chemical reaction takes place. This means the con-
centration of oxygen will be the same downstream as
upstream. The output voltage of the downstream
O2S copies the voltage of the upstream sensor. The
only difference is a time lag (seen by the PCM)
between the switching of the O2S's.
To monitor the system, the number of lean-to-rich
switches of upstream and downstream O2S's is
counted. The ratio of downstream switches to
upstream switches is used to determine whether the
catalyst is operating properly. An effective catalyst
will have fewer downstream switches than it has
upstream switches i.e., a ratio closer to zero. For a
totally ineffective catalyst, this ratio will be one-to-
one, indicating that no oxidation occurs in the device.
The system must be monitored so that when cata-
lyst efficiency deteriorates and exhaust emissions
increase to over the legal limit, the MIL (Check
Engine lamp) will be illuminated.
NATURAL VACUUM LEAK DETECTION (NVLD) (if equipped)
The Natural Vacuum Leak Detection (NVLD) sys-
tem is the next generation evaporative leak detection
system that will first be used on vehicles equipped
with the Next Generation Controller (NGC). This
new system replaces the leak detection pump as the
method of evaporative system leak detection. This is
to detect a leak equivalent to a 0.0209(0.5 mm) hole.
This system has the capability to detect holes of this
size very dependably.
The basic leak detection theory employed with
NVLD is the9Gas Law9. This is to say that the pres-
sure in a sealed vessel will change if the temperature
of the gas in the vessel changes. The vessel will only
see this effect if it is indeed sealed. Even small leaks
will allow the pressure in the vessel to come to equi-
librium with the ambient pressure. In addition to the
detection of very small leaks, this system has the
capability of detecting medium as well as large evap-
orative system leaks.
The NVLD seals the canister vent during engine off
conditions. If the EVAP system has a leak of less than
the failure threshold, the evaporative system will be
pulled into a vacuum, either due to the cool down
from operating temperature or diurnal ambient tem-
perature cycling. The diurnal effect is considered one
of the primary contributors to the leak determination
by this diagnostic. When the vacuum in the system
exceeds about 19H2O (0.25 KPA), a vacuum switch
closes. The switch closure sends a signal to the NGC.
The NGC, via appropriate logic strategies (described
below), utilizes the switch signal, or lack thereof, to
make a determination of whether a leak is present.
The NVLD device is designed with a normally open
vacuum switch, a normally closed solenoid, and a
seal, which is actuated by both the solenoid and a
diaphragm. The NVLD is located on the atmosphericvent side of the canister. The NVLD assembly may
be mounted on top of the canister outlet, or in-line
between the canister and atmospheric vent filter. The
normally open vacuum switch will close with about 19
H2O (0.25 KPA) vacuum in the evaporative system.
The diaphragm actuates the switch. This is above the
opening point of the fuel inlet check valve in the fill
tube so cap off leaks can be detected. Submerged fill
systems must have recirculation lines that do not
have the in-line normally closed check valve that pro-
tects the system from failed nozzle liquid ingestion,
in order to detect cap off conditions.
The normally closed valve in the NVLD is intended
to maintain the seal on the evaporative system dur-
ing the engine off condition. If vacuum in the evapo-
rative system exceeds 39to 69H2O (0.75 to 1.5 KPA),
the valve will be pulled off the seat, opening the seal.
This will protect the system from excessive vacuum
as well as allowing sufficient purge flow in the event
that the solenoid was to become inoperative.
The solenoid actuates the valve to unseal the can-
ister vent while the engine is running. It also will be
used to close the vent during the medium and large
leak tests and during the purge flow check. This sole-
noid requires initial 1.5 amps of current to pull the
valve open but after 100 ms. will be duty cycled down
to an average of about 150 mA for the remainder of
the drive cycle.
Another feature in the device is a diaphragm that
will open the seal in the NVLD with pressure in the
evaporative system. The device will9blow off9at
about 0.59H2O (0.12 KPA) pressure to permit the
venting of vapors during refueling. An added benefit
to this is that it will also allow the tank to9breathe9
during increasing temperatures, thus limiting the
pressure in the tank to this low level. This is benefi-
cial because the induced vacuum during a subse-
quent declining temperature will achieve the switch
closed (pass threshold) sooner than if the tank had to
decay from a built up pressure.
