Newsletter 25
September 2003
The world economy is showing signs of revival. This is our chance to show the world
that we - the Dealer / Caterpillar team is indeed the best in the business. Excellence in
training is a key success factor in product support and ultimately future sales.
The Editor’s Column
New Service Training Manager
Incoming
Richard Mizanin has replaced Doug Stark as Service
Training Manager. Richard comes from the NACD
Rental and Used Equipment Services Group.
Richard has broad product support experience
including 12 years in dealer management with a variety
of positions including service management and dealer
training. His Caterpillar experience includes time in
Service Training and Service Rep. Positions. He is very
customer oriented and with his broad background, comes
very well equipped for the job.
We welcome Richard to his new position in Service
Training.
Outgoing
Doug Stark, who was the Service Training Manager
and regular contributor to this Newsletter has moved on
to Moscow, Russia as Product Support Manager for the
CIS (Confederation of Independent States) and Mongolia
- a vast territory. He is responsible for Parts, Service,
Service Training, and Business Systems. We thank Doug
for his many contributions to Service Training.
Confidentiality
Please use care in sharing the website content and
information in these Newsletters. Check page two for
more on safeguarding our intellectual property.
Version 1.1
Engine Information for:
Instructors -
Technical Communicators -
Service Reps Worldwide -
Feedback
A hot topic at this time is Cat ET and Service
Technician Workbench training. A new course is in
progress and will be available electronically later in the
year. Training will follow. There have been many
requests for STW/ET training and training material.
In the mean time, we will release material on issues
requiring clarification. For example, there may be
communications difficulties with the program and the
interface device, the Communication Adapter II. These
issues like any other, become complicated if the user is
not informed, but become relatively easy with the right
information being available. Subject to this course being
published, this Newsletter contains some information
which will fill that need.
At the risk of being repetitive, material on the subject
which was previously published has been updated and
included to provide more complete information.
Thought for the Day
Whether we are teaching our children or Caterpillar
students in the classroom, here is a thought.
Example isn't another way to teach,
it is the only way to teach
Albert Einstein
 Training Material Updates
C-9 / C9 Training Material
C-9 Material
The C-9 (Industrial and Machine) Training Manual
with slides and script has been updated and published in
CD format. It is available individually and will also be
included in both the Machine and Engine Training
Material Subscriptions.
This training material is now available in CD format
using the following media number.
SERH4050 C-9 Engine - Systems and Controls
Engines with ACERT Technology
There is also Training Material available for C9 On-
Highway Engines with ACERT technology. This
material is available on the Service Training website.
NOTE: The designation "C9" without the hyphen
denotes an engine with ACERT technology. For more
ACERT information, go to the January 02 Newsletter
No. 22, page 6.
Use the following URL to access the Service Training
Website:
https://psmktg.cat.com/srvtrng
Use the following menus for locating presentations on
the website for the new engines:
Material Downloads / NPI
NOTE: Information on the use of Injector Trim Files
and injector calibration is contained in the C9
presentation.
STW Update
Service Technician Workbench Course
A Service Technician Workbench (STW) course which
includes Electronic Technician (Cat ET) is in progress
and will be available by the end of the year. Also
training classes will be available at that time in Peoria. A
segment of this course is described in the second half of
this Newsletter (from page 4).
Newsletter Correction
The last Newsletter (No. 24) contained an error on the
last page with the article "Rules of Thumb". There were
degree symbols that appeared as zeros on the last line.
This has been corrected on the web copy.
2
SIS Web Training Materials for Download
The Service Training website has a link to a site which
contains SIS Web (Service Information System) training
material.
Use the following menus to download the training
material:
E-Learning Activities / Software /
Service Information System - SIS Web Presentations
There are presentations in Adobe Acrobat and
Microsoft Powerpoint formats.
Feedback
Suggestions for articles and subjects are welcome.
Also updates and corrections are encouraged. Feedback
on the Newsletter can be directed to the following
address:
Nigel Wilkinson
Caterpillar Inc.
Service Training, Bldg. LC 1A-D
501 S.W. Jefferson St.
Peoria IL 61630-2124 USA
Email: Wilkinson_Nigel_S@CAT.com
Double click on the URL below (or copy to the web
browser) for current and last year's issues of the Tech
Tips Newsletter:
https://psmktg.cat.com/srvtrng/download/resource/in
dex.htm#engmu
Confidentiality
Please use care in sharing the website content and
information in these Newsletters. The Newsletters should
be kept within our company/dealer organisation and
should not be shared in electronic form outside the
organization. If necessary, information can be extracted
from the Newsletters with good judgement and shared
with our customers.
The information is designed to help our dealer
technical/training staff stay ahead of the technology
which of necessity is proliferating. Included are the TCs
as they are de-facto trainers.
We need to take all necessary steps to safeguard
our intellectual property. This means the entire team;
both Caterpillar and Caterpillar Dealer staff.
 Computers, Software and Web Stuff
Cat ET Issues
Cat ET Communication Diagnostics
Cat ET (Electronic Technician) communication
problems have arisen with computer Comm Ports being
inadvertently disabled. This problem can happen for a
variety of reasons. For example a conflict with another
device such as a docking station or a Palm Pilot.
The Newsletter No. 22 contained a Cat ET
communication troubleshooting list for diagnostic
purposes. One of the items listed was to check for a
disabled Comm Port. We didn't say how this was to be
accomplished, page 4 at the Comm Adapter section
addresses this issue. This section can be used as a class
handout.
This subject is also being addressed in the Service
Technician Workbench course which will be available
later in the year.
If a technician is in an isolated location, far from the
home base and Cat ET communication problem arises,
the customer may incur considerable down time and
expense as a result of the technician's inability to
troubleshoot the problem.
It may be advantageous to know ahead of time which
Comm Port is in use in case it becomes disabled.
However by checking ET, it can be determined from the
preferences screen which Comm Port was previously
selected.
It could be argued that the average technician is not
authorized to work with Comm Ports. However if the
technician is far from base, there may be no alternative,
other than an expensive car or plane journey back to
base.
Check this latest procedure for enabling the Comm
Port. Following this procedure, the Data Link
Troubleshooting chart has been updated and reprinted
Also the cable diagram has been updated to include the
USB Serial Cable Adapter.
3
USB Cables
The last issue (No. 24) contained information on the
new USB Serial Adapter for Cat ET (listed below).
USB Serial Adapter - Part No: 237-7547
There have also been requests for information about a
dedicated USB cable. Such a cable is now in the testing
process and will be announced shortly.
Flash Files
There are now Flash Files which are actually larger
than a 1.44MB floppy disk can carry. Obviously the
floppy disk is no longer convenient for transporting Flash
Files such as these. A solution is to copy the file to the
computer hard drive or to a CD ROM.
The Flash Files in question are those which pertain to
the new truck engines with ACERT technology.
These ECMs can be flashed over the ATA or CAN data
links. The file sizes are in the 1.7MB range. They can
be zipped and put on a floppy disk, if a floppy is the only
way to move them around. It is better just to download
them directly to the PC being used.
If an ECM breakout harness is being used, it may
speed up the process if the harness is updated to include
CAN data link wiring.
Information supplied by Jim Roal, Cat Electronics
Communication Diagnostics with Cat ET
The following pages contain training material which
can be used as a class handout. This material is titled
"Communication Diagnostics with Cat ET".
Communication Diagnostics
with
Cat Electronic Technician

