the O2S must be tested to ensure that it is heating
the sensor properly.
The heater element itself is not tested. The sensor
output is used to test the heater by isolating the
effect of the heater element on the O2S output volt-
age from the other effects. The resistance is normally
between 100 ohms and 4.5 megaohms. When oxygen
sensor temperature increases, the resistance in the
internal circuit decreases. The PCM sends a 5 volts
biased signal through the oxygen sensors to ground
this monitoring circuit. As the temperature increases,
resistance decreases and the PCM detects a lower
voltage at the reference signal. Inversely, as the tem-
perature decreases, the resistance increases and the
PCM detects a higher voltage at the reference signal.
an The O2S circuit is monitored for a drop in voltage.
OPERATION— The Oxygen Sensor Heater Moni-
tor begins after the ignition has been turned OFF
and the O2 sensors have cooled. The PCM sends a 5
volt bias to the oxygen sensor every 1.6 seconds. The
PCM keeps it biased for 35 ms each time. As the sen-
sor cools down, the resistance increases and the PCM
reads the increase in voltage. Once voltage has
increased to a predetermined amount, higher than
when the test started, the oxygen sensor is cool
enough to test heater operation.
When the oxygen sensor is cool enough, the PCM
energizes the ASD relay. Voltage to the O2 sensor
begins to increase the temperature. As the sensor
temperature
increases,
the
internal
resistance
decreases. The PCM continues biasing the 5 volt sig-
nal to the sensor. Each time the signal is biased, the
PCM reads a voltage decrease. When the PCM
detects a voltage decrease of a predetermined value
for several biased pulses, the test passes.
The heater elements are tested each time the
engine is turned OFF if all the enabling conditions
are met. If the monitor fails, the PCM stores a
maturing fault and a Freeze Frame is entered. If two
consecutive tests fail, a DTC is stored. Because the
ignition is OFF, the MIL is illuminated at the begin-
ning of the next key cycle.
Enabling Conditions— The following conditions
must be met for the PCM to run the oxygen sensor
heater test:
• Engine run time of at least 5.1 minutes
• Key OFF power down
• Battery voltage of at least 10 volts
• Sufficient Oxygen Sensor cool down
Pending Conditions— There are not conditions
or situations that prompt conflict or suspension of
testing. The oxygen sensor heater test is not run
pending resolution of MIL illumination due to oxygen
sensor failure.
Suspend— There are no conditions which exist for
suspending the Heater Monitor.
CATALYST MONITOR
To comply with clean air regulations, vehicles are
equipped with catalytic converters. These converters
reduce the emission of hydrocarbons, oxides of nitro-
gen and carbon monoxide.
Normal vehicle miles or engine misfire can cause a
catalyst to decay. A meltdown of the ceramic core can
cause a reduction of the exhaust passage. This can
increase vehicle emissions and deteriorate engine
performance, driveability and fuel economy.
The catalyst monitor uses dual oxygen sensors
(O2S’s) to monitor the efficiency of the converter. The
dual O2S strategy is based on the fact that as a cat-
alyst deteriorates, its oxygen storage capacity and its
efficiency are both reduced. By monitoring the oxy-
gen storage capacity of a catalyst, its efficiency can
be indirectly calculated. The upstream O2S is used to
detect the amount of oxygen in the exhaust gas
before the gas enters the catalytic converter. The
PCM calculates the A/F mixture from the output of
the O2S. A low voltage indicates high oxygen content
(lean mixture). A high voltage indicates a low content
of oxygen (rich mixture).
When the upstream O2S detects a lean condition,
there is an abundance of oxygen in the exhaust gas.
A functioning converter would store this oxygen so it
can use it for the oxidation of HC and CO. As the
converter absorbs the oxygen, there will be a lack of
oxygen downstream of the converter. The output of
the downstream O2S will indicate limited activity in
this condition.
As the converter loses the ability to store oxygen,
the condition can be detected from the behavior of
the downstream O2S. When the efficiency drops, no
chemical reaction takes place. This means the con-
centration of oxygen will be the same downstream as
upstream. The output voltage of the downstream
O2S copies the voltage of the upstream sensor. The
only difference is a time lag (seen by the PCM)
between the switching of the O2S’s.
To monitor the system, the number of lean-to-rich
switches of upstream and downstream O2S’s is
counted.
The
ratio
of
downstream
switches
to
upstream switches is used to determine whether the
catalyst is operating properly. An effective catalyst
will have fewer downstream switches than it has
upstream switches i.e., a ratio closer to zero. For a
totally ineffective catalyst, this ratio will be one-to-
one, indicating that no oxidation occurs in the device.
The system must be monitored so that when cata-
lyst efficiency deteriorates and exhaust emissions
increase to over the legal limit, the MIL (check
engine lamp) will be illuminated.
Monitor Operation— To monitor catalyst effi-
ciency, the PCM expands the rich and lean switch
points of the heated oxygen sensor. With extended
JX
EMISSION CONTROL SYSTEMS
25 - 19
DESCRIPTION AND OPERATION (Continued)