The device itself has 3 wires: Switch sense, sole-
noid driver and ground. It also includes a resistor to
protect the switch from a short to battery or a short
to ground. The NGC utilizes a high-side driver to
energize and duty-cycle the solenoid.
DESCRIPTION - HIGH AND LOW LIMITS
The PCM compares input signal voltages from each
input device with established high and low limits for
the device. If the input voltage is not within limits
and other criteria are met, the PCM stores a diagnos-
tic trouble code in memory. Other diagnostic trouble
code criteria might include engine RPM limits or
input voltages from other sensors or switches that
must be present before verifying a diagnostic trouble
code condition.
25 - 8 EMISSIONS CONTROLRS
EMISSIONS CONTROL (Continued)
ON-BOARD DIAGNOSTICS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
page page
TASK MANAGER
DESCRIPTION.........................24OPERATION...........................24
TASK MANAGER
DESCRIPTION
The PCM is responsible for efficiently coordinating
the operation of all the emissions-related compo-
nents. The PCM is also responsible for determining if
the diagnostic systems are operating properly. The
software designed to carry out these responsibilities
is call the ªTask Managerº.
OPERATION
The Task Manager determines when tests happen
and when functions occur. Many of the diagnostic
steps required by OBD II must be performed under
specific operating conditions. The Task Manager soft-
ware organizes and prioritizes the diagnostic proce-
dures. The job of the Task Manager is to determine if
conditions are appropriate for tests to be run, moni-
tor the parameters for a trip for each test, and record
the results of the test. Following are the responsibil-
ities of the Task Manager software:
²Test Sequence
²MIL Illumination
²Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTCs)
²Trip Indicator
²Freeze Frame Data Storage
²Similar Conditions Window
Test Sequence
In many instances, emissions systems must fail
diagnostic tests more than once before the PCM illu-
minates the MIL. These tests are known as 'two trip
monitors.' Other tests that turn the MIL lamp on
after a single failure are known as 'one trip moni-
tors.' A trip is defined as 'start the vehicle and oper-
ate it to meet the criteria necessary to run the given
monitor.'
Many of the diagnostic tests must be performed
under certain operating conditions. However, there
are times when tests cannot be run because another
test is in progress (conflict), another test has failed
(pending) or the Task Manager has set a fault that
may cause a failure of the test (suspend).
²Pending
Under some situations the Task Manager will notrun a monitor if the MIL is illuminated and a fault is
stored from another monitor. In these situations, the
Task Manager postpones monitorspendingresolu-
tion of the original fault. The Task Manager does not
run the test until the problem is remedied.
For example, when the MIL is illuminated for an
Oxygen Sensor fault, the Task Manager does not run
the Catalyst Monitor until the Oxygen Sensor fault is
remedied. Since the Catalyst Monitor is based on sig-
nals from the Oxygen Sensor, running the test would
produce inaccurate results.
²Conflict
There are situations when the Task Manager does
not run a test if another monitor is in progress. In
these situations, the effects of another monitor run-
ning could result in an erroneous failure. If thiscon-
flictis present, the monitor is not run until the
conflicting condition passes. Most likely the monitor
will run later after the conflicting monitor has
passed.
For example, if the Fuel System Monitor is in
progress, the Task Manager does not run the catalyst
Monitor. Since both tests monitor changes in air/fuel
ratio and adaptive fuel compensation, the monitors
will conflict with each other.
²Suspend
Occasionally the Task Manager may not allow a two
trip fault to mature. The Task Manager willsus-
pendthe maturing of a fault if a condition exists
that may induce an erroneous failure. This prevents
illuminating the MIL for the wrong fault and allows
more precise diagnosis.
For example, if the PCM is storing a one trip fault
for the Oxygen Sensor and the catalyst monitor, the
Task Manager may still run the catalyst Monitor but
will suspend the results until the Oxygen Sensor
Monitor either passes or fails. At that point the Task
Manager can determine if the catalyst system is
actually failing or if an Oxygen Sensor is failing.
MIL Illumination
The PCM Task Manager carries out the illumina-
tion of the MIL. The Task Manager triggers MIL illu-
mination upon test failure, depending on monitor
failure criteria.
