March 2020

40 AFTERMARKET MARCH 2020 VEHICLE ELECTRONICS AND ENGINE MANAGEMENT www.aftermarketonline.net E ver-increasing demands are being put on engines, in terms of better performance, greater fuel efficiency and lower emissions. This has put more even more emphasis on electronic control. Today, even entry level vehicles will be quite complex, with multiple ECUs monitoring and managing many functions. For garages, that means getting to grips with what’s going on within vehicle electronics and engine management, and making sure you know what support is out there, and what your options are. “Vehicle electronics can be confusing, especially when a number of mechanical parts have been replaced but the fault is still persistent,” said ACtronics’ Kevin Barnbrook. “Diagnosing a particular fault on a vehicle can be a nightmare. Is it a sensor, the wiring, or a control unit? Is it an unrelated component? More time is spent trying to diagnose a fault on a vehicle than ever before, due to the number of advanced electrical components and technology on modern vehicle. The days of replacing a simple part to cure a fault are almost gone. What’s needed now is time, patience and the ability to sometimes look past the glaringly obvious. “Technology in today’s cars is so in- depth, mechanics and engineers are having to invest more time and money into being re-educated and learning new skills to enable them to fault find through diagnostics, waveforms and signals. Generally, if a fault code is not found then the fault would often be found on the vehicle rather than in electronic control modules.” Diagnosing accurately is the key Above: When electronic components go wrong, you will need to go to the experts for support KEEPING IT ALL RUNNING SMOOTHLY Electronic systems make sure the engine is running correctly, so you need to make sure you are keeping up with the tech