Nigel Wilkinson
 Communications Diagnostics
Communication Diagnostics
Cat ET Training
The information on these pages can be used
for training, either for the reader or in the
classroom as a handout. A separate Lab
Assignment to reinforce the training is available
on the Service Training website.
Diagnostics
Initiating communications with Cat ET and
the Communication Adapter is normally a
simple and straightforward process. However,
if a problems arises, there are a number of
factors that can cause an interruption to
communications. These are summarized below.
The potential factors are grouped into five
categories as follows:
Communication Adapter
These issues are confined to the
Communication Adapter tool, with the related
hardware and software.
Communication Adapter Cables
These issues discuss the Communication
Adapter cables and associated symptoms.
PC Software and Hardware
Computer Comm (Communication) Port
issues are covered here as it affects checking,
enabling and disabling of the port within the
PC.
Cat ET Preferences
This section covers setting of Cat ET
Preferences and related issues within the
program.
Application Systems
For the Communication Adapter to operate
and the machine or engine to communicate with
Cat ET, power must come from the Service
Tool Connector. Also the ECM must be
activated and with a valid Personality Module.
5 Updated Aug 03
Other Diagnostic Issues
ECM Power Supplies
The ECM power supply and data link wiring
harnesses must be complete in order to
communicate.
Up to three data link circuits may be in use in
a single application as follows:
1. CAN - J1939 (Controller Area Network)
2. CDL (Cat Data link)
3. ATA - J1708 (American Trucking Assoc.)
PC Communication Port Enabling
A procedure for enabling the Computer
Comm Port is included in this publication.
Communication Adapter Cables
The last page contains a schematic showing
all the cables currently in use of both the
Communication Adapter I and II. This
schematic has been updated again to reflect new
cables.
Communication Adapter I
The previous Communication (7X1700) is
mentioned briefly in the diagnostic section.
Also many of the diagnostic procedures can
also apply to this tool.
Presentation Material
An electronic slide presentation
"Communication Diagnostics with Cat ET", is
available for dealers on the Service Training
website. This presentation is available in
Adobe Acrobat format.
A lab worksheet can also be downloaded for
class purposes and used in conjunction with the
presentation and this text as a handout.
 Cat ET Tooling Tech Tips
Communication Adapter Tech Tips
Serial Cable Length
At times the length of the Serial Cable for the
Communication Adapter II (25 ft) may be
inconvenient. A short cable is available through
the Caterpillar parts system.
Communication Adapter II Lights
If the Communication Adapter lights are all
on as shown below; this is an indication that the
(CA II - Application Firmware) Flash File is
either missing or corrupted.

