
                   Low fuel pressure              Test pressure regul-
                                                  ator and fuel pump,
                                                  check for restricted
                                                  lines and filters
                   No distributor reference       Repair ignition
                   pulses                         system as necessary
                   Open coolant temperature       Test sensor and
                   sensor circuit                 wiring
                   Shorted W.O.T. switch in       Disconnect W.O.T.
                   T.P.S.                         switch, engine
                                                  should start
                   Defective ECM                  Replace ECM
                   Fuel tank residual pressure    Test for fuel
                   valve leaks                    pressure drop after
                                                  shut down
         \
         \
         \
         \
         \
         \
         \
       
Hard Starting      Disconnected hot air tube      Reconnect tube and
                   to air cleaner                 test control valve
                   Defective Idle Air Control     Test valve operation
                   (IAC) valve                    and circuit
                   Shorted, open or misadjusted   Test and adjust or
                   T.P.S.                         replace T.P.S.
                   EGR valve open                 Test EGR valve and
                                                  control circuit
                   Poor Oxygen sensor signal      Test for shorted or
                                                  circuit
                   Incorrect mixture from PCV     Test PCV for flow,
                   system                         check sealing of oil
                                                  filter cap
         \
         \
         \
         \
         \
         \
         \
       
Poor High Speed     Low fuel pump volume           Faulty pump or
Operation                                          restricted fuel
                                                  lines or filters
                   Poor MAP sensor signal         Test MAP sensor,
                                                  vacuum hose and
                                                  wiring
                   Poor Oxygen sensor signal      Test for shorted or
                                                  open sensor or
                                                  circuit
                   Open coolant temperature       Test sensor and
                   sensor circuit                 wiring
                   Faulty ignition operation      Check wires for
                                                  cracks or poor con-
                                                  nections, test
                                                  secondary voltage
                                                  with oscilloscope
                   Contaminated fuel              Test fuel for water 

                                                  or alcohol
                   Intermittent ECM ground        Test ECM ground
                                                  connection for
                                                  resistance
                   Restricted air cleaner         Replace air cleaner
                   Restricted exhaust system      Test for exhaust
                                                  manifold back
                                                  pressure
                   Poor MAF sensor signal         Check leakage
                                                  between sensor and
                                                  manifold
                   Poor VSS signal                If tester for ALCL
                                                  hook-up is available
                                                  check that VSS
                                                  reading matches
                                                  speedometer
         \
         \
         \
         \
         \
         \
         \
       
Ping or Knock on   Poor Knock sensor signal       Test for shorted or
Acceleration                                       open sensor or
                                                  circuit
                   Poor Baro sensor signal        Test for shorted or
                                                  open sensor or
                                                  circuit
                   Improper ignition timing       See VEHICLE EMISSION
                                                  CONTROL LABEL (where
                                                  applicable)
                   Check for engine               Low coolant, loose
                   overheating problems           belts or electric
                                                  cooling fan
                                                  inoperative
         \
         \
         \
         \
         \
         \
         \
       
NOTE:    For additional electronic fuel injection trouble shooting
         information, see the appropriate article in the ENGINE
         PERFORMANCE section (not all vehicles have Computer Engine
         Control articles). Information is provided there for
         diagnosing fuel system problems on vehicles with electronic
         fuel injection.
          IGNITION SYSTEM TROUBLE SHOOTING
NOTE:    This is  GENERAL information.  This article is not intended
         to be specific to any unique situation or individual vehicle
         configuration.  The purpose of this Trouble Shooting
         information is to provide a list of common causes to
         problem symptoms.  For model-specific Trouble Shooting,
         refer to SUBJECT, DIAGNOSTIC, or TESTING articles available
         in the section(s) you are accessing.
          Ignition Secondary Trouble Shooting Chart
        \
         \
         \
         \
         \
         \
     
 START:  Visually inspect Spark Plug Wires, Coil Wires,   
        Plug Wire Boots, Rotor, and Distributor Cap for  
        signs of damage.                                  

severe weakness that we will look at later). If an injector has a
fault where it occasionally skips a pulse, the meter registers it and
the reading changes accordingly.
         Let's go back to figuring out dwell/duty readings by using
injector on-time specification. This is not generally practical, but
we will cover it for completeness. You NEED to know three things:
      *  Injector mS on-time specification.
       *  Engine RPM when specification is valid.
       *  How many times the injectors fire per crankshaft revolution.
         The first two are self-explanatory. The last one may require
some research into whether it is a bank-fire type that injects every
360
  of crankshaft rotation, a bank-fire that injects every 720 , or
an SFI that injects every 720 . Many manufacturers do not release this
data so you may have to figure it out yourself with a frequency meter.
         Here are the four complete steps to convert millisecond on-
time:
         1) Determine the injector pulse width and RPM it was obtained
at. Let's say the specification is for one millisecond of on-time at a
hot idle of 600 RPM.
         2) Determine injector firing method for the complete 4 stroke
cycle. Let's say this is a 360
  bank-fired, meaning an injector fires
each and every crankshaft revolution.
         3) Determine how many times the injector will fire at the
specified engine speed (600 RPM) in a fixed time period. We will use
100 milliseconds because it is easy to use.
         Six hundred crankshaft Revolutions Per Minute (RPM) divided
by 60 seconds equals 10 revolutions per second.
         Multiplying 10 times .100 yields one; the crankshaft turns
one time in 100 milliseconds. With exactly one crankshaft rotation in
100 milliseconds, we know that the injector fires exactly one time.
         4) Determine the ratio of injector on-time vs. off-time in
the fixed time period, then figure duty cycle and/or dwell. The
injector fires one time for a total of one millisecond in any given
100 millisecond period.
         One hundred minus one equals 99. We have a 99% duty cycle. If
we wanted to know the dwell (on 6 cylinder scale), multiple 99% times
.6; this equals 59.4
  dwell.
          Weaknesses of Dwell/Duty Meter
         The weaknesses are significant. First, there is no one-to-one
correspondence to actual mS on-time. No manufacturer releases
dwell/duty data, and it is time-consuming to convert the mS on-time
readings. Besides, there can be a large degree of error because the
conversion forces you to assume that the injector(s) are always firing\
at the same rate for the same period of time. This can be a dangerous
assumption.
         Second, all level of detail is lost in the averaging process.
This is the primary weakness. You cannot see the details you need to
make a confident diagnosis.
         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 

Fig. 1:  Identifying Tie-Off Symbols
         4) If the wires are not drawn all the way to another
component (across several pages), a reference will tell you their
final destination.
         5) Again, use the legend on the first page of the wiring
diagram to determine the grid number and letter of the referenced
component. You can then turn directly to it without tracing wires
across several pages.
         6) The symbols shown in Fig. 1 are called tie-offs. The first
tie-off shown indicates that the circuit goes to the temperature
sensor, and is also a ground circuit.
         7) The second symbol indicates that the circuit goes to a
battery positive parallel circuit. The third symbol leads to a
particular component and the location is also given.
         8) The lines shown in  Fig. 2 are called options. Which path
or option to take depends on what engine or systems the vehicle has.                                

Fig. 15:  Internal Fuse, Thermal Limiter
Fig. 16:  Lamp (Dual Element)
Fig. 17:  Lamp (Single Element)
Fig. 18:  Motor
Fig. 19:  Resistor (Internal)
Fig. 20:  Sensor, Thermistor
Fig. 21:  Solenoid