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Sensor sensibility: Adopt a new
SCOPING SECONDARY IGNITION SYSTEMS philosophy for repair and
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Another ignition testing feature? Not quite!
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By: Mac Vandenbrink Monday, November 1, 2010 - 00:00
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Drivability scoping vehicles scope patters scan tools vehicle scopes information at NORTHEAST
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The headline might give you the impression that the subject is all
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about testing coils, spark plugs and plug wires. But we are referring
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to analyzing the electron behavior in the combustion chamber. The
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objective is to look at the effect of fuel mixture, valve seating,
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compression, carbon deposits and other symptoms that affect this
behavior. The ultimate goal is to learn the logic of scope pattern
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Very few shops have a scan tool for every vehicle, and using a
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Let us make the assumption that you have a lab scope, but you
don't have, or are not using, the ignition leads. If we can illustrate
that total ignition analysis can be accomplished within fives minutes
after hookup, would you reconsider and investigate the wonderful
world of exploring electron behavior inside the combustion chamber
and the ability to observe fuel distribution per cylinder?
The Secondary Ignition Waveform
As seen in Illustration 1, the voltage required to fire the plug is
determined by the greatest gap in the circuit. It is not a measure of
all the gaps in the system. A better terminology would be
"dominating gap," because kilovolt (Kv) demand increases with
spark gap under compression. If a 0.045-inch gap outside the
combustion chamber requires 2 Kv to jump the gap, this same gap
under compression may require 10 Kv for the plug to ionize,
providing fuel is present to help conductivity.
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A good example is Illustration 2, where a cylinder lost compression
and we see less kilovolt demand increasing the firing time. The
opposite is true when the kilovolt is high. We learn that kilovolt is a
necessary parasite, robbing from the burn time in the combustion
chamber. Kilovolt does not burn fuel, firing time does! A lean fuel
mixture, (reduced HC) causes the kilovolt demand to increase even
more in proportion. Therefore, an insulation breakdown causing a
misfire is most often the result of unusual high kilovolt demand
created by any combination of worn spark plugs and lean mixture.
Replacing a part to see if the misfire goes away without knowing
the cause is a fruitless exercise. Crossfire occurs when kilovolt is
driven high beyond the capacity of the insulation. Then the spark is
enticed to find a path to ground outside the combustion chamber.
When that happens, there is no HC present outside the combustion
chamber to sustain conductivity resulting in high resistance
creating shorter firing time at a higher kilovolt level.
For practical purposes, there is no current flow until the plug fires
as indicated by the firing time. When the coil output runs out of
energy, the residual energy dissipates into oscillations. Because
hydrocarbons (fuel) are conductors, they not only assist in the
ionization process, but also affect the conductivity during firing
time.
How Do We Know It Is a Plug Wire?
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Let us assume a cylinder at idle showed abnormally high kilovolt,
and the firing time seemed to be shorter compared to the other
cylinders. We need to find out where that high kilovolt is created,
internally or externally. Play with the throttle, accelerate and
decelerate and watch the response. If the kilovolt stays high, this
indicates that the greatest gap was external. How should the scope
respond to rpm increase?
At 2,000 rpm, the timing advance is between 30 and 40 degrees
BTDC. At that time, the piston barely starts the compression stroke
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resulting in less compression when the plug fires. Therefore the
reduced kilovolt tells us that the timing advance is functional and
there was compression. We have verified the greatest gap is indeed
in the combustion chamber and not external.
What About Fouled Plugs?
Scope analysis has a lot to do with common sense. Let us imagine
what a fouled plug looks like on the scope. No picture illustration to
memorize, just use your imagination. There is no spark gap and
therefore no nose or residual energy left. Because carbon
resistance replaces the spark gap, the coil energy is drained off, as
indicated by a curved slope from the kilovolt spike to the dwell line.
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Resistance of carbon foul could be as high as 2 Megaohms
demanding more kilovolts than, for instance, a wet plug caused by
a dripping injector. How do we know the difference? Very simple!
Leaky Injector: At low rpm, it might look like a fouled plug, but at
higher rpm the dripper might start firing because there are fewer
drips between firing events. But when this cylinder fires, the fuel
mixture is still rich and the scope shows a lower kilovolt plus a
longer firing time with hardly any nose. The computer looks at that
dripper as too rich and subtracts fuel, driving the other cylinders
extremely lean (Illustration 3). There is one exception: the cylinder
next in firing order, which benefits from the overflow of the dripper.
