System Description

WARNING: This page is about a different car, the 2009 GMC Envoy and 2009 Chevrolet TrailBlazer. However, it is still accessible from the selected car via links, so may be relevant.

The engine control module (ECM) detects engine misfire by detecting variations in crankshaft deceleration between firing strokes. For accurate detection of engine misfire the ECM must distinguish between crankshaft deceleration caused by actual misfire and deceleration caused by rough road conditions. The antilock brake system (ABS) can detect if the vehicle is on a rough road based on wheel acceleration/deceleration data supplied by the wheel speed sensors. If the ABS detects rough road above a predetermined threshold, this information is sent to the ECM. The ECM uses the rough road information when calculating engine misfire. If the ABS is malfunctioning and cannot detect rough roads, the misfire diagnostic will continue to run; however, if an engine misfire DTC sets, this DTC also sets indicating that there was no communication with the brake control module during the misfire calculation due to an ABS malfunction.