Typically the manufacturer will talk about an emission control valve failing, not about the Electronic Control Unit (a microprocessor) and its subordinate system the Emission Control Computer (another microprocessor) that tells the emission control valve when and how to work.
What if there is a software design fault? Or what if there is a basic computer hardware design fault within the computer itself? Now, the manufacturer could be looking at possible recalls.
Another issue that prevents customers from getting excellent service is knowledge-or, rather, lack of knowledge. For the average mechanic, these computers are a new and fearful thing. They know that if they fool around with anything that has a computer in it, they are going to mess up and get in big trouble. In an article on BMW fuel injection fault codes-these are the codes the Engine Control Computer generates indicating what is wrong with a particular system-the master mechanic who wrote the article described the task of retrieving and understanding the control codes as being very difficult: "It’s a one on a scale of one to ten, one being most difficult." |
