Circuit/System Description

The serial data circuit is the means by which the control modules in the vehicle communicate with each other. Once the scan tool is connected to the serial data circuit through the data link connector (DLC), the scan tool can be used to monitor each control module for diagnostic purposes and to check for diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs). When the ignition switch is in RUN, each control module communicating on the serial data circuit sends a state of health (SOH) message to ensure that the control module is operating properly. When a control module stops communicating on the serial data circuit, for example if the control module loses power or ground, the SOH message it normally sends on the serial data circuit disappears. Other control modules on the serial data circuit, which expect to receive that SOH message, detect its absence; those control modules in turn set a DTC associated with the loss of SOH of the non-communicating control module. The DTC is unique to the control module which is not communicating and one or more control modules may set the same exact code. A loss of serial data communications DTC does not represent a failure of the control modules that contain the stored code.