Introduction - Vauxhall 1987 to 1994 cartridge - Motronic M1.5 - Lotus - Omega B - OBDII - Download Tech1 Manuals - Cartridge Anatomy - Links

Introduction

Quite a few people get a club member (Malcolm, James or myself) to hook up a GM Tech 1 to the engine management system of their Carlton or Senator (Motronic M1.5 24V controlled engine). This reveals a wealth of data regarding the output from various sensor and also the stored learnt values (block leans etc). The trouble is the piece of paper with hastily written results is just columns of numbers which are often meaningless at first glance. I've detailed below the various data the Tech1 reports and more importantly it's meaning. The data here is from a real car gathered at a Norfolk Larling Pub club meet. Malcolm goes to most Bristol meetings and I attend most South Mimm's meetings.

Most of this information is gleaned from technical manuals and good old figuring out so please use at your own risk!

Over the years I have accumulated a number of Tech 1 cartridges in addition to the ones covering Vauxhall and Lotus Carlton models. Let me know if you are interested in any of the following (mainly of use to American readers!)

87-90 ECM "PLUS"

ALL87-89ECM "PLUS"

ALL 81-86

BUICK 88-91 BODY SYSTEMS

FORD 81-92 ECA

GM 81-92 ECM

GM 87-91 ECM

GM 88-90 RWAL-4WAL

GM 88-92 BODY SYSTEMS

GM 88-92 BRAKE

GM FOR CHRYSLER POWERTRAIN V1.0

W1988 GM-10 SYSTEM

The are two versions of the Tech1 which were used by Vauxhall. The early ones are just a Tech1 the newer ones are know as the Tech1a. You can easily tell the difference. Tech1 has a 15way D PLUG and the Tech1a has a 26way HD (3 line) D SOCKET. The Tech1a also has a power socket and a RJ45 socket on the side for connecting to the RS232 port of a PC (the Tech1 requires an additional cartridge to add this functionality)

They are very much functionally identical for most tasks. The main difference is you cannot program a MSC with a Tech1 unless you have the optional plug in communications module (with RJ45 socket). You also have to power the unit from the car (you can't power it on the bench!).

I can make leads which will connect a Tech1 or a Tech1a to the Vauxhall 10pin ALDL socket, or if you have a Omega B the Vauxhall 16pin ALDL socket. The main cartridge used for Vauxhall / Opel applications is the 1987 to 1994 application cartridge;

Vehicles covered by the Vauxhall/Opel 1987 to 1994 cartridge:

CORSA/NOVA:

C 13 N

C14 NZ

C 16 NZ

E 16 SE

C 16 SEI

KAD./ASTRA/BEL.:

C 13 N

E 16 NZ

C 16 NZ

   20 NE

   20 SEH

   20 SER

C 20 NE

   20 XE

C 20 XE

   20 XEJ

ABS-2E

ASCONA/CAVALIER:

E 16 NZ

C 16 NZ

   20 NE

C 20 NE

   20 SEH

C 20 NEF

VECTRA/CAVALIER:

C 16 NZ

   16 SV

X 16 SZ

E 18 NVR

   18 SV

C 18 NZ

   20 NE

C 20 NE

   20 SEH

   20 XEJ

C 20 XE

C 20 LET (Turbo)

C 25 XE (V6)

X 20 XEV

AF 13/14/20

AF 22

4 X 4

BOARD COMPUER

LCD INSTRUMENT

ANTI THEFT W.

AIRBAG

ABS-2E

4 X 4 K

TRACTION CONTR

CALIBRA:

C 20 NE

C 20 XE

C 20 LET (Turbo)

C 25 XE (V6)

AF 13/14/20

AF 22

ABS-2E

4 X 4

4 x 4 K

BOARD COMPUTER

ANTI THEFT W.

AIRBAG

OMEAG/CARLTON:

E 18 NVR

   18 SV

C 20 NE

C  20 NEJ

C 20 NEF

   20 SE

C 24 NE

C 30 NE

C 30 LE

C 30 SE

BOARD COMPUTER

LCD INSTRUMENT

ANTI THEFT W.

AW 03-71 LE

SENATOR:

C 30 LE

C 30 NE

C 36 NE (Irmscher special!)

C 40 SE (Irmscher special!)

A W 03-71 LE

AR 25/35

BOARD COMPUTER

LCD INSTRUMENT

ANTI THEFT W.

FRONTERA

C 20 NE

C 24 NE

ASTRA F

C 16 NZ

X 16 SZ

C 16 SE

C 18 NZ

C 18 XE

C 20 NE

C 20 XE

AF 13/14/20

ABS-2E

TRACTION CONTR

ANTI THEFT W.

MULTI INFO D.

AIRBAG

Below if information specifically relevant to the Carlton/Senator, it goes into details for items readable using the Tech1 on these cars, simular parameters are available from other vehicles in the range.

MOTRONIC M1.5 (C 30 SE):

The first thing the Tech 1 will present is the part number of the ECU. For the Vauxhall 24V straight 6 this will be 90325269 FZ which you will also find on the label located on the front of the ECU!. 

The Tech 1 will now kindly tell you of any stored (or present) trouble codes and their name. If all is well you should be greeted with "NO TROUBLE CODES". A list of trouble codes for the Motronic M1.5 ECU can be found here.

