Give us newby's a break

[Gunny]

Originally Posted by LantanaTX

Thanks for the list!
On one of my early posts, People kept telling me I needed a FSM. I finally got frustrated and thought "Screw them and their acronyms" and went and looked for an answer in the Service Manual that was with the car when I bought it. And of course I have the SFSM as well which to my surprise included an email from DRM to the original owner in 04AD confirming a large shipment of parts that included PnR, V,RnS, AF, OP, and CSC. Now I am going to get back to working on the VSS, EF, and AC. Once this is done, I may change out the WB's

[Paul Workman]

Originally Posted by Gunny

= WTF, BTW!

[scottfab]

Originally Posted by LantanaTX

Thanks for the list!
On one of my early posts, People kept telling me I needed a FSM. I finally got frustrated and thought "Screw them and their acronyms" and went and looked for an answer in the Service Manual that was with the car when I bought it. And of course I have the SFSM as well which to my surprise included an email from DRM to the original owner in 04AD confirming a large shipment of parts that included PnR, V,RnS, AF, OP, and CSC. Now I am going to get back to working on the VSS, EF, and AC. Once this is done, I may change out the WB's

Good one. I love it.
Can't wait for the defender of acronyms to pop his head up.
That would be the DA squad. (pronounced duh)
Coincidentally it was when the "FSM" acronym showed up that I cracked and first mentioned the acronymism illness. (that would be AI)
Reminds me of the tale of the Tower of Babble

[Paul Workman]

One of the worst abusers of acronyms, aside from car enthusiasts (IMO), is the US military. And, for anyone that has served, Robin Williams did a running spoof on some of those acronyms as part of a line from the movie "Good Morning Vet Nam!" It was sorta funny to anyone that hadn't served, but for anyone that has, it was a gut-buster! (He had me totally cracked up!)

BUT, all kidding aside, LantanaTX makes a very good point. As a matter of fact, we all could benefit from a STICKY NOTE that contained a list of the more common items, yes???

OK, Scott, I'll be the first to defend them: I ain't skeert o' you!

Properly used, acronyms reduces the tedium of writing and reading where a term is used multiple times in a text (emphasis on "properly used")

BUT!, for what is is worth (FWIW), good etiquette is to first introduce an acronym to be used by first writing the term out, followed by the acronym in parentheses ( ), unless the intended audience is completely familiar with the term and it's acronym. Examples: Factory Service Manual (FSM) or Secondary Port Throttles (SPT), Injector Housing (IH), etc. That way the writing can be sped up w/o confusing the intended audience and thus disrupting the flow of thought the writer wishes to convey to the reader. (Thus endith the tech writing etiquette lesson )

Just a thought

[XfireZ51]

Thanks to Dynamic EFI for this list.


