Ford Motor Company Limited

Carl W Squire

Thomas Scott Gee

Paul F Smith

Thomas A Schubert

Functionality of the exhaust gas oxygen sensor is determined by continually monitoring the exhaust gas oxygen sensor voltage to determine both a peak rich voltage and peak lean voltage. Based on the information after some predetermined time period, a system determines whether rich air/fuel ratio excursions are required and lean air/fuel ratio excursions are required. If a rich air/fuel excursion is required, then there is a command to decrease the air/fuel ratio to make it rich until the peak rich voltage is greater than a predetermined threshold voltage. Analogously, if a lean excursion is required, then there is a command to have a lean air/fuel ratio excursion done until the peak lean voltage is less than a predetermined threshold. If a time out happened before the peak rich voltage was greater than the rich threshold or the peak lean voltage was less than the lean threshold, then there is a determination that there is a malfunction detected on the sensor/circuit.

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Taylor, MI, United States of America

Carl W Squire