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Electronic Engine Management Pt.8: Books & Journals – by Julian Edgar Finding appropriate texts and journals which deal with electronic engine management is difficult. Most material written on electronics in cars is either too simple (being directed at apprentice mechanics) or too generalised to be of help when dealing with a specific car. However, there are some references which are useful. Buying the books outright can be expensive but TAFE libraries will often respond to requests to buy specific books if they lack material in that area and if the college teaches automotive subjects. TAFE lib­raries are the best source of material of this whole subject area and they also allow free public membership. Generalised texts There are several books that give a good general treatment of electronics Gregory’s produce very useful references on various cars. In the foreground is a standard Gregory’s workshop manual, which has engine management fault diagnosis material in it. The background book (EFI & Engine Management) contains material on the engine management & EFI systems in all Australian cars from 1980-1990. 4  Silicon Chip in automotive applications. “Understanding Automo­ tive Electronics”, “Automotive Computers and Control Systems” and “Automotive Electronic Systems” (full details of the books cited are at the end of this feature) are just three examples. The first two are published in the United States while the latter book is British. All three books give an overview of both analog and digital automotive systems. The first book is probably more useful from purely an electronics perspective, with the second book also examining aspects such as diagnostics and the testing of systems in American vehicles. The latter book provides probably the best of both worlds! A very different type of book – but still useful – is pub­ lished by the Australian Government for use by apprentices. Called “Engine Petrol Injection”, it covers all aspects of elec­ tronic fuel injection (EFI) and is aimed at mechanics. Electronic engine management (which incorporates both fuel and ignition control) is not covered, however. Very clear diagrams are used throughout the book, especially on the mechanical aspects of EFI. The book is available from Commonwealth Government bookshops for about $15 and is a bargain. Bosch The next step is to look at material Above: these three generalised texts all provide excellent background material on the subject of electronic engine management & automo­tive computers. produced by the origi­nal manufacturers of the equipment. Bosch invented electronic fuel injection and engine management, and has published a series of books and booklets dealing with the topic. Their material is generally excellent. The Bosch “Automotive Handbook” is the Bible among car de­signers and serious amateur modifiers. Pocket size, it packs an incredible amount of information into its 700 pages. It’s written in a sort of technical shorthand, with each paragraph containing many points. The actual sections dealing with electronics in car applications form a relatively small component of the book but it is worth buying for these sections alone. It is available from the Society of Automotive Engineers in Canberra (02 449 6551) and costs around $45. Also produced by Bosch is a series of booklets dealing specifically with each of that company’s engine management and fuel injection systems. Booklets are available on L-Jetronic, Motronic, Engine Electronics, and so on. Each This book provides a good introduction to EFI, with very clear diagrams used throughout. It is pitched at the apprentice mechan­ic level & is excellent for beginners. booklet is about 40 pages long. They are very expensive but most TAFE colleges which deal in automotive electronics stock the booklets in their libra­ries. Specific car systems When you require information on specific car systems there are two sources. The first are books which have been writ­ten to cover a variety of manufacturers’ systems. Gregory’s have published “EFI and Engine Management”, a good book which covers most of the common cars sold in Australia in the period 1980-1990. It costs about $60. The information includes such material as accessing and reading fault codes, wiring diagrams, sensor types, and so on. Also provided is a 40-page summary of how EFI works, the common inputs and outputs, and how to test sensors. In all, it provides an excellent summary of the procedures used for maintenance and simple fault-finding. Gregorys’ indi­vidual car workshop manuals also contain this material on a specific-car basis but in an abbreviated form. Workshop manuals The other way of obtaining material on a specific car is to use the manufacturer-produced workshop manual. These vary sub­ stantially in quality and depth, both from manufacturer to manu­facturer and from model to model. The best manuals will devote a whole volume to engine man­agement. This generally includes a discussion on how each of the input sensors works, their response curves, and so on. Pin-outs of the ECM will be included and typical voltages and/or waveforms specified. Not all manufacturers go to this trouble though, with some giving just fault codes and