Acronyms and Abbreviations

~T - Inverse Temperature
~AFR - Inverse Air Fuel Ratio
#/Hr - Pounds per Hour
ABS - Anti-lock Braking System
A/C - Air Conditioning
ADC - Analog to Digital Converter
AE - Acceleration Enrichment
AFPR - Adjustable Fuel Pressure Regulator
AFR - Air Fuel Ratio
AIR - Air Injection Reactor
ATDC - After Top Dead Center
ALDL - Assembly Line Diagnostic Link
BARO - Barometric Pressure
BBC - Big Block Chevy
BBL - Barrel
BCM - Body Control Module
BDC - Bottom Dead Center
BIN - Binary
BLM - Block Learn Multiplier (long term fuel trim)
BSFC - Brake Specific Fuel Consumption
BPC - Base Pulse Constant
BPW - Base Pulse Width
BTDC - Before Top Dead Center
CAFE - Corporate Average Fuel Economy
CARB - California Air Resources Board
C - Celsius
CAT - Catalytic Converter
CAT-CON - Catalytic Converter
CCI - Computer Controlled Ignition
CCP - Charcoal Cannister Purge
CDI - Capacitive Discharge Ignition
CEL - Check Engine Light
CFI - Cross-Fire Injection
CLT - Closed Loop Term (fueling correction)
CNP - Coil Near Plug
CTS - Coolant Temperature Sensor
dTPS - Delta Throttle Position Sensor
dMAP - Delta Manifold Absolute Pressure Sensor
DC - Duty Cycle
DE - Deceleration Enleanment (opposite of AE)
DFCO - Decel Fuel Cut Off
DIS - Distributorless Ignition System
DRP - Distributor Reference Pulse
EBL - EmBedded Lockers system
ECM - Engine Control Module
ECT - Engine Coolant Temperature
EGR - Exhaust Gas Recirculation
EGT - Exhaust Gas Temperature
EPROM - Eraseable Programmable Read-only Memory
ESC - Electronic Spark Control, knock detection & retard
EST - Electronic Spark Timing, SA control
F - Fahrenheit
FAR - Fuel Air Ratio
FPR - Fuel Pressure Regulator
Ft/Lb - Foot Pounds (torque)
GPS - Grams Per Second
Gms/Sec - Grams per Second
HEI - High Energy Ignition
HP - Horse Power
HYST - Hysteresis
IAC - Idle Air Control (an actuator)
IAT - Intake Air Temperature (sensor)
INT - Integrator (short term fuel trim)
Km - KiloMeters
Km/L - Kilometers per Litre
KPa - KiloPascals
KPH - Kilometers Per Hour
LDA - Lobe Displacement Angle (camshaft, same as LSA)
LM - Launch Mode
LSA - Lobe Separation Angle (camshaft, same as LDA)
LV8 - Load Variable, 8-bit
LV16 - Load Variable, 16-bit
MAF - Mass Air Flow
MAP - Manifold Absolute Pressure
MAT - Manifold Air Temperature (sensor)
MPG - Miles Per Gallon
MPH - Miles Per Hour
MPFI - Multi Port Fuel Injection
mSec - milli-Seconds (.001 second)
NB - Narrow Band O2 sensor
N-Alpha - RPM & Throttle position for load
N/V - Ratio of Engine speed (N) to Vehicle Speed (V)
O2 - Oxygen Sensor value
P/S - Power Steering
PA3 - Knock Counts (PA3 is the name of the ECM counter)
PCM - Powertrain Control Module
PCV - Positive Crankcase Ventilation
PE - Power Enrichment (see WOT)
PPH - Pounds Per Hour
PROM - Programmable Read-only Memory
PSI - Pounds per Square Inch
PW - Pulse Width
PWM - Pulse Width Modulation
RPM - Revolutions Per Minute
SA - Spark Advance
SBC - Small Block Chevy
SD - Speed Density
SES - Service Engine Soon
TACH - Tachometer
TBI - Throttle Body Injection
TCC - Torque Converter Clutch
TCM - Transmission Control Module
TDC - Top Dead Center
TF - Throttle Follower (IAC function)
TPS - Throttle Position Sensor
TSA - total spark advance
uSec - micro-Seconds (.000001 seconds)
UEGO - Universal Exhaust Gas Oxygen sensor (a WB unit)
VAC - Vacuum
VAFPR - Vacuum Adjusted Fuel Pressure Regulator
VATS - Vehicle Anti-theft System
VE - Volumetric Efficiency
VRFPR - Vacuum Referenced Fuel Pressure Regulator
VSS - Vehicle Speed Sensor
WB - Wide Band O2 sensor
WOT - Wide Open Throttle (see PE)
WYSIWYG - What You See Is What You Get

[LantanaTX]

Great list. It should be copied into a sticky. I would have been very helpful when I joined the site and am sure it would help others. The etiquette examples would have been great to. I have been active on the Mini Cooper, Mercedes, BMW, Lotus, Off road racing, and Crossfire sites and never had a problem with acronyms.

[A26B]

Like with everything, moderation is the key to well being. A few, very well known is good. Taken to excess is not good. If I have to stop reading and hunt up a translation key to understand it, I'm not going to read it. NWMT.

[A26B]

Dang you're good!!!

[Paul Workman]

Originally Posted by Dynomite

Kind of like trying to figure out Vanity Plates.....

My latest......UWLNTWN

It got complicated because South Dakota is running out of options.
Most good ones are taken...

UL LOSE
UWONTWN

Then there is the obvious.......BAD Z

Or a blond 'hottie' in a Mercedes, license plate:

AU D LOX

[scottfab]

Use of acronyms in moderation would be good.
The idea of showing how knowledgeable one is by introducing
new acronyms that are certainly not understood is arrogantly,
and blatantly rude.

Also not introducing or using new acronyms out of the blue
would be great.
I would think until it's added to the sticky list of terms
it (as has been mentioned) should be constantly defined while used e.g. FT(Flat Tire).

Above all beating up on newbies for complaining about
unfamiliar acronyms should not happen and in fact should
be banned as unhelpful.

Creating a new list to be held up at the gold standard sticky
is fine too. I would hope it to be minimalistic though. Putting
every acronym under the sun in there seems ludicrous.
Only terms used OFTEN on this forum should qualify.
AND there should be a space between alphabetically separate
groups for ease of use. IMHO

Finally, there's no stopping the laziness of using acronyms but
basic clarity of communication suggests not only minimizing it
but discouraging it. At minimum a thread should, at first opportunity,
define the acronym in a low numbered or fist post then use it openly.
As was said, having to refer to a dictionary of terms before
being able to get through a post is just wrong.

This thread topic is "Give us newby's a break".
Well, lets do just that. (WLDJT)