TECHTALK

in association with

MODERN DIESEL TESTING

With diesel-fuelled vehicles accounting for more than 30 % of new
vehicle sales, the light vehicle auto technician has to have a greater
diagnostic skill set than ever before.
At the Sun Diagnostic helpline Eurotech we are seeing an
increasing number of calls related to diesel powered passenger
vehicles. Like modern petrol vehicles, the diesel vehicle uses an
Electronic Control Unit (ECU) that is capable of giving both live data
and fault codes.
Diesel powered light vehicles have advanced rapidly over the last
20 years from:

All mechanical and no electronics.

Mechanical with limited electronics, timing, start of injection

feedback.

Mechanical with electronic timing, mass, turbo, fuel quantity, shut

off and injectors.

Common rail type of systems with high-pressure rails and all

electronic control.

The ECU receives data from various sensors and then commands
actuators to perform command functions.
The ever increasing demands on the manufacturers to meet
stringent emission figures has led to the use of more and more
electronic systems.

Motor Industry Magazine www.motor.org.uk September 2004 34

As the systems become more complex, the technician has to be

well equipped and informed in diagnosis and faultfinding. The ability
to interpret fault codes and live data is paramount to the efficient
diagnosis and rep process.
As with a petrol vehicle, the fault code is only the start of the
diagnostic road (see example below, left).
One of the most common codes we see is with the definition for the
EGR system. Sometimes it is useful to understand what sets an ECU
diagnostic trouble code. For example, data does not correspond
with the presets for an operating condition. The code can be set
because the input signal from the map is not registering the data (a
change in inlet pressure) to indicate the EGR has opened. The
customer will have given a symptom of intermittent power loss or
reduced performance.
Below you can see the live data collected on road test. To see
relevant data it is important to drive the vehicle when the fault
occurs and save a movie.

The data taken while under load on the road shows that the mass
reading and boost pressures are low for this vehicle. The mass does
have a high failure rate but this is not enough evidence to condemn
it yet. The low boost could be the result of a number of reasons such
as carbon around the EGR valve or a vacuum pipe is split or off.
Performance was not too bad but it was definitely
underpowered. We have the luxury of ECU desired figures displayed
for this vehicle. Comparing the actual readings with desired readings
you can see that the mass and boost data is low.
Not all manufacturers give the desired data so it is advisable to
collect data from known good vehicles whenever the opportunity
arises.
It is always important to take into account such things as:

The service history and what the vehicle is used for.

Taxi.

School run.

Just purchased.

Pool car.

The history is important, as one of the most common faults we

record is low oil level. This causes the total or partial loss of vacuum
due to the lack lubrication to the pump. The system needs good
vacuum to operate the actuators.
The test vehicle was in fact a pool car and a check on the oil level
quickly indicates where the problem may be.

The vacuum was checked and the pattern from the actual vehicle
recorded before the lubrication system was filled to the correct level.

A correctly operating vacuum pump would give a reading of:

greater than -75.0 k/pas
or 22in/hg

The recorded live data shows the difference in the actual readings
after the oil level was corrected. We would expect to see a minimum

mass and boost reading of but if in doubt always check with the
manufacturers data:

750gm/s with this 2lt engine.

Boost reading of 1.5-2 bar.

EGR should open under light load and close under load
conditions.
On this vehicle we can compare the desired with the actual data.
An interesting data stream is the EGR command. Remember that this
is the command from the ECU and because of the low vacuum there
may not be any movement on the actual valve. We believe the greater
activity while the mass readings are low is the ECU trying to
compensate for the perceived lack of air and limiting the combustion
temperature, so reducing the production of NOx.
All codes were cleared after checking the oil level. The vehicle was
road tested and checked again for DTC.
Live recordings were taken using the Modis, the Handheld
Diagnostic toolbox from Sun Diagnostics.

The recorded reading after the oil level had been corrected. The
reading improved by almost 100%, a good result for 3lt of oil.

DEAR DAVE

surging at the same frequency rate as the switching. Road testing

the car showed that the surging had stopped, but the engine did
have a tendency to stall at idle and when this occurred the
injection period increased momentarily from 2.5 ms to 6 ms. The
only other slightly suspicious reading was from the throttle
position sensor which was sometimes a bit electrically noisy. The
car has broken down once more since, again restarting and able to
be driven home within a few minutes.

Motor Industry Magazine www.motor.org.uk September 2004 35

A BMW 316 1996 with Motronic 1.73 broke down, but when the
roadside assistance patrol arrived the car started again. The patrol
looked for fault codes but found none. The car was then driven
home without any further problems.
Looking at the car in the workshop, there were no codes
found, but the oxygen sensor was switching rather slowly and

This article has been compiled by Sun

Diagnostics.