The use of this cable dictates that the

computer is equipped with a serial port - unless
a USB/Serial adapter cable is used.
160-0142 Serial Cable (Short) 10 ft

Communication Adapter Availability

The 171-4401 Communication Adapter II is
available without the cables and box.

The tool is normally supplied with a serial

cable. Various other cables are available,
including a parallel cable and a USB adapter
cable. These cables are described in a diagram
on the last page of this publication.

USB Cable
A dedicated USB cable will be available later
in this year. This cable can replace the USB to
Serial Cable Adapter (Part No. 237-7547).

System Information Tech Tip

Using Cat ET, select Ctrl I and the following
screen will appear, this screen contains much
useful system information, and all on one
screen.
The Communication Adapter must now be
re-flashed with the correct file in order to
function.
The presentation available on the Service
Training Website (URL below) explains this
process in detail (Communication Diagnostics
with Cat ET).
https://psmktg.cat.com/srvtrng/index.htm

CA II Start Up Light Sequence

On start up, the Communication Adapter
lights are lit in sequence, starting with the
Power light. This function is useful for
diagnostic purposes.
6
 Communications Diagnostics
Data Link Troubleshooting with Communication Adapter II
CAT ET will not communicate with the ECM
Tool Issues
1. Comm Adapter cable defect (test by substituting new cables)

2. Non standard data link cable, too long for CAN use, standard cable 2 ft long (J1939 standards limit cable length)

3. No power to Comm Adapter (no power light), check keyswitch, master switch, fuse

4. Comm Adapter II - hardware and software:

A. Physical or internal damage to Comm Adapter, defect (test by substituting a new Communication Adapter)
B. Comm Adapter II Firmware Flash File missing or corrupted (replace the Flash File)
All lights ON, indicates no Firmware Flash File installed
C. Comm Adapter II (early) software version/operating system conflict (see following page for more details)
NOTE: Software updates and compatibility issues on next page

Computer/CAT ET Issues
5. CAT ET preferences not set correctly
A. Correct comm port not selected, not matched with computer comm port
B. Incorrect Communication Adapter selected
C. Computer software (Comm Adapter II driver) not installed or corrupted in computer (re-install)
D. Baud rate selection problem (a lower rate can be selected on older computers)
6. Computer comm port not enabled or comm port conflicting with another device

Application System Issues

7. Low or no power to ECM, or ECM not energized from keyswitch (turn on keyswitch)

8. No Flash File in ECM, or Flash File is corrupted (re-flash Personality Module)

9. Machine/engine wiring harness (datalink) open/short between ECM and Service Tool Connector
(check cable harness continuity)

10. Power supply to Comm Adapter at Service Tool Connector failed (check cable harness continuity)

Communication Adapter I (7X1700)

Many of these checks can also apply to the Comm Adapter I (7X-1701). In place of the Comm Adapter Flash File,
there is a removable Service Program Module (SPM).
Ref: SEHS9274 Using The 7X1700 Communication Adapter Group.