With computer controlled engines, total engine analysis of all
cylinders tells us the complete story and verifies diagnosis, and that
is important to save valuable time.
Exploring Firing Time
The coil output is designed to maintain the firing event for as long
as there is controlled fuel in the combustion chamber. Because a
collapsing magnetic field determines coil energy, engine rpm or
load doesn't affect it. The firing time indicates how well this energy
is used in burning the fuel mixture. After establishing the validity of
the electrical components at idle, firing time is our ruler to measure
conductance.
Because all cylinders and injectors on that engine are created
equal, comparing the firing pattern is the easiest method to seek
out the cylinder that is different.
Lean injector: In Illustration 4, we noticed that cylinder B has a
shorter firing time. The absence of hydrocarbon is particularly
visible at the end of the firing time, where it terminates with a high
nose. It is as if the coil is saying, "It's not my fault, there is plenty
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of energy left." However, there is something else to observe in
cylinder B. The evidence of a lean condition already starts at the
beginning of the firing time with a higher kilovolt demand and
higher firing line starting point in comparison.
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Comparing with a good performing cylinder at the same speed or
load is essential. How do we know that "A" is OK? First, note that
there is no coil energy wasted in high kilovolt demand. Second,
consider the smooth conductivity of the firing line of total
combustion as long as there is coil energy available. Finally, the
nose tells us to what extent coil energy is used up to burn all the
fuel. This is a perfect match of air, fuel and spark duration.
We do want to know the where, when and how before drawing a
conclusion. Besides location, it helps to know how many cylinders
are affected and what the rpm or load was when the problem
occurred. It does not take any skills of scope pattern interpretation
to identify a shorter than normal or greater than average firing
time to pinpoint the oddball. Any short spark duration indicates a
higher resistance either due to high kilovolt or reduced HC. A
longer firing time indicates a lower than average resistance.
Helpful Hints in Scope Pattern Interpretation
Anyone who knows Ohms Law understands that the effect of
resistance is in direct proportion to current flow. When we have a
poor connection at the battery post of as little as 0.01 ohm with the
headlights turned on, it creates only 0.1 voltage drop — not even
noticeable in brightness.
However, during cranking, that same resistance at 300 amps
cranking load means 3 volts less at the starter. This certainly will
slow down the cranking speed. This also holds true for air flow or
fuel flow. A kink in a garden hose does not make much difference if
you want a cup of water, but it becomes a problem when sprinkling
the lawn. A fuel filter restricted at 80 percent will not make any
difference at idle, but the car will not have the horsepower to make
it uphill.
The point is simply that testing under load makes all the difference
to complete performance analysis. Because you have the scope
hooked up, it might take less than a minute in the bay or up to 20
minutes on a test drive. There are different options or methods of
testing under load, but they all have two things in common. First, it
needs to be done with someone in the driver seat. Second, the
leads need to be long enough to reach the equipment inside the
vehicle.
Test Results Under Load
Resistance and restriction or obstruction all mean the same thing
and will have the greatest negative effect when the demand for
flow is high. Let us explore examples.
Restricted exhaust: When the engine cannot exhale properly, all
functions are affected. The firing line on the scope showing perfect
at idle, becomes ragged and shows turbulence progressively getting
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worse under load disturbing all cylinders. Plus, EGR is doubled or
tripled.
Under normal conditions, the EGR valve re-circulates about 7
percent of the exhaust gasses into the intake. However, with even a
small exhaust restriction this might increase to 30 percent or more.
Momentarily inhibiting the EGR valve from functioning, while
watching for improvement on the scope pattern, is one way to
verify restriction. Restriction will cause reduced volume and is not a
lean mixture as it is sometimes called. It is not affecting the air/fuel
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ratio.
Dual exhaust: This, from separate banks, can play tricks if one
bank is restricted. The good (non-restricted) bank will look
extremely lean on the scope pattern with a high nose, while the
restricted bank seems to have a richer fuel mixture with hardly any
nose. Let us assume that bank No. 1 is 50 percent restricted. The
MAF sensor will report this reduced flow as 100 plus 50 divided by
2 is 75 percent of total flow to the combined banks. The computer
distributes an equal amount of fuel to both intake manifolds.
