VariCheck
Variable Engine Solutions
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12 months Guarantee
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Works on all makes and models
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Check's CTS, ATS (even if it is incorporated in the Air flow Unit ),OTS, ECUs, ECU wiring for these circuits in under a minute engine hot or cold
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Allows you to check for voltage/temp curves and spikes with oscilloscopes or diagnostic units from 0-110 degrees (this is explained later in my write up) or as a unit on it's own . In my opinion, this is the most effective way of checking CTS, ATS, OTS sensors and circuits.
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Full instruction
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An insight into voltage/temp curves and spikes, Learn about the most effective way you should be testing these sensors
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No battery required (works on voltage from ECU)
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Works on any fuel injection system old or new where the CTS,ATS,or OTS transmits the engine temp to ECU via Voltage change .(note Air Cooled engines usually use Oil Temp Sensors for this .)
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Easy connection to vehicle and simple to use
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Can be used as a replacment CTS, ATS , OTS in a breakdown situation
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Technical Support
Please take some time to read my write up as it is a great insight into fuel injection systems.
Hi, I have over 20 years experience in testing fuel injection systems. When I'm not at work, I spend most of my time analysing ways in which I can make these tests easier and less complicated than they need to be, hence saving diagnostics time and money, The VC-500 Series has been designed to do just that.
DIAGNOSTIC KITS
Most garages have diagnostic kits already and have spent thousands of pounds so why do you need another unit? Well, this is a universal tool which can test three different sensor systems CTS ,ATS ,OTS and it does not cost £1000's of pounds it has been designed to work on it's own or can be easily read by your Diagnostic unit or oscilloscope . Most Diagnostic kits are only good to a point, they read codes, and actuate certain sensors they can point you in roughly the right direction ( they do not always pick up intermittent faults) . Most kits will test certain sensors on the vehicle like an injector without disconnecting any wiring. If a vehicle comes in with a MIL light on you read the code PO115 Coolant Temp Circuit Malfunction. Great! It doesn't tell you if you have a problem with the Volts too or from the Sensor you are testing or the sensor itself, ECU or wiring. You have to test for these things individually which takes time this is known as a GREY AREA , unknown diagnostic time if you can shorten this grey area you are on your way to saving time and money the VC-500 has been designed to do just that. If you leave a vehicle overnight and place an oscilloscope on a 5 Volt supply to the CTS and check for voltage curves and spikes while warming the vehicle up from 0-80degrees. It takes about 15 minutes to create a good Voltage curve (summer) longer in the winter. If you leave a vehicle overnight in the summer, you may start your test at around 20 degrees of engine temp so you have already missed 0-20 degrees. If the CTS has a fault at 10 degrees, you will miss it, not a very good or efficient way of testing. The CTS is not an actuator, it relies on coolant temp to change resistance which means the only way to change this state is too warm the vehicle up or let the vehicle cool down, that's too long in my book VariCheck can manually change this state so you can complete these test in under one minute engine hot or cold ,no need to warm the Vehicle up or let the Vehicle cool down saving you alot of Diagnostic time. You could use the old fashioned way and use a ohms meter and check the resistance of the CTS every 10 degrees till the engine is hot or remove the CTS and freeze it and use boilling water checking the resistance as you go but this takes twice as long and you have more chance of missing the fault this is not accurate enough plus you are not testing the complete system in the state it should be tested e.g wiring and ECU, personally I think this method is a complete waste of your time. It does not matter if you do not understand about Voltage/temp spikes at this stage all information is included with this product .
BREAKDOWNS
When a vehicle breaks down with a Fuel Injection problem most systems will go into LIMP MODE this is a back up system which allows you to limp the vehicle home .Imagine a complete circle this is call CLOSED LOOP all information can flow freely from one point to another , from sensor to sensor/ECU . Now imagine if you cut that circle the information cannot flow from point to point ,this is what happens when a sensor breaks down when this happens in order to keep the system running the ECU replaces that lost information with a MAP which is stored in its memory hense the MIL light will come on and the sytem will go into LIMP MODE ,if you fix the sensor ,reset the MIL light the system will go back to normal . As you drive your vehicle from cold to warm the ECU changes between OPEN and CLOSED LOOPS , examples : CLOSED LOOP systems are equipped with an O2 sensor which monitors the exhaust gases . A low O2 level in the exhaust signifies a rich mixture and a high O2 level indicates a weak mixture .When the engine is operating in closed loop control the O2 signal causes the ECU to modify the injection pulse so that the AFR is mantained close to the stoichiometric ratio . By controlling the injection pulse during most operating conditions so that the air/fuel ratio is always in a small window around the LAMBDA point ie =0.97 to 1.03 almost perfect combustion . The closed loop control is implemented during engine operations at coolant temps near normal operatimg temps. when the coolant temp is low , or the engine is at full load or on over-run the ECU will operate in OPEN LOOP . When operating in open loop the ECU allows a richer or leaner AFR than the stoichiometric ratio this prevents engine hesitation for example during acceleration with wide open throttle . Most LIMP MODES are set to run at a Air Fuel Ratio set at 80 degrees , Great ! What happens when the engine cools down and you want to start it up again in Limp Mode? ? ? your going to have a under fuelling situation and it will be very difficult to start the engine due to the ECU thinks it is at 80 degrees I have encounted this problem on breakdowns so many times , you can check for this with your Diagnostic Kits just check the m/sec's of injection pulse from each injector and it will be shorter than normal hence less fuel , please note multi point , single point , current controlled ,sequential and simultaneous injection pulses will all have slightly different readings .With the VC-500 you can simply plug in set the right engine temp start the vehicle up and run the engine till you reach 80 degrees ,tape the unit in place and you can run the engine all day long at 80 degrees , no need to tow the vehicle . This is a great universal tool with many applications all you need to no is how to apply it to certain situations .
