{"id":5690,"date":"2016-01-08T13:20:10","date_gmt":"2016-01-08T21:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/northwestvets.com\/blog2\/?page_id=5690"},"modified":"2022-08-16T07:14:41","modified_gmt":"2022-08-16T14:14:41","slug":"electronic-diagnostics-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/northwestvets.com\/blog2\/electronic-diagnostics-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Electronic Diagnostics"},"content":{"rendered":"

In December 2015, we purchased a Snap-On Vantage Ultra<\/em> to up our electronic diagnostic capability. As the cars have advanced with more electronic components, we felt it was essential that we have the testing capability to be capable of running lab scope tests on the various components. [Sadly, the Vantage Ultra <\/em>& accessories were discontinued in 2022 by Snap-On<\/em>].<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Vantage Ultra<\/em> has the capability of testing virtually any<\/span> automotive electrical component and features a\u00a0high-speed\u00a02-channel lab scope and graphing meters. You can test everything from fuel injector amperage draw, rise time and pulse width, electric motors such as fuel pumps, fan motors and relays, switches, charging system including alternator ripple tests for open\/shorted diodes, parasitic draw, ignition scope patterns (coil, plug wires, sparkplugs), ignition pickup patterns (both distributor and crank triggers), and amperage draw\/voltage patterns of any<\/span> electronic component, oxygen sensors, MAF sensors, crank\/cam sensors, ABS sensors – the list is endless with the available optional accessories.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is our hope that by testing the individual components in our\u00a0cars, we can find potential problems before<\/span> they show up on the track.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We’ve added snapshot patterns of various component testing, including MSD<\/em> pickup and spark patterns below.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We also have a separate page devoted to MSD Troubleshooting<\/a>. – Roger<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"VantageUltra_lg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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Fuel Pump patterns<\/span>:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Pattern<\/a>

Pattern showing Paul’s fuel pump when first turned on,
with clean amp spike initially<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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\"Fuel<\/a>

Fuel pump motor pattern on Paul’s Mustang showing 3.2 amp draw
and the good condition of the pump motor!<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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\"57<\/a>

57 MagnaFuel Pump Motor<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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Notice the MagnaFuel<\/em> pump on our ’57 and Chevelle pulls nearly 3x the amperage as Paul’s Mallory<\/em> pump shown above on this page. This graph above shows the high volume pump is drawing 9.5 amps vs the 3.2 amps of the Mallory street\/strip pump.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Ignition patterns<\/span>:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Spark<\/a>

Spark firing line & coil oscillations from Pam’s S-10,<\/strong>
conventional GM electronic ignition<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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\"Firing<\/a>

Firing line & coil pack pattern on 3.3 V-6
with distributorless ignition<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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The following two patterns are from Paul’s Mustang with the MSD 6AL ignition. The upper photo captures four\u00a0cylinders showing 4 to 5 sparks per cylinder for approximately 6ms, compared to the 2ms firing line shown above in Pam’s truck with the GM electronic ignition. The second photo below shows the MSD magnetic pickup pattern.<\/strong><\/p>\n

With the Snap-On Shop Stream<\/em> software you can see all eight cylinders in a streaming video on your computer.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"MSD<\/a>

MSD secondary pattern showing 4 cylinders<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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\"MSD<\/a>

MSD pickup pattern showing three cylinders<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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\"MSD<\/a>

MSD 7AL-2 pattern, ’57 Chev<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

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Screen shot of Vantage Ultra<\/em> playback on Shop-Stream Connect<\/em> software:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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