Ford Global Technolgoies, LLC

Qiuping Qu

Garlan J Huberts

Chris Paul Glugla

Michael Damian Czekala

Nelson William Morrow, Jr

Adam Nathan Banker

Rani Kiwan

Christopher Paul Glugla

Imtiaz Ali

Robert Baskins

Ameen Al-Khafaji

Methods and systems to determine a presence or absence of engine misfire or spark plug fouling are presented. In one example, rates of change in engine speed are arranged in engine data blocks and root mean square values for the rates of change in engine speed are determined. The presence or absence of engine misfire or spark plug fouling may be based at least in part on the root mean square values.

Method and system for improving fouled spark plug detection

Methods and systems are provided for protecting an exhaust catalyst from degradation during a DFSO event. Exit from DFSO due to pedal input received from an operator with a jittery foot is averted by filtering the pedal input differently when operating in a DFSO mode as compared to when operating out of the DFSO mode. Exit from DFSO is confirmed after receiving a higher than threshold pedal position input for a sustained period of time, or when an integrated fuel injection amount exceeds a threshold amount.

Method and system for engine control

A system for monitoring and cleaning a spark plug is disclosed. In one example, rim firing of a spark plug is detected according to characteristics of a voltage of a primary coil of an ignition coil. The system may institute spark plug cleaning after rim firing of a spark plug is detected.

System and method for monitoring an ignition system

A system and method for delivering spark to an engine is disclosed. In one example, a single conductor carries a spark signal that is indicative of a desired spark advance for a plurality of ignition coils. The system and method may reduce wiring complexity for spark plugs that are supplied energy via two ignition coils.

System and method for delivering spark to an engine

Methods and systems are provided for determining a type of spark plug fouling. In one example, a method may include differentiating spark plug fouling due to soot accumulation from spark plug fouling due to fuel additive accumulation based on a current on a control wire of the spark plug following application of a dwell command. Further, exhaust oxygen sensor degradation and/or exhaust catalyst degradation may be determined based on switching frequencies of one or more exhaust oxygen sensors and the type of spark plug fouling.

Spark plug fouling detection for ignition system

A system and method for assessing the presence or absence of ignition coil degradation for an ignition system that includes two ignition coils for each spark plug. Ignition coil degradation may be determined without having to monitor ignition coils via specialized hardware circuitry. In one example, degradation of one or more ignition coils may be inferred from cylinder the presence or absence of cylinder misfire.

System and method for diagnosing an ignition system

A method for determining a level of spark plug fouling and providing an indication to change the spark plugs of an ignition system is provided. The method includes providing a dwell command on a control wire of an ignition system and generating an indication of a recommendation to change a spark plug of the ignition system based upon a current on the control wire.

A system and method for providing multiple commands to an ignition coil driver circuit to provide spark, ion signal integration, and ignition coil shunting during a cycle of a cylinder is presented. In one example, multiple voltage pulses are provided over a single conductor communication link. The voltage pulses provide encoded instructions for ignition timing, ignition coil shunting, and ion signal integration.

System and method for detecting engine knock and misfire

A system and method for mitigating the possibility of missing ignition coil commands is presented. In one example, one or more ignition coils may not be charged and/or discharged during a cylinder cycle in response to the absence of a voltage pulse forming at least a portion of an ignition coil command.

System and method for operating an ignition system

A dual coil ignition system is provided. The dual coil ignition system includes a first inductive ignition coil including a first primary winding and a first secondary winding, and a second inductive ignition coil including a second primary winding and a second secondary winding, the second secondary winding connected in series to the first secondary winding. The dual coil ignition system further includes a diode network including a first diode and a second diode connected between the first secondary winding and the second secondary winding.

Dual coil ignition system

An ignition system controlled by a powertrain controller via a dwell line carrying a dwell signal has a state machine to monitor a dwell period between consecutive dwell signals and to adjust a rate of a variable clock signal accordingly. A multi-bit counter is clocked by the adjusted clock signal. The counter has a first set of bits to establish an integration period and a second set of bits coupled to a resistive ladder generating a stair step signal. A current sensor provides a current signal proportional to the ion current. A comparator compares the current signal to the stair step signal. An ion current counter is incremented during the integration period whenever the current signal indicates an ion current magnitude greater than the stair step signal. The accumulated count at the end of the integration period is reported to the powertrain controller as a measure of the ion current.

Misfire detection using ion current integration and RPM adaptation

Methods and systems are provided for inferring spark plug fouling due to accumulation of fuel additives thereon. In one example, an engine controller may infer spark plug fouling due to accumulation of fuel additive based on a combination of engine operating parameters correlated with spark plug health. For example, the engine operating parameters may include a change in an adaptive knock term, an engine pre-ignition rate, and engine exhaust oxygen sensor switching frequency over a vehicle drive cycle, and an engine misfire rate.

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Troy, MI, United States of America

Qiuping Qu