I would guess the round disk is a pressure transducer needing 12 V as power supply ... but that's just a guess.

hugues-

 

The pressure sensor (not in either of the pics i posted) is off in another part of the box.

The black square sensor/IC is definatly not a pressure sensor, it has an exposed metalic ellement that would much more likely be something like a temperature sensor.

 

Well, mine doesn't "buzz" on the car with the main relay on (supplies the 12v) and me with a stethoscope plugged into my ears, lol...

I thought maybe Hugues had nailed it, but I guess not...What does the sensor look like, WhiteFC, is it an actual little rubber diaphragm?

The answer has something to do with the fact the S5's don't have the input, I have a feeling...

 

It looks like a 16pin surface mount IC... With a shiny metalic looking top.

...so.. to me, that looks like a temp sensor..

the circular surround to it is mearly an insulator for the IC, it does not move at all, solidly mounted there with some plastic goo/insulating goo.


but we really need a s5 one to be dismantled.

 

Lol, you just want to tear something else up

OK, so far the prevailing theory is that we've got a temp sensor, but why would it need 12v, when the other temp sensors on the car use 5v (and have known inputs to the ECU, I might add)?

WhiteFC- I wasn't talking about the mystery object having a diaphragm, I was talking about the actual pressure sensor itself (the one you said was "out of the picture")

 

And another thing- this sensor is one of two that use a 12v input from the main relay (the atmospheric pressure sensor being the other), yet they use the common ground that the other 5v sensors use...There is no isolated ground for this 12v input, which leads me to believe that it is some form of power supply for "something", totally seperate from the 5v input/ 1-4v outputs from & to the ECU...Both of the 12v items are pressure sensors-none of the other sensors are. That should be a big clue, but I'm clueless

 

umm its a metal cylinder about 10mm high and 7.5mm in diameter.
feeding into is a metal tube approximatly 2mm in O.D. with some rubber washes to seal it all up and a few wires protruding out the bottom of it.

and well.. appart from that, it has the numbers "00 <mitsubish logo> 527"

thats about it...

 

You know what? I wonder if our mystery object is an amplifier circuit- see if you can follow me here...Conjecture-the pressure sensor itself is an inductive unit, it uses magnetic fields to induce a current in the pickup wiring (much like a synchro, or a proximity switch) in your little cylinder there. Since the induced voltages are so small (typically in the milli-volt range), we need a power amplifier to boost the signals to something the ECU can use. The 5v input plays a role in the amplifier circuit, giving the amp circuit a reference, or a benchmark, to regulate the output to...End conjecture...

Why would a simple temp sensor need a 16-prong IC chip? Unless... there's a "map" for output ranges relative to temperature, that could be (kind of like a "mini ECU" inside of the boost sensor)

This is fun, but frustrating at the same time

 

I think you hit the nail on the head Wayne.

That makes perfect sense to me.

and the round 'insulator' ontop of the IC could very well have been a mini heat sink for it.

 

"I think you hit the nail on the head Wayne."

Which theory, lol, I posited two of them...

Thanks for all of your help, FC, I see you enjoy solving unknowns as much as I

Still don't know if we're any closer than when we started, though, lol...

 

Bring it back from the dead

After talking to an electronic & automotive guru guy I work with, he's come to the conclusion that a couple of us have hinted at- it's a power supply for a processor & amplification circuit for the "load sensing" chip in the sensor itself. We use the same technology on some of our scales, from aircraft weighing scales to the digital scales we have at home (not the spring scales). The chip has a silicone layer that's "built in", and "stretches" slightly with force applied. The chip converts this "stretching" into an electrical signal, which is processed and amplified for an output.

So, end of mystery, that was fun, wasn't it?

Now to find something else for White FC to destroy...

 

And this is for you, Hailers, since I know you like this kind of stuff
And you, FC, it will show you exactly what you were looking at when you disassembled yours

http://www.sensorsmag.com/articles/0401/32/

A close model of our boost sensor is a little more than half-way down the (long) article...

 

Our boost sensor is a little different inside than that one, but still, very good read thanks Wayne. I certainly lernt a thing or two about MAP sensors..

I'm going to take the small IC into uni today and ask my engineering lecturer, he'll be able to tell me for sure i'd say.

But your right, almost definatly an amplifier circuit or someother similar device.


So yeah, mine me something else to take appart now Wayne!!