MACS Monthly Newsletter - 2020 - APR6

sor reading, not a made up (fail soft) value the ECM
sometimes substitutes in (Figure 13). n

Dave Hobbs

DTC. Using Global OBD-II data instead of enhanced
data on your scan tool will get you the actual sen-

Figure 13: A pair of screen captures are shown here for the same vehicle - a 2000 Dodge Durango on an 80°F day. The one on
the left is from the enhanced powertrain side (arrow # 1) of the vehicle's PCM. The ECT is at 138°F (arrow # 2). The screen
capture on the right was taken within a few seconds on the same vehicle but in Global OBD-II (arrow # 3). Notice the ECT
(arrow # 4) is at 183°F (almost 50°F warmer). The vehicle has been running about five minutes with the hood down in the bay.
Notice the IAT temperature (arrow # 5) showing 82°F. After only ten minutes of running it would make sense for the ECT to
NOT be 183°F quite yet. The ambient temp IAT reading supports that. Therefore, you could wonder if perhaps the ECT reading of 138°F (arrow 2) in enhanced PCM data is a made-up number (ECM's logical fail-soft value). The actual temperature the
sensor is giving the PCM as an input is 183°F (arrow # 4). Enhanced data sometimes lies . . . Global OBD-II tells the truth!

The Quest for Quality Auto Parts
Several years ago, I worked on a vehicle with a hesitation
and stall following cold starts. It was a high mileage vehicle, so
I changed out the original spark plugs with new OEM replacement plugs. Now I had a new problem. A MIL and a dead miss
on 2 cylinders!

importing and exporting just about everything under the sun
including quality and efficiency systems used in the manufacturing world. Ask anyone working in an automobile or auto
parts manufacturing job about quality control systems and lean
manufacturing and you're likely to hear buzz words such as
TQM (Total Quality Management), QS9000, ISO (International
Standards Organization), Six Sigma and Kaizen (the Japanese
word kaizen translates as "change for better").

Assuming I must have damaged the plugs on installation,
I removed the new OEM replacement spark plugs for inspection. After considerable scrutiny, nothing appeared to be wrong
even under a magnifying glass. So, I put the original plugs back
in and . . . no more misfire. It was a turning point for me as a
technician. I've had parts fail over my 45-year career, but never
this fast for multiple parts this simple from the OEM supplier. It
was such a disappointing revelation. Like discovering there's no
Easter Bunny as a kid!

Many years ago, when something didn't last very long the
common phrase was, "It must have been made in Japan." That
title then was given to China a few years later. Nowadays you'd
be more accurate to say, "Must have been made by XYZ company in China" (because ABC products made in China are actually quite good!).

Undoubtably you've ran into some of the same dilemmas
with parts quality. Who do you blame? Where can you purchase
parts that are guaranteed to have stellar quality? The answers
are not easy.

Offshore Auto Parts Quality

The only way some companies today can be profitable is by
focusing on lean manufacturing and lowering material and labor costs. When that gets taken to an extreme, you can translate that to mean "cheap!" As the rubber meets the road, experienced professionals in the auto repair field will respond with
"cheap can be expensive!"

Imported or Domestically Produced Part?

It's been a global market for decades now with companies

April 2020

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MACS Monthly Newsletter - 2020

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