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Fault Tracing

As part of planning a workshop visit, all customer complaints are recorded as CSC (Customer Symptom Codes). Once the vehicle arrives at the workshop for a repair, VIDA needs to be connected to the vehicle to read all the information that the vehicle has recorded in its control modules. This is called vehicle readout.

Readout information contains various information, including Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTC), mileage etc. A DTC is set when a pre-defined fault condition matches an existing fault condition. For example if the pre-defined fault condition for an input signal read by the control module is The value of the signal is greater than 6 V, then a DTC will be set if the current value of the signal is greater 6 V. By that, DTCs give you indications on specific issues recorded by the vehicle. VIDA does a matching between the CSC and DTCs present in the vehicle. VIDA then provides step-by-step procedures (using reference documents) to fault trace the issue on the Fault Tracing page.

 

There are two ways to access this page:

  1. By clicking the Diagnostics tab and then the menu item Fault Tracing.

  2. By clicking the icon next to the CSC description in a work list.

The Fault Tracing page is divided into three main sections:

 
Fig. 103: The Fault Tracing page

Note

Note

The Fault Tracing page is disabled until a vehicle has been read out. See the article Connected Vehicles for additional information.

1. Function, CSC and Source drop-down menus

These three drop-down menus are used to specify the information in the ranked list. To start fault tracing a vehicle, it is required to select a function and a CSC.

 
Fig. 104: The Function, CSC and Source drop-down menus
 

Drop-down menu

Description

Function

This drop-down menu contains functions of the selected vehicle.

If CSC have been added to your currently active work list, this menu is filtered to only view functions that are related to those CSC. If no CSC have been added, all functions available for the selected vehicle are available and you need to select function and CSC manually. If you need to do any selection based on the content in your work list, a pop-up will prompt you to do so.

If you have not selected any CSC in your work list, you have to select a function to be able to look at reference information. Please note that if you only select a function, the components and actions in the ranked list cannot be ranked. Only reference information is available until a CSC is selected.

When expanding the drop-down menu, there is a search function available. Use this function to filter the list in order to find a function quickly.

CSC

Once a function is selected you can select a related CSC in order to rank the ranked list.

If you have one CSC in your currently active work list you need to select function, if the CSC is related to more than one function. If you have multiple CSC in your currently active work list, you need to select both function and CSC to work with. If you need to do any selection based on the content in your work list, a pop-up will prompt you to do so.

When expanding the drop-down menu, there is a search function available. Use this function to filter the list in order to find a CSC quickly.

Source

The information on the Fault Tracing page reflects information from the latest vehicle readout by default. By using this drop-down menu you can select previously performed vehicle readouts in order to see the vehicle's status at that specific times. All information on the Fault Tracing page is related to the readout time selected in this drop-down menu. When another readout than the latest one is selected, the drop-down menu is marked in red.

Please note that previously performed vehicle readouts represent an old snapshot of the vehicle status. If you have selected to view information from a previously performed vehicle readout, remember to switch back to the latest readout in the drop-down menu in order to view the latest information again.

2. Ranked list

This list contains relevant components and actions for fault tracing the vehicle e.g. technical journals, component based fault tracing procedures and control module software updates. The components presented in this list are the ones that are the most likely to cause the problem that the customer is experiencing with the vehicle.

The list is populated once a function has been selected but it is not ranked until also a CSC has been selected. The list is ranked with the most likely cause of the fault on top. You should always start fault tracing with the first component or action in the list and work your way down.

 
Fig. 105: The ranked list
 

The ranked list is structured in three columns:

Column

Description

Component and Actions

This column displays the titles of the components and actions in the ranked list. Actions are shown below certain components if there is something you should perform or check in order to verify the component. All actions have an icon and blue font. See the subsection below for additional information.

All electrical components are marked with the electrical designation in front of the name, e.g. '15/31'. Please note that this is not the case for mechanical components or wiring.

When a CSC is selected in the CSC drop-down menu, the components and actions that are related to the CSC are marked in bold. Components related to function are shown as well but in regular font.

Priority

Once a CSC is selected from the CSC drop-down menu, the ranked list is sorted on priority values. The lower the priority value of a component or action is, the more likely it is to solve the problem. The list is sorted ascending according to these values with the most likely cause of the fault on top.

The priority values are provided by experts at Volvo Cars and are based on collective knowledge within the company. You are always recommended to perform fault tracing actions based on the ranked list. However, you are of course still free to select any action based on your preferences, experience and expertise.

Fault cause

Once a CSC has been selected from the CSC drop-down menu, two icons may appear in this column for components and actions:

At least one set DTC is related to the component. Hoover the cursor over the icon to see additional DTC information. Please note that this icon is only triggered by confirmed DTCs. See the article DTCs for additional information.

Cause of failure information is available for the component. Hoover the cursor over the icon to see additional information. Cause of failure information can e.g. be 'Circuit open' or 'Not responding'.

Note

Note

Priority value and Fault cause are only present after the selection of a CSC in the CSC drop-down menu. If no CSC is selected, the Priority value and Fault cause columns are hidden.

Actions

Actions are shown below certain components if there is something you should perform or check in order to verify the component. All actions have blue font and an icon (e.g. or ) to indicate type of action. By clicking an action, the ranked list is temporarily replaced by a document that describes the selected action.

 

The following four buttons are always available below a selected action:

button

Description

Fault Found

Use this button if you did found the fault by using the action. This closes the action and the ranked list is shown again. The icon is shown next to the action to indicate that it has been performed and that the fault was found.

Fault Not Found

Use this button if you did not find the fault by using the action. This closes the action and the ranked list is shown again. The icon is shown next to the action to indicate that it has been performed and that the fault was not found.

Done

Use this button to mark the action as done. This is e.g. applicable if you do not know if the action helped you finding the fault or not. This closes the action and the ranked list is shown again. The icon is shown next to the action to indicate that it has been viewed.

Cancel

Use this button to cancel the action. When this button is used, no icon will be shown next to the action in the ranked list.

You can change a previously set value in the ranked list anytime by clicking one of the three icons described in the table above. It is also possible to set a value without opening the action.

Note

Note

Please use the buttons described above to indicate when actions are successful or unsuccessful. Your feedback is valuable to evaluate and improve the priority values in the ranked list.

3. Fault tracing tabs

In this panel on the right-hand side of the screen, all fault tracing information and functions related to the selected component or action in the ranked list are available.

 
Fig. 106: The fault tracing tabs

The fault tracing information and functions are divided into the following tabs:

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