Common Terminology: Background

Manufacturers of electrical and electronic control modules have established names for physical components and derived information. Traditionally, the naming of such parameters has been within the domain of the individual manufacturer. Therefore, if a particular manufacturer used a name internally for a component, that same name would inevitably be used in its design information, service manuals, and troubleshooting guides.

Because of this, there currently exists within the industry a series of names and/or abbreviations that represent the same physical component or parameter. For example, one manufacturer uses the term "O2 sensor" for the "Oxygen Sensor Output", while another uses the term "EGO" for "Exhaust Gas Output" - both represent the same data.

To further compound the issue, with the advent of diagnostic service tools and PC applications a number of names have been created to describe the functions of a software application. For example, the capture of vehicle data for later playback and review is known in the industry as "Data Snapshot," "Flight Recording," and "Movie."

This approach to the naming of parameters, data, and processes has caused a great deal of confusion for technicians responsible for maintaining and servicing vehicles with components from several original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and component suppliers. A technician's diagnostic capability and system understanding improves when the industry adopts standard terms for similar components, parameters and processes. This section provides a series of recommendations for adopting common terminology to such parameters and processes.