Computer-Controlled Fuel Injection And Electronic Ignition Systems
It´s a fact that the automobile has changed more in the last ten years than it did in the first eighty. Along with the evolution of the automobile many changes have taken place. Perhaps the most efficient and technological advanced change was the addition of computer-controlled fuel injection and electronic ignition systems.
Points type ignition systems and carburetors had been standard equipment on automobiles for over eighty years. This gave drivers plenty of time to get used to their driving characteristics.
Carburetor and point ignition systems are very easy to diagnose when trouble prone. Most drivers could accurately diagnose their own engine problem by the way that their vehicle felt when the problem occurred.
New Challenges In The Computer Age
Stepping into the computer age has created a new diagnostic challenge for the driver. It is nearly impossible to tell fuel ignition or even transmission problems apart. This is because the engine control computer quickly compensates for any irregularities in the control system and tries to keep the engine running as efficiently as possible at all times. This will mask over problems and make them impossible to diagnose without proper diagnostic equipment and training.
Driver´s Role Also Changes
Just as the automobile continually changes so does the role of the driver. Trying to diagnose a computerized vehicle from the driver´s seat is now useless, although the driver can greatly aid in the diagnosis of a vehicle problem.
Simply paying attention to a driveability problem, the frequency of the condition, the time of day when it occurs and any other distinctive features of the problem will greatly aid in the diagnosis of the vehicle. Many times it is very hard for a technician to reproduce a vehicle´s driveability problem. Tips from a driver can really help a technician make a timely and accurate diagnoses. Driver´s tips may even make the difference of whether the vehicle´s problem can be solved at all.
Although computerized vehicles are complicated and require high tech equipment for proper diagnoses, a few accurate tips from the driver are still the technician´s best tool.
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