25 - 24 ON-BOARD DIAGNOSTICSRS
The Task Manager Screen shows both a Requested
MIL state and an Actual MIL state. When the MIL is
illuminated upon completion of a test for a good trip,
the Requested MIL state changes to OFF. However,
the MIL remains illuminated until the next key
cycle. (On some vehicles, the MIL will actually turn
OFF during the thirdgood trip) During the key cycle
for the third good trip, the Requested MIL state is
OFF, while the Actual MIL state is ON. After the
next key cycle, the MIL is not illuminated and both
MIL states read OFF.
Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTCs)
With OBD II, different DTC faults have different
priorities according to regulations. As a result, the
priorities determine MIL illumination and DTC era-
sure. DTCs are entered according to individual prior-
ity. DTCs with a higher priority overwrite lower
priority DTCs.
Priorities
²Priority 0 ÐNon-emissions related trouble codes.
²Priority 1 Ð One trip failure of a two trip fault
for non-fuel system and non-misfire. (MIL Off)
²Priority 2 Ð One trip failure of a two trip fault
for fuel system (rich/lean) or misfire. (MIL Off)
²Priority3ÐTwotrip failure for a non-fuel sys-
tem and non-misfire or matured one trip comprehen-
sive component fault. (MIL On)
²Priority4ÐTwotrip failure or matured fault
for fuel system (rich/lean) and misfire or one trip cat-
alyst damaging misfire. Catalyst damage misfire is a
2 trip MIL. The MIL flashes on the first trip when
catalyst damage misfire levels are present. (MIL On)
Non-emissions related failures have no priority.
One trip failures of two trip faults have low priority.
Two trip failures or matured faults have higher pri-
ority. One and two trip failures of fuel system and
misfire monitor take precedence over non-fuel system
and non-misfire failures.
DTC Self Erasure
With one trip components or systems, the MIL is
illuminated upon test failure and DTCs are stored.
Two trip monitors are components requiring failure
in two consecutive trips for MIL illumination. Upon
failure of the first test, the Task Manager enters a
maturing code. If the component fails the test for a
second time the code matures and a DTC is set.
After three good trips the MIL is extinguished and
the Task Manager automatically switches the trip
counter to a warm-up cycle counter. DTCs are auto-
matically erased following 40 warm-up cycles if the
component does not fail again.
For misfire and fuel system monitors, the compo-
nent must pass the test under a Similar Conditions
Window in order to record a good trip. A Similar Con-ditions Window is when engine RPM is within 375
RPM and load is within 20% of when the fault
occurred.
NOTE: It is important to understand that a compo-
nent does not have to fail under a similar window of
operation to mature. It must pass the test under a
Similar Conditions Window when it failed to record
a Good Trip for DTC erasure for misfire and fuel
system monitors.
DTCs can be erased anytime with a DRBIIIt.
Erasing the DTC with the DRBIIIterases all OBD II
information. The DRBIIItautomatically displays a
warning that erasing the DTC will also erase all
OBD II monitor data. This includes all counter infor-
mation for warm-up cycles, trips and Freeze Frame.
Trip Indicator
TheTripis essential for running monitors and
extinguishing the MIL. In OBD II terms, a trip is a
set of vehicle operating conditions that must be met
for a specific monitor to run. All trips begin with a
key cycle.
Good Trip
The Good Trip counters are as follows:
²Global Good Trip
²Fuel System Good Trip
²Misfire Good Trip
²Alternate Good Trip (appears as a Global Good
Trip on DRBIIIt)
²Comprehensive Components
²Major Monitor
²Warm-Up Cycles
Global Good Trip
To increment a Global Good Trip, the Oxygen sen-
sor and Catalyst efficiency monitors must have run
and passed, and 2 minutes of engine run time.
Fuel System Good Trip
To count a good trip (three required) and turn off
the MIL, the following conditions must occur:
²Engine in closed loop
²Operating in Similar Conditions Window
²Short Term multiplied by Long Term less than
threshold
²Less than threshold for a predetermined time
If all of the previous criteria are met, the PCM will
count a good trip (three required) and turn off the
MIL.
Misfire Good Trip
If the following conditions are met the PCM will
count one good trip (three required) in order to turn
off the MIL:
²Operating in Similar Condition Window
²1000 engine revolutions with no misfire
RSON-BOARD DIAGNOSTICS25-25
TASK MANAGER (Continued)
Alternate Good Trip
Alternate Good Trips are used in place of Global
Good Trips for Comprehensive Components and
Major Monitors. If the Task Manager cannot run a
Global Good Trip because a component fault is stop-
ping the monitor from running, it will attempt to
count an Alternate Good Trip.
