We are back with the second edition of our brand-new video series, “Wrench Tales” with Technical Editor Brandon Steckler! In this video, friend and automotive expert Rick Urso (of Hi-Tech Auto Specialists, in Chicagoland,) shares with us a diagnostic story of perseverance.
Rick was faced with a 2012 Acura TSX that would exhibit an “extended-cranking“ condition that only seemed to occur on the coldest of mornings. What made the vehicle such a diagnostic nightmare is that the fault only occurred at a rate of once or sometimes twice per day!
That’s right, Rick many times had one opportunity to capture data over a 5 second period. After that, he was forced to wait an entire day for the next opportunity (but, only if the weather cooperated). Watch and listen as Rick tells his story and shares the data he saw, beginning from the driver’s seat, with the scan tool.
Witness Rick’s logical approach to capture the data that proves the PCM has everything it needs to create proper outputs (at the ignition coils and fuel injectors). It was this same logic that led Rick to ignition waveform analysis and ultimately discover the root cause of the issue to be poor fuel injector spray pattern. This was a very illusive and difficult fault to discover. And, if not for the foundational knowledge, proper tooling and skillful analysis of captured data, this problem would’ve slipped right past him. Tune in to this episode of wrench tales and see if you have what it takes to properly analyze and diagnose this vehicle!
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