Carlton Banks, Author at UnderhoodService - Page 2 of 2
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Pulling Codes: The Story of Code P0456

The Smallest of Details? This month’s Pulling Codes documents the infamous P0456 code — 0.20 leak detected. A small leak code can be the most challenging for any technician, so Carlton Banks gives his suggested plan of attack.

Pulling Codes: Rough Road Data Not Available?

A 1998 Chevrolet Blazer is looked at by the state to determine if the cost to repair this vehicle may exceed what many may deem reasonable. The owner of the vehicle has suffered some financial hardships and we have been asked to take a look at the vehicle.

Pulling Codes: Mean and Lean with Shades of Gray

This article will document the infamous P0171 code – Lean Condition. A fuel system lean condition can be broken down into three subsections, namely, fuel pump performance, fuel quality and injectors. Keep in mind this is only a starting point, but it is a good place to start.

Pulling Codes: Hit or Miss? Part III

In the first two articles, we looked at cranking compression and tailpipe analysis. We will now explore in-cylinder analysis. In order to have an understanding of this concept, one must envision the four-stroke cycle at the time the plug fires as a reference. This denotes the end of our compression stroke, and the beginning of the power stroke for that cylinder.

Pulling Codes: Hit or Miss? Part II

This article will continue the work we started in the June 2011 Pulling Codes article. Part I outlined how we used relative compression to find a fault mechanically. In this article, we will focus on exhaust waveforms (tailpipe analysis) to gather data. In order to have an understanding of this concept, one must envision the four-stroke cycle at the time the plug fires as a reference.

Pulling Codes: The Story of Codes P1128 and P1129

It was Saturday, June 11, 2011, at 8:30 in the morning. I had just arrived at an automotive repair facility located in Merriville, IN, owned by a very good friend of mine. The reason for my visit that morning was the challenge of a 2008 Chrysler 300 VIN Code R with a 2.7L engine. This vehicle appeared to operate properly until it reached cruising speed, and then once cruising speed was obtained, the vehicle would actually hiccup and set a pending code for P1128 and P1129. This hiccup could more accurately be defined as a “fishbite” reaction that was felt at cruising speed.

Pulling Codes: The Story of U1016

This Pulling Codes article will center on issues involving the powertrain control module (PCM) talking to your scan tool. In many states, this is the controller our scan tool needs to talk to in order to determine if the correct number of monitors has run and passed. It’s interesting to note that there appears to be two modes of failure in terms of communication.

Pulling Codes: Hit or Miss? The Story of P0302

It is unfortunate that today misfire analysis can be a hit-or-miss concept on many of today’s engine families. If one views several misfire failures, and documents the behavior of fuel trims, it is reasonable to state that ignition misfires do not have a significant impact on them, whereas fuel-related issues create a significant impact.

Pulling Codes: Status Really Does Matter

Many modern-day fuel systems offer a new look into system status definitions. It’s become very important to extend our understanding well beyond the concepts of simple “open loop” and “closed loop” status. This month, we will explore the new fuel system definitions that are present on many of today’s vehicles. We’ll begin our discussion by looking at each one on an individual basis.

Pulling Codes: The Story of Code P0446

This is the first in a series of investigations covering many states’ top emissions-related codes. Our goal in this report is to discuss the characteristics of the P0446 code as it applies to many GM systems.