An automobile as we know it was not invented in a single day by a single inventor. It is more than an engine and a body; it is a complex machine that has undergone over a century of evolution. Over the years we have seen a constant stream of innovations and improvements in engine design. We have seen the advent of 4 wheel brakes, fuel injection and the automatic transmission.
Detecting a failure in this complex machine would be a tedious task. However, most of the vehicles today include computers (Electronic Control Unit (ECU)), which monitors several sensors, located throughout the engine, fuel and exhaust systems. When the computer system of the car detects a fault, two things are supposed to happen/monitored. First, a warning light on the dashboard is set, to inform the driver that a problem exists. Second the code is recorded in the computer’s memory (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory) so that it can later be retrieved by a technician for diagnosis and repair….