method of pinpointing this problem.Fig. 15: Single Injector w/Normal Current Flow - Current PatternFig. 16: Single Injector w/Excessive Current Flow - Current Pattern
EXAMPLE #8 - CURRENT CONTROLLED DRIVER
This known-good CPI system waveform from a GM 4.3L V6 CPI VIN
[W] peaks at 4 amps and holds at 1-amp. See Fig. 17 for waveform.
Page 868 of 906
WAVEFORMS - INJECTOR PATTERN TUTORIAL
Article Text (p. 24)
1990 Volkswagen Corrado
For Volkswagen Technical Site: http://vw.belcom.ru
Copyright © 1998 Mitchell Repair Information Company, LLC
Thursday, March 23, 2000 09:53PMFig. 17: Single Injector w/Normal Current Flow - Current Pattern
VOLTAGE WAVEFORM SAMPLES
EXAMPLE #1 - VOLTAGE CONTROLLED DRIVER
These two known-good waveform patterns are from a Ford 4.6L
V8 VIN [W]. Fig. 18 illustrates the 64 volt inductive kick on this
engine, indicating no clamping is occurring. The second pattern,
Fig. 19, was taken during hot idle, closed loop, and no load.
Page 872 of 906
WAVEFORMS - INJECTOR PATTERN TUTORIAL
Article Text (p. 28)
1990 Volkswagen Corrado
For Volkswagen Technical Site: http://vw.belcom.ru
Copyright © 1998 Mitchell Repair Information Company, LLC
Thursday, March 23, 2000 09:53PMFig. 21: Injector Bank - Known Good - Voltage Pattern
EXAMPLE #4 - CURRENT CONTROLLED DRIVER
From 1984 to 1987, Chrysler used this type injector drive on
their TBI-equipped engines. See Fig. 22 for a known-good pattern.
Instead of the ground side controlling the injector, Chrysler
permanently grounds out the injector and switches the power feed side.
Most systems do not work this way.
These injectors peak at 6 amps of current flow and hold at 1
amp.
Page 873 of 906
WAVEFORMS - INJECTOR PATTERN TUTORIAL
Article Text (p. 29)
1990 Volkswagen Corrado
For Volkswagen Technical Site: http://vw.belcom.ru
Copyright © 1998 Mitchell Repair Information Company, LLC
Thursday, March 23, 2000 09:53PMFig. 22: Single Injector - Known Good - Voltage Pattern
EXAMPLE #5 - CURRENT CONTROLLED DRIVER
These two known-good waveform patterns are from a Chrysler 3.
0L V6 VIN [3]. The first waveform, Fig. 23, is a dual trace pattern
that illustrates how Chrysler uses the rising edge of the engine speed
signal to trigger the injectors. The second waveform, Fig. 24, was
taken during hot idle, closed loop, and no load.