Bombardier Recreational Products Inc.

David T Montgomery

Sebastian Strauss

A piston for an internal combustion engine is disclosed. A bowl-shaped recess is constructed in the combustion face of the piston. The recess has a w-shaped cross-section. The w-shaped cross-section is unsymmetrical and has at least one side that is mostly vertical. The recess is positioned off-center in the face of the piston so that fuel that is injected into the cylinder is redirected by the recess toward a center space of the cylinder thereby improving combustion of fuel in the cylinder and preventing fuel from accumulating about a periphery of the combustion chamber.

Piston for spark-ignited direct fuel injection engine

A system and method for operating a combustion engine including a combustion chamber operable in at least a first operating mode and second operating mode. An engine control unit (ECU) performs conductivity sensing within the combustion chamber and interprets the results. Specifically, the ECU determines the current between a pair of spark plug electrodes placed within a combustion chamber of a combustion engine prior to, or after, combustion. The ECU determines whether the current between the pair of electrodes is indicative of spark plug fouling. If spark plug fouling is determined, the ECU can modify the mode of operation to correct the spark plug fouling and clean the deposits on the spark plug while the engine is in operation and without operation intervention.

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Pleasant Prairie, WI, United States of America

David T Montgomery