Modern engine diagnostics

[Gnarley]

Many years ago I was an ASE master tech and OBD2 certified in California and made the transition from analog to digital. Now many years later and out of the tech side of vehicles and in high tech I maintain my own vehicles but all having individual coil ignition find using my old Sun scope relegated to the past. I can read trouble codes with my Bluetooth link and the torque app and read some real time data.

What I'm not able to read are the secondary electrical patterns of the old analog scope days that can tell you a lot of info. Searching for a replacement I find bore scopes, not what I wanted!

Is there a tool that allows me to connect to the coils or onboard diagnostics to view the sparkling of the secondary? If anyone has suggestions on reasonable tools to do this please share. I have to believe there's something I can use on a laptop or my phone to replicate what my old scope can do.

If anyone is interested I'm going to sell my old working Sunday Sleuth II.

Thanks

 

[Doubeleive]

Many years ago I was an ASE master tech and OBD2 certified in California and made the transition from analog to digital. Now many years later and out of the tech side of vehicles and in high tech I maintain my own vehicles but all having individual coil ignition find using my old Sun scope relegated to the past. I can read trouble codes with my Bluetooth link and the torque app and read some real time data.

What I'm not able to read are the secondary electrical patterns of the old analog scope days that can tell you a lot of info. Searching for a replacement I find bore scopes, not what I wanted!

Is there a tool that allows me to connect to the coils or onboard diagnostics to view the sparkling of the secondary? If anyone has suggestions on reasonable tools to do this please share. I have to believe there's something I can use on a laptop or my phone to replicate what my old scope can do.

If anyone is interested I'm going to sell my old working Sunday Sleuth II.

Thanks

I had some electrical problems with my 2018, after a lot of troubleshooting I ended having to pay the dealer to run a deep diagnostic
about 2 hours into this diagnostic the tech found that my alternator was sending 800mv spikes to the bcm, making it think the ignition was being cycled
therefore rebooting everything except the engine, essentially making everything go haywire.
the tech only found it with a oscilliscope
so that is probably what you are after, the only other issue aside from knowing how to operate the scope is having a reference guide for both the electrical wiring and volts/hz for each wire.
a good portable scope is not cheap bottom of the barrel probably starts in $1000. range and goes up from there
then factor in classroom time & cost

 

[Gnarley]

I had some electrical problems with my 2018, after a lot of troubleshooting I ended having to pay the dealer to run a deep diagnostic
about 2 hours into this diagnostic the tech found that my alternator was sending 800mv spikes to the bcm, making it think the ignition was being cycled
therefore rebooting everything except the engine, essentially making everything go haywire.
the tech only found it with a oscilliscope
so that is probably what you are after, the only other issue aside from knowing how to operate the scope is having a reference guide for both the electrical wiring and volts/hz for each wire.
a good portable scope is not cheap bottom of the barrel probably starts in $1000. range and goes up from there
then factor in classroom time & cost

Well, thanks, however, that's not exactly the direction I was after. I'm looking for a way to review the engine while running and with individual cylinder coils there's no way to connect an old school engine diagnostic scope so I'm looking for the modern version to review the spark of the secondary ignition system and compare the patterns.

 

[Fless]

Ivan at Pine Hollow Auto Diagnostics goes into diagnosing secondary ignition issues. On some videos he explains the secondary signatures as viewed on a Pico scope trace. Pick through a few and see what you think. If you have questions about specific scopes, you can email him.

https://www.youtube.com/@PineHollowAutoDiagnostics/search?query=scope

 

[Doubeleive]

Well, thanks, however, that's not exactly the direction I was after. I'm looking for a way to review the engine while running and with individual cylinder coils there's no way to connect an old school engine diagnostic scope so I'm looking for the modern version to review the spark of the secondary ignition system and compare the patterns.

I don't think any scanner is going to show that data, the only way to read it is with a scope.
what exactly are you trying to fix?
might be easier to just swap coils and see if the problem follows the coil.

 

[Gnarley]

I don't think any scanner is going to show that data, the only way to read it is with a scope.
what exactly are you trying to fix?
might be easier to just swap coils and see if the problem follows the coil.

Well, nothing is bad but being able to read the display and raster patterns can tell you a lot and may be able to pick up a weak coil rather than swapping one out by trial and error or replacing all of them when 7 may be fine. I'm about to replace plugs on my 04, it's never had any and a scope could show great before and after results.

This page explains it pretty well.

https://www.smog-tech-training.com/Secondary-Ignition-Pattern.html

I found this on Amazon but it looks like it only does one cylinder at a time.

GTC GTC505 Engine Ignition Analyzer - Spark Diagnostics and Tachometer Readings for Marine, Motorcycle, and Automotive Mechanics, General Technologies Corp https://a.co/d/fjBLA56

 

[Doubeleive]

Well, nothing is bad but being able to read the display and raster patterns can tell you a lot and may be able to pick up a weak coil rather than swapping one out by trial and error or replacing all of them when 7 may be fine. I'm about to replace plugs on my 04, it's never had any and a scope could show great before and after results.

This page explains it pretty well.

https://www.smog-tech-training.com/Secondary-Ignition-Pattern.html

I found this on Amazon but it looks like it only does one cylinder at a time.

GTC GTC505 Engine Ignition Analyzer - Spark Diagnostics and Tachometer Readings for Marine, Motorcycle, and Automotive Mechanics, General Technologies Corp https://a.co/d/fjBLA56

kind of what I figured you were after from your initial post. those type of capabilities (multi-channel) monitoring means higher cost.
if there is a coil bad enough to cause a issue you might be able to just unplug one at a time until you find the one that is bad, that's what I have done before.
you can see in the video the output on the TV is from a more modern "sun scope" which I believe is owned by snap on now.
there are several brand names that make scopes and chinesium, just have to find your best option and invest accordingly.
I found this one for $150

Auto Car Diagnostic Multimeter Automotive Oscilloscope Voltage Tester Ohmmeter | eBay

1x Automotive circuit detection line. Repairs will be processed through the manufacturer, we will assist in the repair procedure in any way we can to expedite the process.

www.ebay.com