by Dave Skora

DRIVE ABILITY

A Logical Diagnostic
Procedure Saves a
Fishing Trip!
According to the
repair order,
the rebuilder
replaced the
torque converter and the converter clutch
solenoid during
the rebuild. Now
its back with
an intermittent
surge.

or too many technicians, diagnosis is more a matter of hit-ormiss testing and parts replacement. If they get lucky, theyll hit the
right part early in the diagnosis; if not,
it may take days or even weeks to
come across the root cause of the problem if ever.
Handled properly, diagnosis is a
logical series of steps, designed to isolate the root cause of a problem through
a process of elimination. This series of
steps should always include:
Verifying the complaint
Checking for obvious causes
Retrieving codes
Searching for published bulletins or articles
And, if that doesnt allow you to
isolate the problem, you should identify
all of the possible causes for the condition. Then you perform a series of tests
12

Figure 1: A faulty MAF sensor can cause a surge, but disconnecting it and driving
the vehicle is an easy way to eliminate it as the problem. NOTE: Some models
wont run with the MAF sensor disconnected.

designed to eliminate those possible

causes, one at a time, until you find the
root cause of the problem. Here are a
couple examples, taken from real life:
It was a beautiful clear and cool
Friday morning. I went to work hoping
to leave early. Id planned to go fishing
and wanted to camp at the lake before
sundown. I got the boss to agree to let
me off early, as long as there was nothing else the other guys couldnt handle.
There were only two things that stood
in my way

Vehicle #1
A 1997 Chevrolet truck with a
5.7L engine and 4L60E trans. The
truck had about 120,000 miles on it
and we rebuilt the transmission about
two weeks ago. According to the repair
order, the rebuilder replaced the torque

converter and the converter clutch solenoid during the rebuild. Now its back
with an intermittent surge.
I drove it around and finally got
it to surge. It seemed to come and go
while cruising around 3540 MPH. It
felt like the torque converter was being
pulsed on and off, and then it would
go away.
I connected a scan tool; there were
no codes and the data stream didnt
show any obvious problems.
Next I searched my ATRA and OnDemand databases, but didnt find any
bulletins that matched the problem.
I asked my coworkers for suggestions. One said it might be a lockup
shudder. Another one heard that a MAF
sensor might cause it (figure 1) or the
PCM might need to be flashed. All
good suggestions.
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A Logical Diagnostic Procedure Saves a Fishing Trip!

I reconnected the
solenoid pack;
once again,
the engine died
whenever I put it
in drive. There
was no doubt that
the PCM was calling for lockup.
I knew our shop uses good quality
parts and rebuilt converters; while that
doesnt necessarily rule out a converter
clutch problem, the odds of the new
parts having the same problem as the
original ones are pretty slim. For now,
well assume theyre okay.
A MAF sensor problem is possible,
but theres an easy way to eliminate it
as a suspect: I disconnected it and went
for another test drive. Same problem, so
that rules out the MAF sensor.
Flashing the computer might be a
possibility, but only if:
there were no other problems
there was a re-flash available
the update had the potential to
correct this particular problem
There was no update available,
which eliminates flashing the computer
as a possible fix. What now?
I called the customer and learned
he had been to the dealer for this problem. They told him at the very least the
truck needed a torque converter and
probably a complete overhaul. Thats
why he brought it to us. At this point, I
knew I was going to have to work for
the fix. I made a list of all the possibilities that could cause a surge.
First I had to determine whether
the surging was related to the converter clutch or was a driveability problem. My Mastertech scan tool lets me
operate lockup with its bidirectional
controls. The surge continued, even
with lockup applied 100 percent. So it
wasnt a converter clutch problem; now
were talking driveability.
I started thinking about what could
cause this. The list included the igni14

dave-dvb.indd 14

Figure 2: At a steady RPM, the timing fluctuated a good 10 as seen by the timing
mark. The problem turned out to be a worn distributor gear.

tion system, mixture controls, engine

emission controls, the alternator, traction control, ABS, the radiator fan, the
brake system, 4WD system, and the
A/C compressor. Wow! Thats a lot
of possibilities. I almost wanted to try
something and hoped I made a lucky
guess. But it was still early and I knew
if I stuck to my diagnostic method, Id
find the problem.
To narrow the suspects down, I disabled as many devices as possible that
would still allow the engine to run. This
included the EGR, AIR, EVAP, traction
control, ABS, 4WD controls, and A/C
compressor. Still surged.
Next, I disabled the alternator,
unplugged the electric radiator cooling fan, and drove the truck just long
enough to see if it still surged. It did.
This left either a fuel mixture or
an ignition problem. After reconnecting
everything, I got the truck to surge and
made a movie of the data stream. The
only thing that seemed erratic was the
ignition timing. Hmm was this the
cause or a result?
I had to find out if the ignition was
actually fluctuating. To test it I simply
pointed an old fashion timing light at
the front pulley. Then I held the engine
at the same RPM as where the surge
occurred; the spark timing flicked back
and forth about 10 (figure 2). The
source was a worn distributor drive
gear; a new distributor fixed the surge.
It was just after lunch. One down,

one to go.

Vehicle #2
A F150 with an E4OD. The
complaint was that it would kill the
engine when you put it into drive. Sure
enough, every time I put the selector in
drive, the engine shuddered violently
and died. Obviously the lockup was
stuck on.
There were no codes in memory.
I knew a bad transmission filter or a
worn pump would cause this in reverse.
But this truck was going right into
reverse with no problem. To make
sure the problem was inside the trans,
I unplugged the solenoid pack harness.
Now the truck didnt die; it went in
drive just fine.
Well, at least it wasnt our builders
fault. But if there are no codes, why
would the PCM be commanding lockup
at a standstill? I reconnected the solenoid pack; once again, the engine died
whenever I put it in drive. There was
no doubt that the PCM was calling for
lockup. I figured my scan tool would
pick up something. But it happened too
fast to see what was going on.
I tried catching the problem two
more times, but each time the engine
died out before I could gather much
useful information. Boy, it was looking
bad for catching fish tomorrow!
Before the problem turned into a
cat-and-mouse game, I decided to do
a bulletin search. Sure enough, ATRA
GEARS September 2005

9/8/05 11:52:13 AM

Gear up for Success!

Kevin
Harvick

Jeff
Burton

Dave
Blaney

Richard Childress Racing

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A Logical Diagnostic Procedure Saves a Fishing Trip!

Figure 3: While this might have been a tough problem to find from scratch,
ATRA already provided the details of this diagnosis in TSB-706.

had published TSB-706, which covers

a faulty PSOM or instrument cluster
that sends a false vehicle speed signal
to the PCM (figure 3). The PCM thinks
the vehicles going fast enough to turn
lockup on, even at a stop. I replaced
the PSOM: problem solved. And still
plenty of time to get to the lake a drop
a line in the water
16

If youre still having trouble getting your head around the concept of
a logical diagnostic procedure, check
out Road Testing for Results, by ATRA
CEO Dennis Madden. Its available
through the ATRA BookStore, and it
can help you learn how to work out a
logical diagnostic process for virtually
any vehicle or problem that makes its

way into your service bay. Because a

careful, well-reasoned diagnostic procedure will beat a wild guess any day
of the week.

GEARS September 2005

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