simple testing procedures. Often, the first model to introduce a new management system will have an extensive discussion of it in the workshop manual, with subsequent models having only a brief coverage. May 1994  5 The Bosch Automotive Handbook has an incredible amount of infor­mation packed into it – some of which is on car electronics. It’s worth buying for this aspect alone. Examples of good manufacturer-developed workshop manuals include the Holden VL Commodore, Mazda RX-7 twin turbo, Subaru Liberty and Ford L-Jetronic Falcon. The manuals are available directly from the manu- More specific information on the various Bosch systems is avail­able in their Technical Instruction booklets. They’re expensive to buy, though. facturer – though some sweet-talking may be required before they will sell them to a private individual – and from TAFE libraries. The cost is usually quite reasonable – the Subaru Liberty manual, for example, comprises six Factory workshop manuals often provide an in-depth analysis of the engine management system used in that model. The Subaru Liberty manual, for example, comprises six volumes, one of which is devoted to engine management. 6  Silicon Chip volumes, each up to 300 pages long, and costs $140. This covers the whole of the car of course – not just the engine management. Modifications Books on the topic of fuel injection modification are very rare and those which are available also become quickly dated. There don’t seem the be any books which cover programmable injection, for example. “Tuning New Generation Engines for Power And Economy” (about $45) covers all aspects of modern engine modification – including a chapter on fuel injection. This book is already dated (it was first published in 1988) in that it deals solely with fooling the computer inputs in order to change the outputs. Fitting high-flow injectors and then using an air-bypass around the vane airflow meter so that over-fuelling at low loads doesn’t occur is dis­cussed in some detail, for example. However, some good points are made about fuel flow, injector capability, and so on. Bosch Fuel Injection and Engine Management is an American book which gives an excellent overview of both mechanical and electronic injection and management systems. Much of its material is drawn straight from the Bosch manuals and is therefore clear and accurate. A chapter on modification is included. This book is a good buy at about $60. Also available are some books which cover modifications to specific fuel injection systems. Published in the United States, some are relevant to use when Australian cars use the same engine management systems. Since both Ford and Holden are US-owned, books dealing with EEC (Ford) and GM-Delco (Holden) systems are useful. An example is How to Tune and Modify Ford Fuel Injection, which covers the EEC-IV system. Journals Various US, British and Australian engineering periodicals cover electronics in cars. The Australian journal “The Automotive Engineer” (published by the Australian Society of Automotive Engineers) is really aimed more at mechanics than engineers and tends to cover material at about the same level as the well-known “Gregory’s manuals. It provides coverage each time a new car is released, concentrating mainly on the technical aspects of the vehicle and its engine. The Society of Automotive Engineers in the United States also publishes material on electronics in cars. The best way to obtain this is in the collected papers which are published occa­sionally and which deal with one topic. “Engine Management and Driveline Controls”, for example, was published in 1989 and has a collection of engineering papers dealing with these topics. Other collections are also available. Once again, TAFE libraries sometimes carry these publications. This early Ford manual gives good background information & is applicable to all L-Jetronic EFI cars. Bibliography Here is a list of books containing good material on elec­ tronic engine management. There must be many others and I would welcome feedback from any reader who knows of other relevant references – especially in the area of modification. (1). Australian Automotive Industry Training Council, Engine Petrol Injection, Australian Government Publishing Service; Basic Training Manual 17-8, 1992. (2). Bell, A. G., Tuning New Generation Engines for Power and Economy; Haynes Publishing, 1988. (3). Bosch, Automotive Handbook; Robert Bosch GmbH, 1986 (4). Bosch, Technical Instruction – L-Jetronic; Robert Bosch GmbH, 198? (5). Bosch, Technical Instruction – Motronic; Robert Bosch GmbH, 1983. (6). EFI and Engine Management; Gregory’s Scientific Publications, 1990. (7). Mellard, T., Automotive Electronic Systems; Heinmann Newnes, 1987. (8). Probst, C. O., Bosch Fuel Injection and Engine Management; Robert Bentley, 1989. (9). Ribbens, W. & Mansour, N., Understanding Automotive Elec­tronics; Texas Instruments, 1984. (10). Watson, B., How To Tune and Modify For Fuel Injection; Motorbooks International, 1992. (11). Weathes, T. & Hunter, C., Automotive Computers SC and Control Systems; Prentice-Hall, 1984. This is one of the few books available which looks at modifica­tions to EFI systems. It is now getting a little dated but is still useful. May 1994  7