OBD2 Baseline Procedures Guide PDF

OBD2 Baseline Procedures Guide
http://straighttalkautomotive.com
Straight Talk Automotive copyright 2012

Prior to testing, you should have read the repair order and paid close attention to the
Customer Complaint. Anything unclear should have been discussed with the correct
Service Adviser for clarification.
The most important thing a mechanic can do is to establish a baseline of a vehicle. This
baseline provides the mechanic with very important information that might be overlooked
thus promoting sloppy diagnostic practices.
Organized diagnostic practices can eliminate hours of wasted time, misdiagnosis, and
unnecessary parts replacement.
Never trust the vehicle identification information provided by the Service Adviser on
the repair order (RO). The Service Adviser whether they are dealer or aftermarket
personnel are extremely busy and mistakes do happen.
Printable 2 page form at end of document.

This document can be printed and used or for personal use only! Use of it for any other reason is copyright infringement. Copyright
infringement includes giving it to another person including for proof of testing or testing results.
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Vehicle Basic Info:

Year
Make
Model
Vehicle Identification Number
Sub-Model
Trans type
Production Date
Traction
4x2 or 4x4
Mileage
General Vehicle Observations:

Is the vehicle mileage in the acceptable range for the age of the vehicle (10k to 15k miles
per year)? Miles outside this range indicate you should be more cautious in your
observations as too high or low are warning flags.
Carefully inspect the vehicle exterior and passenger compartment, noting the condition of
the vehicle, aftermarket accessories installed, lack of maintenance, damage from nonrepaired wrecks, and excessively dirty conditions. All of these things are important and
tell you about the vehicle and the owner. Eg: aftermarket accessories can cause electrical
spikes that cause performance problems. Bald tires indicate that the owner does not care
about their own safety or simply does not have the money to repair the car.
After Market Electrical Accessories
Brand / Model #
Function
Body Damage
Location
Maintenance Needs
Specifics
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Under Hood Inspection and Preliminary Testing:

This inspection and testing helps to confirm the condition of the vehicle and find those
little problems that might be the real problem or masking another problem. The
inspection half will be performed with the Key Off Engine Off. The testing half will be
performed in Key On Engine Off (KOEO) or Key On Engine Running (KOER).
Inspection:
Look at the condition of the battery terminals; are they clean and tight or are they
corroded? Interstate brand batteries are known for excessive corrosion even when new.
Remove the oil dipstick, wipe and reinsert to check the oil level and condition. The oil
level should be between the Add and Full marks on the stick. It should never be above
the Full mark as this can lead to catastrophic engine damage.
We are not concerned if the oil is dirty, what concerns us is contaminants in the oil.
Sometimes it is necessary to remove the Oil Cap to smell the oil. Typically oil that is
doing its job will have a normal oil smell, but if contaminants are present like fuel or it
has an acidic smell, this can be from lack of changes, a failed PCV system or leaky
injectors. These would require additional inspections.
Perform this same inspection on the transmission fluid except here you are looking for a
fluid that has become burned and the color has changed from a pink to a dark red or
brown. You are also concerned with the smell, as sometimes it is bad enough to smell the
burned friction material in the fluid. Either of these conditions are worthy of noting for
maintenance needs.
Look under the hood at the air cleaner box to verify its function. Remove the element and
check for a dirty filter. Generally inspect for broken hoses, loose or broken wires,
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accessory belt condition and adjustment, broken engine supports, and the jury rigging of
components. Eg: Radiator fan relay bypassed.
Checking the coolant requires accessing the radiator of the vehicle, not simply the surge
or overflow tank. This is best performed on a cold engine, as the danger of being
scalded exists with a hot engine. When the radiator cap is removed check the round flat
rubber piece to make sure it is not larger than the metal piece above it. If it is, the cap
needs replaced. Smell of the fluid to see if it has degraded and may be causing
overheating problems not yet apparent on the gauges.
Inspection
Battery Cables
Engine Oil
Transmission Fluid
Coolant
Air Cleaner Element
Jury Rigging
Condition
Testing:
Digital MultiMeter (DMM) testing. With the radiator cap off, insert the probes directly
into the fluid. Measure the Voltage Direct Current (Vdc). It should not be above 3/10
(0.3) Vdc. If higher, the coolant needs flushed and refilled. If a coolant change is
performed, remember to remove, clean and reinstall the coolant sensors for proper
temperature readings.
Disable the Ignition system on the vehicle. Place the Positive (+) probe of your DMM
on a good metal part of the engine. Place the Negative (-) probe of your DMM on the
Battery negative terminal. Have an assistant crank the engine, and observe the DC
Voltage reading. It should not be above 3/10 (0.3) Vdc, the industry suggests a maximum
limit of 5/10 (0.5) Vdc. I have found this to be too high in modern vehicles. If the reading
is above 3/10 (0.3) Vdc, there are bad grounds on the vehicle and those need to be
corrected.
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Re-enable the ignition system and start the engine. Check the voltage across the battery
terminals with the engine operating off idle. It should be between 13.5 and 15.5 Vdc.
This is the normal operating voltage range.
While the engine is still running and the DMM connected to the battery, switch the meter
settings to Volts AC (Vac) and turn the headlamps on high beam and the blower speed on
high. The reading should be no higher than 0.2 Vac. A reading any higher than this
indicates that AC voltage is being introduced onto the DC circuits. Computers cannot
handle excessive Vac on a Vdc circuit. The typical culprit is the AC Generator
(alternator) rectifier bridge diodes, but further in-depth testing is required.
DMM Testing
STA Specification
Coolant Acidic Test

