Interface and monitoring system and method for a vehicle idling control system

1. A method of monitoring vehicle operation including the steps of:

operating an auxiliary HVAC system in a vehicle to heat or cool the vehicle with the auxiliary HVAC system powered by a battery of the vehicle;

logging operation parameters regarding operation of the auxiliary HVAC system in a storage device;

in response to the operation parameters indicating an operational failure of the auxiliary HVAC system to heat or cool the vehicle to a desired temperature, operating a heating and air conditioning system under power of an engine of the vehicle in combination with the auxiliary HVAC system without regard to a position of an ignition switch of the vehicle;

removing stored operation parameters that have aged beyond a pre-determined age; and

preventing automatic removal of stored operation parameters for a defined timeframe surrounding an indication of the operational failure.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of logging operation parameters includes logging environmental conditions.

3. The method of claim 1 , further including the step of manually removing the stored operation parameters for the defined timeframe surrounding the operational failure.

4. The method of claim 1 , further including the step of providing troubleshooting instructions to a user upon detection of the operational failure.

5. The method of claim 1 , which includes:

providing interactive troubleshooting instructions to a user in response to the operational failure;

receiving input from the user in response to the troubleshooting instructions;

in response to the input, providing different information to the user.

6. The method of claim 5 , which includes

displaying the troubleshooting instructions and the different information to the user; and

wherein the troubleshooting instructions include at least one of an illustration and a schematic, and the troubleshooting instructions direct at least one of diagnosing the operational failure and correcting the operational failure.

7. The method of claim 6 , which includes:

determining a first amount of time that the engine spends idling without operation of the auxiliary HVAC system and a second amount of time that the engine spends idling with operation of the auxiliary HVAC system; and

providing an indication corresponding to fuel savings as a function of the first amount of time and the second amount of time.

8. A method of monitoring operation of a vehicle, comprising:

operating an auxiliary HVAC device mounted in the vehicle to heat or cool the vehicle with the auxiliary HVAC device powered by a battery of the vehicle;

storing operation parameters of the auxiliary HVAC device;

removing stored operation parameters that have aged beyond a pre-determined age when an operational failure of the auxiliary HVAC device is absent;

detecting the operational failure of the auxiliary HVAC device to heat or cool the vehicle to a desired temperature;

in response to detecting the operational failure, operating a heating and air conditioning system under power of an engine of the vehicle in combination with the auxiliary HVAC device without regard to a position of an ignition switch of the vehicle; and

retaining the stored operation parameters for a predefined timeframe when the operational failure is detected.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the storing of the operation parameters includes logging environmental conditions.

10. The method of claim 8 , further including providing troubleshooting information to a user in response to the detecting of the operational failure.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the troubleshooting information instructs the user in diagnosing the operational failure.

12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the troubleshooting information instructs the user in correcting the operational failure.

13. The method of claim 8 , which includes displaying information corresponding to the operational failure to a user on a display screen of the device.

14. The method of claim 8 , which includes providing interactive troubleshooting instructions to a user in response to the operational failure.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the user provides input to the device in response to the troubleshooting instructions.

16. The method of claim 15 , which includes providing different information to the user in response to the input.

17. The method of claim 16 , which includes displaying the troubleshooting instructions to the user and displaying the different information to the user in response to the input.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the troubleshooting instructions include at least one illustration.

19. The method of claim 17 , wherein the troubleshooting instructions include at least one schematic corresponding to the vehicle.

20. The method of claim 17 , wherein the troubleshooting instructions instruct the user for at least one of diagnosing the operational failure and correcting the operational failure, and including at least one of an illustration and a schematic.

21. The method of claim 8 , wherein the auxiliary HVAC device includes an auxiliary HVAC accessory, and which includes determining a first amount of time that the engine spends idling without operation of the HVAC accessory and a second amount of time that the engine spends idling with operation of the HVAC accessory.

22. The method of claim 21 , which includes providing an indication corresponding to fuel savings as a function of the first amount of time and the second amount of time.