An apparatus for controlling a vehicle includes a valve that introduces or blocks a coolant discharged from a coolant pump into latent heat storage, a first temperature sensor that measures a first coolant temperature discharged from the coolant pump, a second temperature sensor that measures a second coolant temperature in the latent heat storage, and a controller that controls opening and closing of the valve based on the first coolant temperature measured by the first temperature sensor and the second coolant temperature measured by the second temperature sensor.

A control method and a control device are provided for an internal combustion engine structured to vary a mechanical compression ratio by varying a range of slide of a piston with respect to a cylinder bore, and structured to control a flow of cooling water in a water jacket formed around the cylinder bore, wherein variation of the mechanical compression ratio causes the piston to slide on a corroded portion formed in the cylinder bore. A control process includes: acquiring a temperature correlating with a cylinder bore wall temperature; and stopping the flow of cooling water in the water jacket, in response to a condition that the acquired temperature is lower than a preset temperature point.

A generator set configured to provide an electrical output to an external electrical load. The generator set includes an engine configured to drive an electric generator, the engine including an engine block, where the electric generator is configured to couple to the external electrical load. The generator set includes a heating system in fluid communication with the engine block, the heating system including an electric fluid heater, where the electric jacket fluid includes a resistive load configured to supplement the external electrical load. The generator set includes a control system for: monitoring a first parameter of the engine; generating a first control signal in response to the first parameter being less than a first threshold; and increasing the external electrical load by turning on the electric fluid heater in response to the first control signal.

A method for ascertaining a control-caused behavior of a valve installed in a vehicle for adjusting a flow of a medium. Operating a pump, which has an electric motor and at least one pump element for conveying the medium, so that the medium is conveyed by the pump in that the pump element is driven by means of the electric motor. Controlling the valve by an electronic computing device of the vehicle. The control of the valve is varied by the electronic computing device. While the medium is conveyed by the pump, and while the control of the valve is varied: sensing at least one parameter characterizing the operation of the pump. Determining the behavior of the valve as a function of the sensed parameter.

A coolant control system for a vehicle, including: a coolant control valve including a radiator valve; an actuator connected to the coolant control valve; and a control unit. Upon shutdown of the vehicle: the control unit is arranged to generate a control signal based upon a prediction of an ambient temperature and transmit the control signal to the actuator; and the actuator is arranged to receive the control signal and rotate a portion of the radiator valve according to the control signal.

Methods and systems are provided for rapidly cooling an engine system of a vehicle at vehicle-off events. In one example, a method may include cooling the engine system via selecting whether to rotate a cooling fan in a first direction or a second direction based on an indication of whether temperature of the engine system decays at a faster rate under conditions where the cooling fan is rotated in the first direction as compared to the second direction, or vice versa. In this way, diagnostics that rely on static, low-noise conditions may be conducted for vehicle-off conditions that are not sufficiently long to allow for sufficient engine system cooling in a timeframe of the vehicle-off condition.

The present invention discloses an automatic cooling system based on stirling engine for combustion engine. The system is configured to utilize thermal energy from the temperature difference between the engine and a radiator to feed the stirling engine. The stirling engine drives a coolant pump to circulate a coolant between the engine and the radiator. If the temperature difference between the combustion engine and the radiator is high, the stirling engine automatically drives the coolant pump and circulates the coolant at high speed. If the temperature difference between the combustion engine and the radiator is low, the stirling engine automatically drives the coolant pump and circulates the coolant at low speed, until the temperature difference between the engine and radiator within a threshold point. Therefore, there is no need for a thermostat and a water pump coupled with the engine.

A method for controlling an engine thermal target setpoint, includes: identifying in a first step an initial NOx integral at an initial calculated cylinder wall temperature and a thermal set point of an engine coolant; initiating a command in a second step to change the initial cylinder wall temperature and to change the thermal set point of the engine coolant; creating in a third step a new NOx integral at a new cylinder wall temperature and a modified thermal set point of the engine coolant; and comparing in a fourth step: is (the new NOx integral minus the initial NOx integral) greater than a predefined minimum threshold; and is (the new NOx integral minus the initial NOx integral) less than a predefined maximum threshold.

A method for charging coolant in a cooling system for a vehicle may include determining a vehicle-diagnostic apparatus connection that determines whether a diagnostic apparatus configured for charging coolant has been connected to a vehicle; starting a coolant charging mode for charging the coolant by the diagnostic apparatus; and determining whether a coolant charging mode release condition has been satisfied after starting the coolant charging mode.

A method for charging coolant in a cooling system for a vehicle may include determining a vehicle-diagnostic apparatus connection that determines whether a diagnostic apparatus configured for charging coolant has been connected to a vehicle; starting a coolant charging mode for charging the coolant by the diagnostic apparatus; and determining whether a coolant charging mode release condition has been satisfied after starting the coolant charging mode.