A method for operating an internal combustion engine with a motor, having a moving machine part and at least one machine element which retains the moving machine part and is subject to wear, such as, for example, a supporting, sealing, guiding or the like retaining machine element that is subject to wear during operation relative to the moving machine part, which machine element, because of the wear, is service-life-limiting for the operation of the internal combustion engine, whereinfor the operation of the internal combustion engine, a service-life-limiting time interval until the next maintenance of the internal combustion engine is specified, andthe internal combustion engine has a number of service-life-limiting machine elements, wherein for the at least one service-life-limiting machine element a remaining service life is forecast and the service-life-limiting time interval is determined therefrom.

A method for providing the engine oil usage information may include determining, by a controller, a current engine driving state out of a plurality of predetermined driving states of an engine of the hybrid electric vehicle from driving information, determining, by the controller, a real-time cumulative distance value corresponding to the determined current engine driving state, updating, by the controller, an oil usage distance using the real-time cumulative distance value, determining, by the controller, an engine oil change time by comparing the updated oil usage distance with a predetermined engine oil change distance, and informing, by the controller, information related to the determined engine oil change time through a notification unit.

Methods and systems for failure prediction using analysis of oil or other lubricant. Raw data about feature(s) of each of a plurality of particles filtered from a fluid sample are used to categorize each particle into one of a plurality of categories, each category being defined by one or more of: chemical composition, size and morphology. Particle physical characteristics in each category are quantified to obtain a set of categorized data. The categorized data are compared with historical data. Results of the comparing are evaluated to generate a prediction of any failure or mechanism of failure.

A vehicular window assembly includes a glass window panel and a display device. The display device includes a display element at the glass window panel and an electrical connector that extends from the display element for electrical connection to a wire harness of a vehicle. The display device is operable to backlight or illuminate at least one icon or alphanumeric character so that the at least one icon or alphanumeric character is viewable at the glass window panel by a person exterior the vehicle. With the window assembly mounted at a vehicle, the display device may be activated to backlight or illuminate the at least one icon or alphanumeric character to indicate at least one vehicle status, and may include indication responsive at least in part to determination that an in-cabin temperature of the vehicle is above a threshold level.

A method and system for diagnosing a condition of an air-breathing aircraft engine are described. The method comprises obtaining a sample of lubricating fluid from the engine, filtering the sample to obtain a plurality of particles from the lubricating fluid, obtaining chemical composition data for the plurality of particles, determining a quantity of volcanic ash in the lubricating fluid by considering each one of the particles as composed partially of volcanic ash and partially of at least one other material and analyzing the chemical composition data, the volcanic ash having associated thereto a predetermined chemical composition, and diagnosing a condition of the engine based on the quantity of volcanic ash found in the lubricating fluid.

A fluid degradation monitoring system may detect a replacement of a fluid of a machine. The fluid degradation monitoring system may determine, after detecting the replacement of the fluid, a first degradation estimate of the fluid using a first technique based on characteristics relating to an operation of the machine. The fluid degradation monitoring system may detect a transition in a value of a dielectric constant of the fluid from a first phase to a second phase. The fluid degradation monitoring system may determine, after detecting the transition in the value of the dielectric constant, a second degradation estimate of the fluid using a second technique based on characteristics relating to the fluid.

A method of determining wear of a seal element includes rotating a seal plate relative to the seal element and such that the seal plate and the seal element form a rotational sealing interface. The seal element includes an insert embedded in the seal element. A portion of the seal element is worn with a sealing face of the seal plate. The insert is contacted with the sealing face of the seal plate. A portion of the insert is worn to create a wear particle of the insert. The presence of the wear particle in a lubrication oil is sensed with an oil monitoring system.

A system includes an electronic fuel injection system of an engine, the electronic fuel injection system including an electronic governor control unit for controlling various functions of the engine.

A system for tracking oil health of an engine includes an electronic fuel injection system which includes an electronic governor control unit. The electronic governor control unit is programmed to track engine parameters, calculate oil health based on the tracked engine parameters and on engine type, and display an indication of oil health.

An apparatus and method for determining lubrication contamination or deterioration in an engine or a lubricant system of an engine can include at least one sensor provided in the lubricant system. The sensor can sense an aroma of a lubricant or the air around the lubricant to measure a chemical composition or an aromatic. The sensed chemical composition or aromatic can be compared to a baseline or threshold to determine a particular contamination type or deterioration level of the lubricant.