Voltage Drop Test (grounds)
Charging Voltage
AC Voltage Ripple Test
0.3 Vdc max

0.3 Vdc max
13.5 to 15.5 Vdc
0.2 Vac max
Reading
OBD2 Scan Tool:
All of this testing is performed Key On Engine Off (KOEO) using the 2X80S obd2 scan
tool. The software you use should be one of the professional quality programs we
recommend. The free and demo programs simply do not provide enough information for
accurate testing.
You should have properly installed your 2X80S obd2 scan tool and software including
the registration code. This testing is performed using the automatic settings (no user
configuration).
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Upon connecting to the vehicle, observe the following and record:
Connection speed, protocol and battery Vdc. A battery should be above 12Vdc and if it
starts losing voltage quickly suspect it for either a replacement or a recharge. Remember
the 9141-2 and the later ISO 14230 are the slower communicating protocols (9.6Kbps).
The typical connection speed on these two protocols using a 2X80S is 38.4 to 57.6Kbps.
Log into the proper controller (computer), the PCM for the engine. This is typically the
lower designated controller number. Write down the broadcast VIN, Calibration
Identification (CIN), Calibration Verification (CVN), ECU Name, and In Use
Performance Tracking if broadcast. Incomplete numbers typically means that someone
flashed the controller, but the reprogramming failed.
Move to the Diagnostic Trouble Code (DTC) window and record all three types if in
memory, in broadcast order. Move to the Freeze Frame window and write down all the
data recorded for each DTC relative to the specific DTC (separate sheet required).
Check the Diagnostic Monitors Testing for all that completed successfully, failed, or
were not performed. Record this information (separate sheet required).
OBD2 Log In Info

Battery Vdc (steady > 12Vdc)
Connection Speed / Protocol / ECU Name
VIN
CIN
CVN
DTCs (Modes 03, 07, 0A)
Diagnostic Monitors Testing (Mode 6)
Data
Live Sensor Data:

Sensor data (PIDS) is only part of the testing. Here we are more concerned with testing
and confirming that the PCM is capable of working properly and that no potential wiring
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problems exists. Simply put if the PCM is not reliable, how can you be positive that a
component is failing or a test did not complete properly? You cannot!
Throughout this baseline procedure, we are working from the assumption that the engine
is cold, meaning that it has sat either overnight or for 6 or 7 hours. If this is not true then
adjust your thinking about the CTS readings accordingly.
These are the only sensors / switches / readings that we are concerned with in a baseline
procedure.
CTS / IAT; Confirm that the CTS and IAT sensors are very near to the same
temperature.
HO2S; Look closely at the baseline voltages supplied to ALL HO2S by the PCM. Eg:
GM in most applications supplies a 0.45 Vdc to the sensor. Honda (Acura) supplies
1.25Vdc on some applications. It does not matter what the Vdc the manufacturer is using
so long as they are all the same.
TPS; check the Vdc reading and record. Slowly depress the throttle, watch the Vdc for
smooth operation (no voltage drops) to full throttle position. Quickly release the throttle
and watch the Vdc, it should quickly return to the original base reading.
VSS and RPM; both of these should have Zero (0) readings.
MAF / MAP sensors should have some fixed low reading.
Live Sensor Data