The good bank No. 2 inhales 100 percent air and gets 25 percent
less fuel allotment. The restricted bank No. 1 inhales 50 percent air
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and gets the same amount of fuel. That is 25 percent more fuel
than this bank requires. See if you can find a lean cylinder and a
rich cylinder in the illustrations that will match bank 1 and bank 2.
Worn Cam Lobe: This problem is not a daily occurrence, but we're
exploring how to interpret what the scope is trying to tell us in the
waveforms. Illustration 5 looks almost similar to the lean injector in
Illustration 4 or Illustration 7, but the difference is in the kilovolt
demand and the level where the firing line starts. We need to
compare this with a good cylinder (see No. 5). This is a case of
reduced volume of HC and not a lean air/fuel ratio.
When there is less volume of both air and fuel, there is going to be
less compression and therefore a lower kilovolt demand. Misfire
depends on how severe the valve lift is affected. With a 20 percent
lower cam, the misfire might occur beyond 2,000 rpm, while a 40
percent reduction in valve lift might begin misfiring at 1,600 rpm.
No lift at all obviously will be dead at any rpm.
Inadequate fuel supply: Whether the reduced fuel source is
caused by the fuel pump, pinched fuel line or dirty fuel filter, the
scope does not know the difference. When you take a close look at
Illustration 6, you will notice that the fuel starvation could be
anywhere on the firing line. The next step is a simple current test
as illustrated. Under load, the engine might start to buck and
hesitate. But long before the intermittent misfire happens,
indicators are present as flashes, moving arbitrarily from cylinder to
cylinder progressively getting worse with increased load. This is
where preventive maintenance pays off.
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Misfire under load: When a misfire code tells you which cylinder
is at fault, it is like diagnosing blindfolded, because you still don't
know why, the condition when or how often it did repeat, and how
many other cylinders are close to the same ordeal. Illustration 7-1
indicates that the misfire was fuel related with only about 25
percent active combustion. We also know that it is not an intake
leak, because it appeared only under load.
We can tell that it was not lean at the start, because kilovolt
demand is normal and the firing line is not elevated. We can readily
see it is not a dirty screen or an odd spray pattern. If this pattern
remains permanent and does not vary, it is not cleanable and is
likely a high electrical resistance problem getting a late start. A
simple replacement of the injector would suffice. The fact that a
scope can provide all that information in detail eliminates trial and
error repair methods.
Valve seating: This is a common but often neglected problem.
When a valve is not seated, it does not cool, which might lead to a
variety of possible failures. It is easily spotted with a scope at idle,
preferably in drive. A non-seating valve, whatever the cause, allows
compressed gases to escape. Everyone knows that a burned valve
is very noticeable at idle, but at 60 mph, that small crack does not
make much difference, because there is not enough time to escape.
For that reason testing at low speed is essential.
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The other reason for analyzing at idle in drive is because the spark
occurs near TDC when compressed gas movement is at its peak.
The effect of these escaping gasses can be seen on the scope as a
hash at the beginning of the firing line (Illustration 8).
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We will see a low kilovolt because of low compression, directly
followed by hash caused by air flow distorting the spark. Depending
on frequency, the problem could be traced to worn valve guides,
carbon deposits, weak valve spring or poor lubrication. Conclusive
diagnosis depends on how many cylinders are affected and if the
problem is intermittent or permanent.
The value of a scope is apparent only when the potential is fully
understood. Let us assume that every cylinder performed as it was
designed. The air inhaled is determined by bore and stroke of the
piston. This air is matched with a precise amount of fuel and the
process of total combustion matches the coil output energy with
very little residual energy to spare. All cylinders are created equal
and should follow that precise pattern of combustion efficiency. Any
deviation will affect the firing time and alter the residual coil
energy. Because the lab scope is time based, there is no better tool
to measure, compare and display combustion efficiency per
cylinder.
Mac Vandenbrink is owner of Dynamic Auto Test Engineering
Corporation (DATEC), a company focused on designing new training
concepts and teaching them to the automotive aftermarket.
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