Fuel temp sensor, Ect (engine coolant temperature) sensor – KAL EQUIP KAL 3840 User Manual

Page 29

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4. Press the HOLD key to freeze the waveform on the display for closer inspection.

5. To measure resistance, disconnect the sensor before changing to the GMM mode and then connect the Ground

and CH A leads to the terminals on the sensor.

• Reference Waveform

VEHICLE INFORMATION

YEAR

: 1986

MAKE

: Oldsmobile

MODEL

: Toronado

ENGINE

: 3.8 L

FUELSYS : Multiport Fuel Injection
PCM_PIN : C10 Yel wire
STATUS

: KOER (Key On Running)

RPM

: 1500

ENG_TMP : Warming Up
VACUUM : 18 In. Hg
MILEAGE : 123686

• Troubleshooting Tips

Check the manufacturer’s specifications for exact voltage range specifications, but generally the sensor’s voltage
should range from 3 V to just under 5 V when stone cold, dropping to around 1 V at operating temperature. The
good sensor must generate a signal with a certain amplitude at any given temperature.

Opens in the ECT sensor circuit will appear as upward spikes to V Ref.

Shorts to ground in the ECT sensor circuit will appear as downward spikes to ground level.

Fuel Temp Sensor

• Theory of Operation

Most Fuel Temperature (FT) sensors are Negative Temperature Coeff icient (NTC) type thermistors. They are
primarily two wire analog sensors whose resistance decreases when their temperature increases. S ome sensors
use their own case as a ground, so they have only one wire, the signal wire. They are supplied with a 5 V V Ref
power signal and return a voltage signal proportional to the temperature to the PCM. FT sensors usually sense the
engine’s fuel temperature in the fuel rail. When this instrument is connected to the signal from a FT sensor, what is
being read is the voltage drop across the sensor’s NTC resistor.

Typically, FT sensor’s resistance ranges from about 100,000 ohms at -40 °F (-40 °C) to about 50 ohms at +266 °F
(+130 °C).

• Symptoms [OBD II DTC’s: P0180 ~ P0184, P0185 ~ P0189]

Hard start, poor fuel economy, driveability problems

6-7

Stone

cold
here

63.5 Dg.F

Thermostat opens

here

ECT Test from stone

cold to operating temp.

MAX = 3.26 V
MIN = 1.86 V

PCM resistor

switched in

here

Engine at
operating

temp. here

• Troubleshooting Tips

When a catalytic converter is totally deteriorated, the catalytic conversion efficiency as well as the oxygen storage
capability of the catalytic converter are essentially lost. Therefore, the upstream and downstream O

2

sensor signals

closely resemble one another on an inactive converter.

ECT (Engine Coolant Temperature) Sensor

• Theory of Operation

Most ECT sensors are Negative Temperature Coefficient (NTC) type thermistors. This means they are primarily two
wire analog sensors whose resistance decreases when their temperature increases. They are supplied with a 5 V V
Ref power signal and return a voltage signal proportional to the engine coolant temperature to the PCM. When this
instrument is connected to the signal from an ECT sensor, what is being read is the voltage drop across the sensor’s
NTC resistor.

Typically, ETC sensor’s resistance ranges from about 100,000 ohms at -40 °F (-40 °C) to about 50 ohms at +266 °F
(+130 °C).

The ETC sensor signal is used by the PCM to control closed-loop operation, shift points, torque converter clutch
operation, and cooling fan operation.

• Symptoms [OBD II DTC’s: P0115 ~ P0116, P0117 ~ P0119]

No or hard start, high fuel consumption, emissions failure, driveability problems.

• Test Procedure

1. Backprobe the terminals on the ECT sensor with the CH A lead and its ground lead.

2. Run the engine at idle and monitor the sensor voltage decrease as the engine warms. (Start the engine and hold

the throttle at 2500 RPM until the trace goes across the screen.)

3. Set t he time base to 50 sec/ div t o see t he sensor’s entire operat ing range, from stone cold to operating

temperature.

6-6

V

t

V

t

B

A

B

A

B

A

B

A

upstream sensor

downstream sensor

Catalytic Converter OK

Catalytic Converter Efficiency

poor

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