The design and development of an automatic transmission solenoid tester for wheeled vehicles

Abstract

Solenoids are the most critical components in automatic transmissions. They are used to control the shift points, clutch locking, or pressure regulation of automatic transmissions. Since the number, type, and order of the solenoids all differ when they are used in different vendor’s automatic transmissions, making accurate normal/abnormal decisions for solenoids is very difficult, as it can lower the maintenance quality, to waste labor and material cost, and even reduce driving safety. This article proposes an “abnormal” inspecting method (i.e. for abnormality) for solenoids with high inspect ability and develops a learnable automatic transmission solenoid tester. This tester can perform solenoid testing on multiple channels at the same time. The test result statistics for all channel solenoids tested are generated automatically. It also provides visibility for users to view the difference comparisons of testing curves of temperature, pressure, voltage, current, and resistance on a graphical screen. The curve visibility function will be helpful for the solenoid diagnosis of abnormal or fault reasons.