The Task Manager counts an Alternate Good Trip
for Comprehensive components when the following
conditions are met:
²Two minutes of engine run time, idle or driving
²No other faults occur
The Task Manager counts an Alternate Good Trip
for a Major Monitor when the monitor runs and
passes. Only the Major Monitor that failed needs to
pass to count an Alternate Good Trip.
Warm-Up Cycles
Once the MIL has been extinguished by the Good
Trip Counter, the PCM automatically switches to a
Warm-Up Cycle Counter that can be viewed on the
DRBIIIt. Warm-Up Cycles are used to erase DTCs
and Freeze Frames. Forty Warm-Up cycles must
occur in order for the PCM to self-erase a DTC and
Freeze Frame. A Warm-Up Cycle is defined as fol-
lows:
²Engine coolant temperature must start below
and rise above 160É F
²Engine coolant temperature must rise by 40É F
²No further faults occur
Freeze Frame Data Storage
Once a failure occurs, the Task Manager records
several engine operating conditions and stores it in a
Freeze Frame. The Freeze Frame is considered one
frame of information taken by an on-board data
recorder. When a fault occurs, the PCM stores the
input data from various sensors so that technicians
can determine under what vehicle operating condi-
tions the failure occurred.
The data stored in Freeze Frame is usually
recorded when a system fails the first time for two
trip faults. Freeze Frame data will only be overwrit-
ten by a different fault with a higher priority.
CAUTION: Erasing DTCs, either with the DRBIIIT;or
by disconnecting the battery, also clears all Freeze
Frame data.
Similar Conditions Window
The Similar Conditions Window displays informa-
tion about engine operation during a monitor. Abso-
lute MAP (engine load) and Engine RPM are stored
in this window when a failure occurs. There are two
different Similar conditions Windows: Fuel System
and Misfire.FUEL SYSTEM
²Fuel System Similar Conditions WindowÐ
An indicator that 'Absolute MAP When Fuel Sys Fail'
and 'RPM When Fuel Sys Failed' are all in the same
range when the failure occurred. Indicated by switch-
ing from 'NO' to 'YES'.
²Absolute MAP When Fuel Sys FailÐ The
stored MAP reading at the time of failure. Informs
the user at what engine load the failure occurred.
²Absolute MAPÐ A live reading of engine load
to aid the user in accessing the Similar Conditions
Window.
²RPM When Fuel Sys FailÐ The stored RPM
reading at the time of failure. Informs the user at
what engine RPM the failure occurred.
²Engine RPMÐ A live reading of engine RPM
to aid the user in accessing the Similar Conditions
Window.
²Adaptive Memory FactorÐ The PCM utilizes
both Short Term Compensation and Long Term Adap-
tive to calculate the Adaptive Memory Factor for
total fuel correction.
²Upstream O2S VoltsÐ A live reading of the
Oxygen Sensor to indicate its performance. For
example, stuck lean, stuck rich, etc.
²SCW Time in Window (Similar Conditions
Window Time in Window)Ð A timer used by the
PCM that indicates that, after all Similar Conditions
have been met, if there has been enough good engine
running time in the SCW without failure detected.
This timer is used to increment a Good Trip.
²Fuel System Good Trip CounterÐATrip
Counter used to turn OFF the MIL for Fuel System
DTCs. To increment a Fuel System Good Trip, the
engine must be in the Similar Conditions Window,
Adaptive Memory Factor must be less than cali-
brated threshold and the Adaptive Memory Factor
must stay below that threshold for a calibrated
amount of time.
²Test Done This TripÐ Indicates that the
monitor has already been run and completed during
the current trip.
MISFIRE
²Same Misfire Warm-Up StateÐ Indicates if
the misfire occurred when the engine was warmed up
(above 160É F).
²In Similar Misfire WindowÐ An indicator
that 'Absolute MAP When Misfire Occurred' and
'RPM When Misfire Occurred' are all in the same
range when the failure occurred. Indicated by switch-
ing from 'NO' to 'YES'.
²Absolute MAP When Misfire OccurredÐ
The stored MAP reading at the time of failure.
Informs the user at what engine load the failure
occurred.
25 - 26 ON-BOARD DIAGNOSTICSRS
TASK MANAGER (Continued)