Ford Global Technolgoies, LLC

Ford Motor Company Limited

Lynn Edward Davison

Arthur Joseph Varady

John Michael Kacewicz

David Karl Bidner

William Najib Mansur

John William Holmes

Cheryl Jeanette Stark

Thomas Robert Melville

Kay Margaret Reitz

John Frederick Buckert

Greg Hellar

James Garrett

A method for determining the existence of a &ldquo;short time&rdquo; type state within a vehicle control assembly . The method requires the measurement of the temperature of engine coolant at a first time and the determination and/or the inferential creation of the temperature of the engine coolant at a second and later time . A &ldquo;short time&rdquo; type state is identified when the temperature at the second time is greater than or equal to the temperature at the first time

Method for identifying an operating state of an engine soak timer

The invention is a strategy to detect spark plug misfires in a multiple spark plug per cylinder internal combustion engine (ICE). The present invention monitors spark plug misfires for each plug within each cylinder and initiates diagnostic fault code setting and failure mode actions such as modifying spark timing and the air/fuel ratio for the cylinder with the misfiring plug to optimize emissions and performance. The strategy modifies spark timing (such as spark retard) of a spark plug not under test but within the same cylinder of the tested spark plug and tests the tested spark plug for misfire (such as changes in crankshaft velocity or acceleration). The amount of spark retard invoked can be a calibrated value such as 30 or 50 degrees off Maximum Brake Torque (MBT) timing. The invention provides improvement over the prior art in that the strategy does not require the complete disabling of a spark plug within the same cylinder as the tested spark plug.

Method and system to detect spark loss in a multiple spark plug per cylinder internal combustion engine

A method is provided for controlling an internal combustion engine in a vehicle. The method includes adjusting a fuel injection amount during engine crank based on a barometric pressure. The barometric pressure is determined from at least one signal received from at least one transmitter external from the vehicle.

Method for controlling an engine utilizing vehicle position

The present invention related generally to a method for determining spark plug malfunction and more particularly to a method for determining spark plug malfunction in an internal combustion engine in which at least two spark plugs are disposed in each cylinder. In a dual plug configuration, a spark plug malfunction is detected by disabling one of the spark plugs during a test period in a particular cylinder. A misfire provides an indication of malfunction of the other spark plug.

Diagnosing spark plugs malfunction in a dual plug engine

Methods of utilizing engine crankshaft acceleration to monitor cold start spark retard are presented. A first method utilizes a variance in a crankshaft acceleration based deviation signal and looks for changes in the variance to confirm if cold spark retard has occurred by the ignition system. In a second method, a threshold level of a group of cylinder crankshaft acceleration deviation signals &Dgr;, can be detected and compared to a level of crankshaft deviant acceleration when normal spark is commanded to determine if commanded spark retard has been realized.

Method to verify cold start spark retard

A method is presented for determining whether a fuel sensor in a vehicle having a fuel tank, a fuel delivery system, electronic engine controller, air flow and air/fuel ratio sensors and an instrument panel is stuck in-range. First, the electronic engine controller from the information provided by the above sensors estimates an amount of fuel consumed. The estimate is then compared to the actual fuel consumed data from the fuel sensor. If the difference between the actual and estimated amounts exceeds a small predetermined constant, the determination is made that the fuel sensor is stuck in-range and a diagnostic code is sent to the instrument panel and stored for use by a service technician.

Fuel level monitor

An evaporative purge system,of an internal combustion engine,powered motor vehicle is monitored using one or more relatively long time tests in the cruise operating mode of the motor vehicle to screen for emission of vapors which, allegedly, contributes to smog. If emission is detected in the cruise operating mode, a command is generated and stored in memory to subsequently monitor the system in the idle operating mode. The evaporative purge system is subsequently monitored using a relatively short time test in the idle operating mode of the motor vehicle to confirm vapor emission.

Two stage monitoring of evaporative purge system

A method is presented for diagnosing an engine coolant temperature sensor and an engine thermostat. Engine coolant temperature is estimated based on engine operating conditions, such as engine speed, net engine torque, air flow, fuel-air ratio, exhaust gas temperature, etc., and a characteristic of the thermostat. The estimate is compared to the actual reading of the engine coolant temperature sensor in order to detect degradation in the performance of the sensor or the engine thermostat. If degradation is detected, the estimated engine coolant temperature can be used for various engine control strategies, such as electronic fuel injection, thereby improving vehicle performance, fuel efficiency, and emission control.

Growing community of inventors

Saline, MI, United States of America

Lynn Edward Davison