1. Check for correct installation of SPM

2. Check for blown fuses in Comm Adapter I

NOTE: Comm Adapter I will not service the CAN (J1939) Data Link, use Comm Adapter II

7 Updated Aug 03
 Communications Diagnostics

PC Communication Port Enabling Procedure

Select the following items in sequence. Note: All key strokes/selections are in bold.

1. Select Start

2. Select Settings (from the "Start Menu")

3. Control Panel Screen

Select System

4. System Properties Screen

Select Hardware

5. Device Manager Screen

a. Select Ports (Com & LPT)

b. Select Communications Port (Com 1)

6. Communications Port (Comm 1) Screen

Select Use this device (enable)

7. Select OK

8. Device Manager Screen

Click X at top of screen to close

9. System Properties Screen

Select OK

The Comm Port should now be enabled.

The port previously used can be identified using the Cat ET Preferences screen.

This procedure is for use with the Windows 2000 operating system.

The procedure can also be accessed through the "My Computer" icon on the desktop.

8 Updated Aug 03
 Communications Diagnostics

Communications Adapter II Software Information

(Group No. 171-4400)

Current STW and Cat ET Software: STW2003A and ET2003A

PC Operating Systems PC Software Driver CA II Firmware Flash Files Version

95B, 98, NT, ME, 2000, XP 2.22 2.2

95, 95A 1.2 1.0 or 1.1

Software and Operating System Compatibility

PC Operating Systems PC Software Driver CA II Firmware Flash Files Version

95, 95A, 95B, 98, NT, ME 1.0 1.0 or 1.1

95, 95A, 95B, 98, NT, ME 1.1 1.0 or 1.1

95, 95A 1.2 (2001B) 1.0 or 1.1 (current for 95/95A)

2000 1.8 (2001A) 2.2

95B, 98, NT, ME, 2000, XP 1.93 (2001B) 2.2

95B, 98, NT, ME, 2000, XP 2.22 (2003A) 2.2 (current)

Miscellaneous Information
Cat ET will no longer function with Windows 95 after 2003. Windows 98 or later must be used with Version 2004A

The Boot Firmware is factory installed and cannot be changed in the field. Version 1.0 is currently in use.

PC software Version 1.0 software can not flash CA II firmware (instead use PC software version 1.1 or another PC with
PC software version 1.93 or above).

If the CA II flash routine cannot be accessed, it may be necessary to exit Cat ET and/or reboot the computer.

PC software Version 2.22 allows use of the, Serial Port (Com 1-4) or Parallel Port (LPT 1 or 2)

USB Serial Adapter (237-7547) requires additional software, supplied with the adapter.
(See Newsletter No. 24 for info.)

Refer to the Comm Adapter II operating manual or the Readme file for more information.

For more information or help with problems, contact the Help Desk

Email: dcs_support_center@cat.com
Updated Aug 03
Phone: 1-800 765-0999 or (309) 675-4000
9
 Caterpillar Electronic Technician (Cat ET)
PC To Machine/Engine Connections

Communication Adapter II
Engine Electronic 207-6845 Universal 196-0055 Serial Cable (25 ft) *
Control Module (ECM) Data Link Cable (2 ft) or 225-5985 Parallel Cable (25 ft) **
160-0133 (discontinued) 160-0141 Serial Cable (25 ft) *** STW/E
T
160-0142 Serial Cable, short (10 ft)

To PC Serial USB or
Service Tool
Parallel Port
Connector Communication
(Comm Port)
Adapter II
171-4400 (Group) 237-7547
Supports ATA CDL & CAN data links USB/Serial Port Adapter

* Included with Comm Adapter Group

** For use only on newer PC's without serial ports
*** For all PC's except IBM Think Pads and Compaq Computers

Communication Adapter I
Engine Electronic
Control Module (ECM)
139-4166 7X1425
Data Link Cable (18 ft) Serial Cable (4 ft) STW/E
T

PC Serial or USB Port

Service Tool (Comm Port)
Connector
Communication
Adapter I
7X1700 (Group)
Supports ATA & CDL data links
(discontinued but still in use)

Updated September 03