Coolant Temp Sensor
Intake Air Temp Sensor
Vehicle Speed Sensor
Engine RPM
Mass Air Flow Sensor
Specification
Reading
0 mph
0 rpm
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Manifold Absolute Pressure Sensor

Heated Oxygen Sensor (B1S1)
Throttle Position Sensor (base)
Throttle Position Sensor (sweep)
Throttle Position Sensor (quick release)
Before you close the software program, save a copy of the file you obtained using it. This
file can then be printed as a pdf document with many of the available free programs for
that purpose. That pdf document can be given to the customer to show your testing.
Start the software again and log into the other controller. It may be the Body Computer or
another. Check the obd2 scan tool data information. There is typically only a small subset
of the data.
Verify that the subset matches the data from the PCM. There should be zero (0) conflicts.
Both controllers should present the same data. If they do not there may be a network
communications problem or something else causing this conflict and it would require
further diagnostics.
Do not delete the DTCs and all the data from the PCM as this
may cause you some serious diagnostic problems on a vehicle
with lots of miles on the engine.
However, we are realistic and understand that most customers will want the Check
Engine Light turned off. This is a decision that you and the shop management will have
to decide.
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Consult with your auto repair database and fill in the missing specifications as they are
different for each manufacturer, model and engine. Check if any applicable Technical
Service Bulletins (TSB) exists for the DTCs that you encountered. You can also check
with each manufacturers reprogramming site to verify if any flashing of the PCM is
required to fix those DTCs or other problems.
At this point, review all the information you have acquired. You now have the
information necessary to decide if you are facing one problem or multiple problems.
When a vehicle is new, it is common for only one problem. However, as it ages statistics
show about 48% of the time multiple problems exist.
This is the optimal time when you should decide IF your shop wants to accept the
responsibility of repairing this vehicle.
Sometimes it is best to walk away from a job, as it will cost you lots of
money, time and aggravation. This we cannot teach you, you will simply
have to learn when it is best to do it for yourself.
The companion document to this is OBD2 Performance Testing Procedures. In that
document, you are walked through a proper general KOER diagnosis, and three specific
DTC problems with corrections. This will allow you to follow along and get acquainted
with the procedures to properly diagnose and repair correctly the first time.
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Combined Baseline Readings Printable Form

Year
Make
Model
Sub-Model
Trans type
Traction
4x2 or 4x4
Vehicle Identification Number
Production Date
Mileage
After Market Electrical Accessories
Brand / Model #
Function
Body Damage
Location
Maintenance Needs
Specifics
Inspection
Battery Cables
Engine Oil
Transmission Fluid
Coolant
Air Cleaner Element
Jury Rigging
DMM Testing
Condition
STA Specification
Coolant Acidic Test

Voltage Drop Test (grounds)
Charging Voltage
AC Voltage Ripple Test
OBD2 Log In Info
Battery Vdc (steady > 12Vdc)
Connection Speed / Protocol / ECU Name
VIN
CIN
CVN
DTCs (Modes 03, 07, 0A)
Diagnostic Monitors Testing (Mode 6)
0.3 Vdc max

0.3 Vdc max
13.5 to 15.5 Vdc
0.2 Vac max
Data
Live Sensor Data
Specification
Reading
Reading
Coolant Temp Sensor

Intake Air Temp Sensor
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Vehicle Speed Sensor

Engine RPM
Mass Air Flow Sensor
Manifold Absolute Pressure Sensor
Throttle Position Sensor (base)
Throttle Position Sensor (sweep)
Throttle Position Sensor (quick release)
0 mph
0 rpm
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Straight Talk Automotive copyright 2012