Overheating / Radiator Fan Circuits
I was recently asked to view a vehicle with an overheating problem I arrived at the vehicle and quickly ruled out headgasket / air locks , as I ran the vehicle up to temp it eventually overheated but the temp gauge was reading normal and the radiator fan didn't come on .? I connected my laptop and placed a temp probe in the coolant header tank and connected my VC-500 to the CTS Circuit with a few simple tests I could see that there was a discrepancy between the actual engine coolant temp and the ECU ,CTS, temp gauge temperature , the coolant was alot hotter than what the ECU thought the temp was ,the CTS was reading alot lower than it should have been .I replaced the faulty CTS with a new one and all the circuits returned to normal and the fan worked correctly . Not only can the CTS break, or produce an intermittent problem but they can read out of resistance and still work .If you take a look at the Plot at the bottom of this page you will see the perfect curve ,now imagine this curve a few mm lower or even higher, the curve will be the same but the voltage and resistance will be wrong this in itself will change the m/sec's of your fuel injector pulse width hence changing the amount of Air/Fuel you will burn,it will still work but you could be burning alot more fuel than what is needed,when I do my general services I always do a scan of this system. The VC-500 can easily check for all of these situations . ( Note some vehicles use the Oil Temp Sensor to transmit engine temp to ECU , especially air cooled ).
Hesitation / Misfire Air Temp Sensor
I viewed a Vauxhall Omega with an intermittent hesitation at 80MPH under light throttle , I plugged my laptop in to test for codes and the only thing it would come up with was Fuel Trim Malfunction , GREAT ! that narrows it down a bit ,(NOT) I decided to reset the MIL light and remove codes and start from scratch. I set my laptop to road test LIVE conditions and selected 4-5 sensors for test and proceeded to drive the vehicle at 80MPH at light throttle. Eventually after some time road testing and changing sensors readings around I found that the Air Temp was fluctuating at about the same time the Omega was holding back, I was not 100% satisfied that this was the fault and with the Air flow units being expensive I didn't want to buy one and waste the customers money (and look a pratt) .I noticed that at 80MPH the Air Temp was roughly staying at around 15 degrees I plugged my VC-500 into the Air Flow Unit and bypassed the ATS , I adjusted the VC-500 til I had a reading of 15 degrees of Air Temp on my laptop and taped the unit in place .I took the vehicle back out on road test til I had completed the same tests again , all hesitations had gone ,all readings was fine I was now 100% confident that the fault was in the Air Flow Unit , JOB DONE !
VC-500 SERIES
The VC-500 series simply plugs straight into your coolant temperature multiplug or ATS ,OTS. Turn the ignition on and you're away. Now, you have full control over the ECU's coolant or air temp from 0-110 degrees at 1 ohm increments. This gives you a more accurate way of measuring voltage / temp curves and spikes or digital readout not only can you read the Voltage/Temp but you can see the Voltage/Temp curves which gives you a better understanding of what is going on and finding that intermittent fault .
How you can read this information .
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Use an oscilloscope to check for voltage curves and spikes (this is explained in full in my instructions )
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Use the temp graph on your diagnostics kit to check for temp curves and spikes. If your kit does not have a graph available, it will have a digital temp readout which will be fine , the VC-500 has been designed to work along side your Diagnost Units, all the information about testing and reading is in the Varicheck Instructions.
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If you do not have a diagnostics Kit or oscilloscope then you can still use this unit with just a basic Ohms Meter .
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No need to run the engine
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No need to warm the vehicle up
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No need to remove the CTS for tests at different temperatures hence no need to bleed the coolant system afterwards
Full instructions are included and all information on voltage/temp curves and spikes plus places you can buy inexpensive oscilloscopes and web sites where you can download free wave patterns for fuel injection sensors, also you get free Technical Support via e-mail ,any questions on set up , readings , Voltage/Temp curves osilloscope patterns etc, i check my e-mails daily if you have any general questions on fuel injection systems any make or model I will be more than happy to answer them .
SMALL PRINT!
Please e-mail any questions on this product and shipping thank-you for taking the time to read my write up. This product can be used by Technicians who want to improve on there Diagnostic abillity or Technicians who are just starting out in this field, also Auto enthusiasts, in my opinion the use of these techniques with the VC -500 are the most accurate , efficient way of testing the CTS, ATS ,OTS, ECU and wiring circuits for these sensors , IT WILL SHORTEN THE GREY AREA GUARANTEED ! Remember the VC-500 has been designed to make your Vehicle Diagnostics less complicated than they need to be, I know myself if there is a tool out there that can save me time, improve my diagnostic abillity, and make my fault finding more accurate I would want it as part of my kit. If there is one thing I have learn't over the years of testing it's Technology moves on, I constantly change my ideas and my Techniques to keep myself up to date,and also most importantly of all keep my kit up to date. I have sold hundreds of these units in the UK and Internationally please read the 100% positive feedback of customers who are happy with the quality and service of this product. Below is a typical wave form pattern for the CTS which you will be able to learn to understand and read correctly, this plot was taken from cold to normal operating temp and this only took 1 min to achieve not 15/20 mins that's fast !!! if you spread this time and cost over just a few vehicles this unit has already paid for itself, .Copy Rights .
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