Now it's time to press "F0" and get to the DATA LIST, this starts a stream of information from the ECU which is presented in 'pages' on the tech 1 display. The table below shows the category title, test conditions and acceptable values. Click on category if the Tech 1 readings from your car are out of range, a window will pop up with some trouble shooting tips.

Things usually have to be very bad before a problem throws up a trouble code, a faulty lambda sensor is the best example, the cars run very bad before a code appears!

AUTOMATIC GEARBOX ECU:

ALARM SYSTEM:

TRIP COMPUTER:

INST. CONSUMPT.	Ignition ON, engine not running	0.0 gal/hour
RANGE CORRECTION		-30 to +30 km
OUTSIDE TEMP.
BATTERY VOLTAGE
INST. TANK CONT.	Tank voltage from bimetal measuring device
FUEL PUMP RELAY		ACTIVE or INACTIVE
DEC. FUEL CUTOFF	Activated at high speeds and with the accelerator pedal in idle position	ACTIVE or INACTIVE
FUNCTION KEY
START KEY
HOUR KEY
MINUTE KEY
DIST. SINCE RESET
TIME SINCE RESET
ICE WARNING
DISTANCE WARNING
INST. CONSUMPT.	Used for calculating range

 

LOTUS CARLTON
The Tech1 can also interface to the Lotus Carlton / Omega. I don't own one of these cars but all the Tech1a information on this application is contained in the .pdf download at the bottom of this page. Malcolm Rob has some excelent web-pages on this car and the ECU communications with a Tech1.

OMEGA B 1994-
The Tech1 was at the end of it's service life when the Omega B came out, but there is a bespoke cartridge available which covers the systems on the 1994 car. You can communicate with the following on-board systems, very comprehensive, you have lots to play with on a Omega!

MOTRONIC M 2.8.1
AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION AR 25/35
ABS
ZF SERVOTRONIC STEERING
ELECTRONIC CRUISE CONTROL
SLIDING ROOF
AIRBAG
ANTI-THEFT WARNING SYSTEM
MID (MULTI INFO DISPLAY)
TID (TRIPLE INFO DISPLAY)
CENTRAL DOOR LOCKING SYSTEM
OUTSIDE REAR VIEW MIRROR
INNER REAR VIEW MIRROR
FRONT SEATS
 

The Omega B 1994 and the latest Vauxhall/Opel 1988 to 1994 cartridges also have a 'secret' option; just enter 1995 as the year and you can interface to 1995 systems (for some reason the cartridge is only labelled as 1994 and the menu only lists 1994!, and instead of selecting the car you select the exact system to communicate with:

SIMTEC 56

MOTR. M 1.5.2

MOTR. M 1.5.4

MOTR. M 2.8.1

AF 22

4 X 4 K

TRACTION CONTR

ABS 4/4-F

ABS-2SH (+TC)

ANTI THEFT W.

REAL TIME DAMP

AIRBAG

ELEC. SUN ROOF

CENT.DOOR LOCK

CRUISE CONTROL

SEAT MEMORY

MULTI INFO D.

TRIPLE INFO D.

AR 25/35

SERVOTRONIC

More details on all the above are available on the TIS system, eBay is awash with copies of this on CD!

OBDII

Both Tech1 and Tech1a can be upgraded to communicate with any OBD II compliant vehicle. A special interface box is required which is plugged into the expansion port (or is contained in a dongle attached to the cable) and allows the "Global OBD II" cartridge to be used. This greatly improves the range of new vehicles you can use the tester with.

Tech 1 Operational Manuals
I have scanned in a couple of Tech1 manuals I have obtained with various Tech1 purchases over the years.

tech1a.pdf (831kB)

General Tech1a manual from the manufacture. Covers non-application specific information.

lotus.pdf (734kB)

For Lotus owners the manual is quite useful even if you don't have a Tech1 to use. It allows an insight into the inner workings of the Lotus ECU and engine! Covers all terminal pin-outs and multi-meter / oscilloscope tests to track down problems! It also contains colour code translation between the Lotus and Vauxhall looms!

Global_OBD_II_Tech1A.pdf (736kB)

Global OBD II with toolpak application cartridge manual.

Cartridge Anatomy

There are a number of different cartridge internals, in which a programmed EPROM can be inserted which contains the cartridges identity. The cartridge PCB determines the maximise size EPROM which can be used. I summarised the cartridge PCBs I have encountered so far:

27C4001 (4Mb) or 27C801 (8Mb) sized EPROM'S requires ASSY 0300623 (c) 1993 PCB shown below with jumper 1 (left) set to B and A and jumper 2 (top left) between B and A. The 4Mb EPROM is required to hold the OBDII cartridge data and so these cartridges are quite rare.

27C010 (1Mb) sized EPROM'S require PWB 04001002 boards to use a 27C020 (2Mb) (OmegaB or Vauxhall'87to95 cart) you need JP5 (top left of board) set to the right  and broken to the left.

27C256 (256k) sized EPROM'S are required for the Lotus Cartridge and can be fitted in the last type of cartridge

Links
www.vetronix.com

Manufactures of the Tech1 and the new Tech2 tools

http://www.lotus-carlton.fsnet.co.uk/

Malcolm Rob's lotus pages