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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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