Granted Patent B2

US 7,805,984 · App. 11/467,032 · Granted Oct 5, 2010

Abstract

Claims (35)

1. A method of diagnosing a malfunction of a tuning valve of an intake manifold coupled to an internal combustion engine, comprising:

commanding the tuning valve to at least one of a closed and an opened position;

computing an average deviation of manifold absolute pressure;

determining an average deviation threshold using fuzzy logic based on engine speed and airflow per cylinder;

comparing the average deviation to the average deviation threshold; and

diagnosing a malfunction of the tuning valve based on a comparison of the average deviation and the average deviation threshold.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising determining a steady state operating condition wherein the tuning valve is commanded to the at least one of the closed and the opened position when the steady state operating condition is determined.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising setting a malfunction code when the malfunction is diagnosed.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising reporting the malfunction code via at least one of a wireless communication signal and a vehicle onboard communication signal.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising;

repeating the method of claim 1 M times, wherein M is an integer greater than one;

incrementing a sample counter each repetition;

incrementing a fail counter each time a malfunction is diagnosed within each repetition;

computing a fail ratio based on the fail counter and the sample counter; and

setting a malfunction code when the fail ratio exceeds a predetermined ratio threshold.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the determining an average deviation threshold comprises interpolating a threshold value from a two dimensional table populated according to fuzzy logic and indexed by engine speed and air per cylinder.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the diagnosing a malfunction of the tuning valve further comprises diagnosing a malfunction of the tuning valve if the tuning valve is commanded to the closed position and the average deviation is less than the average deviation threshold.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the diagnosing a malfunction of the tuning valve further comprises diagnosing a malfunction of the tuning valve if the tuning valve is commanded to the opened position and the average deviation is greater than the average deviation threshold.

9. A control system for determining a malfunction of an intake manifold tuning valve coupled to an intake manifold of an engine, comprising:

a first input device that receives a manifold absolute pressure (MAP) signal indicating an absolute pressure of air in the intake manifold;

a second input device that receives an engine speed signal indicating a rotational speed of the engine; and

a control module that determines a malfunction of the intake manifold tuning valve by commanding the valve to at least one of a closed and an opened position, computing an average deviation in the MAP signal, determining a threshold based on the engine speed signal and an air per cylinder value, and comparing the average deviation in the MAP signal to the threshold.

10. The control system of claim 9 wherein the control module determines a malfunction of the intake manifold tuning valve when the tuning valve is commanded to the closed position and the average deviation in MAP is less than the threshold.

11. The control system of claim 9 wherein the control module determines a malfunction of the intake manifold tuning valve when the tuning valve is commanded to the opened position and the average deviation in MAP is greater than the threshold.

12. The control system of claim 9 wherein the control module sets a malfunction code when the malfunction is determined.

13. The control system of claim 9 wherein the control module sets a malfunction code if a malfunction occurs M number of times within a predetermined time period and wherein M is an integer greater than one.

14. The control system of claim 9 further comprising:

a fourth input device that receives a throttle position (TPS) signal indicating a position of a throttle coupled to the engine; and

wherein the control module determines a steady state condition based on the TPS signal and determines a malfunction of the intake manifold tuning valve if a steady state condition is determined, the tuning valve is commanded to the closed position, and the average deviation in MAP is less than the threshold.

15. The control system of claim 9 further comprising:

a fourth input device that receives a throttle position (TPS) signal indicating a position of a throttle coupled to the engine; and

wherein the control module determines a steady state condition based on the TPS signal and determines a malfunction of the intake manifold tuning valve if a steady state condition is determined.

16. The control system of claim 9 wherein the control module determines the threshold based on a two dimensional table populated according to fuzzy logic and indexed by engine speed and air per cylinder.

17. The control system of claim 9 wherein the control module determines a steady state condition based on the engine speed signal and determines a malfunction of the intake manifold tuning valve if a steady state condition is determined.

18. The control system of claim 9 wherein the control module determines a steady state condition based on the MAP signal and determines a malfunction of the intake manifold tuning valve if a steady state condition is determined.

Assignments (12)