I don't have any Pectel toys, but Harvey does...his diagnostic ECU is a little more 'special' than mine, presumably it has a Pectel baby-board. The Pectel monitor simply plugs into the existing diagnostic port.
Under normal circumstances, the L1/L6/L8 (can't speak for the P8) diagnostic port outputs simple flash codes, which as we all know, are useless for spotting a live failure. With a suitably modified ECU, the ECU's 'serial port' is enabled in software, converting the diagnostic port into a 3 pin serial port. You then have data in, data out and ground lines, so the ECU can effectively 'stream' live sensor information through the port. When connected, the Pectel monitor can get live sensor information directly from the horses mouth and displays the actual values on the screen.
What I might not have made clear in my article is that the L1 and L6 (2wd ECUs) have a 'bug'. Neither can spot a broken TPS, unless it's disconnected, due to the way they get the reading from the sensor - the only way to spot a throttle sensor with with a dead-zone is with something like the Pectel monitor.
One of the Sapphire's shortcomings is the decision by some plonker at Ford to remove the ECU fault light, which the 3 door Cossie had. At least with that you had a better chance of spotting a failed sensor situation. I'm now firmly of the belief that a live monitor like the Pectel one is an essential piece of kit.
