VIRTUAL replacement

Sykes Pickavant's Professional Sensor Simulator is put through its paces by Peter Xerri

Practical Mechanics April 2004

When faced with fault diagnosis in engine management systems it is important that results are diagnosed accurately and as fast as possible. These results are usually found by accessing the ECU with the use of various code readers. You then replace the faulty component and all is well. Or is it? What if you have more than one component showing a fault, do you trust the information or has the fault been logged and not been cleared after new parts have been fitted. I'm sure we've all had a dilemma similar to this and felt the need to confirm a malfunction in a sensor before coughing up for a pricey part that might not need replacing.

Well, I was asked to test the Sykes Pickavant Sensor Simulator which, as its name implies, simulates the function of the sensor you suspect is faulty, not only engine management systems but also other computer controlled systems such as ABS. The SS has the ability to create different outputs such as resistance, DC volts, square and sine waveforms. Sensors such as MAP, temperature, lambda, throttle position etc can be simulated by creating the relevant signal for each sensor. The signal values have to be entered into SS by the operator who also has to find the expected values required for the sensor which are, on the whole, readily available. The values are entered into the simulator using the control knob to select the required values. The simulator is then connected to the vehicle in place of the sensor. If the simulation operation can successfully control the ECU as expected, this is confirmation the suspect component is faulty.

[Our tester] found this tool to be of excellent use in the increasing world of motor vehicle electronics. It took me a good bit of time to get to grips with, it's not a simple plug-in instant results tool, but with a little patience and understanding of its capabilities I think this is an excellent tool. However, I would say if you are a bit of an electronics expert you will find this very easy to use. But I guess that is true of any tool — it as only as good as the operator.