A control device of an engine, the engine including: a piston contained in a cylinder; an intake passage communicated to a combustion chamber of the cylinder; an exhaust passage led from the combustion chamber; a fuel injection valve configured to inject fuel to the combustion chamber or the intake passage; and an ignition unit provided in the combustion chamber, includes: a low speed pre-ignition predicting unit configured to perform prediction of occurrence of low speed pre-ignition, based on operation condition of the engine; and a lubricating oil injection controlling unit configured to control a lubricating oil injecting device to inject lubricating oil to the piston or a member located around the piston, based on the prediction of the occurrence of the low speed pre-ignition performed by the low speed pre-ignition predicting unit.

An oil supply system for an engine is provided, which includes an oil pressure controller for controlling a variable displacement oil pump to adjust a discharge pressure thereof to reach a target oil pressure corresponding to an operating state of the engine, the variable displacement oil pump capable of adjusting a discharge amount of oil, a load detector for detecting an engine load, and an oil temperature detector for detecting an oil temperature. When the engine load is low, to increase an amount of oil mist flowing inside a crank case of the engine, the oil pressure controller controls the variable displacement oil pump to increase the discharge amount as the oil temperature becomes lower, the oil mist generated by the oil flowing out of a bearing part rotatably supporting at least a crankshaft and being atomized, the engine load being considered low when below a predetermined reference load.

In cases where a control device determines that a load is continuously less than a predetermined value for a predetermined period, the control device executes a first control to maintain the engine speed at a first rotation speed or higher, and when the control device determines that the load reached the predetermined value within the predetermined time, the control device executes a second control to maintain the engine speed at a second rotation speed or higher, which is higher than the first rotation speed. This provides a control device for an engine and an engine, which can restrain activation of an oil pressure switch attributed to an oil temperature.

A method for determining a degree of loading on a filter medium of a filter device on a vehicle through which a fluid flows includes determining an operating characteristic of the filter device based on at least one operating quantity of the vehicle and comparing a predefined reference characteristic of the filter device with the operating characteristic. The degree of loading is derived from a result of the comparing step.

A method of regulating oil pressure within an engine assembly is provided. The engine assembly includes an oil pump configured to provide oil to an oil system of the engine assembly; a piston cooling jet configured to direct a jet of oil from the oil system towards a piston of an engine; and an electronic control valve configured to control the flow of oil to the piston cooling jet. The method includes operating the electronic control valve to provide a flow rate of oil above a threshold flow rate to the piston cooling jet when the engine assembly is operating above a threshold power output or engine running speed; and regulating the pressure of oil within the oil system when the engine assembly is operating below the threshold power output or engine running speed, by operating the electronic control valve.

An apparatus for diagnosing lubricant degradation includes a soot amount estimator configured to estimate an amount of soot formed in a predetermined period in a combustion chamber of an engine, and diagnoses the degradation of a lubricant based on a cumulative value of the amount of soot estimated. The soot amount estimator calculates the amount of soot based on a speed of the engine and a load parameter related to a load of the engine, and corrects, based on a temperature parameter correlated to the temperature of the combustion chamber, the amount of soot calculated into an increased value if the temperature parameter is lower than a predetermined first temperature.

A control device of an engine, the engine including: a piston contained in a cylinder; an intake passage communicated to a combustion chamber of the cylinder; an exhaust passage led from the combustion chamber; a fuel injection valve configured to inject fuel to the combustion chamber or the intake passage; and an ignition unit provided in the combustion chamber, includes: a low speed pre-ignition predicting unit configured to perform prediction of occurrence of low speed pre-ignition, based on operation condition of the engine; and a lubricating oil injection controlling unit configured to control a lubricating oil injecting device to inject lubricating oil to the piston or a member located around the piston, based on the prediction of the occurrence of the low speed pre-ignition performed by the low speed pre-ignition predicting unit.

A method for operating an oil circuit for a vehicle, the oil circuit being configured to supply oil to an internal combustion engine, wherein the oil circuit includes an oil cooler, and wherein at least one temperature sensor measures the temperature of the oil flowing through the oil circuit, downstream of the oil cooler and upstream of the internal combustion engine, the temperature sensor being connected for signaling purposes to a regulating and/or control device, includes: controlling and/or regulating, by the regulating and/or control device, the temperature of the oil flowing through the oil circuit, such that the temperature measured by the temperature sensor has a defined target temperature value; and setting and/or adjusting, by the regulating and/or control device, as a function of a drive power of the internal combustion engine, the defined target temperature value so as to reduce fuel consumption of the internal combustion engine.