An internal combustion engine includes an inline turbocharger and at least a first inline turbocharger that has a first turbine air valve, and a first inline compressor that has a first compressor air valve. A control valve is responsive to commands from an electronic controller to move the air valves between open and closed positions. The electronic controller monitors operating parameters of the engine to diagnose a fault. determine whether an air valve is stuck open or closed, and adjust a priority schedule for activating or deactivating the first inline turbocharger based on the type of fault.

Various embodiments include a method for detecting deviations occurring in the valve drive of an internal combustion engine comprising: measuring dynamic pressure oscillations of intake air in an air intake tract of respective internal combustion engine during operation; calculating an inlet valve stroke phase difference and/or an outlet valve stroke phase difference based on the measured dynamic pressure oscillation; calculating a valve stroke phase deviation value with respect to a valve stroke phase reference value based on the calculated phase difference; and calculating a first valve drive deviation value based on the valve stroke phase deviation value.

Disclosed is a method of alerting to the state of a high-pressure pump of an engine including a relief valve, a threshold pressure defining the opening pressure of the relief valve, the pump supplying fuel under pressure to a chamber equipped with a pressure sensor, including the following steps: initializing a computer when the engine is cut off during which cut-off a threshold pressure and a value of a first counter are collected in a memory associated with the computer; measuring the pressure of the fuel in the chamber; incrementing the first counter if the pressure of the fuel in the chamber is above or equal to the threshold pressure; and triggering an alert when the value of the first counter crosses a predetermined threshold.

A diagnostic system and method that (a) that uses models indicative of both successful firing and skips to determine if cylinders of a skip fire controlled internal combustion engine have successfully fired or successfully skipped and (b) uses filtered exhaust gas pressure readings for detecting faults associated with EGR systems and/or turbocharger systems.

The invention relates to a method for operating an internal combustion engine system (2), wherein the internal combustion engine system (2) is provided with an air intake duct (3), an exhaust gas duct (4) and an exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) system (5), wherein the EGR system (5) comprises an EGR conduit (6) that fluidly connects the exhaust duct (4) and the intake duct (3), and wherein a gas feeding device (7) configured to feed exhaust gas from the exhaust duct (4) to the intake duct (3) is arranged in the EGR conduit (6). The method is characterized in that it comprises the step of: providing a flushing liquid in the EGR conduit (6) upstream of the EGR gas feeding device (7) so as to flush and clean the EGR gas feeding device (7). The invention also relates to an internal combustion engine system (2) configured for being operated by such a method and to a vehicle (1) provided with such an engine system (2). The invention further relates to means for controlling the above method.

Methods and systems are provided for calibrating an effective area associated with an exhaust gas recirculation valve and/or a variable orifice associated with the exhaust gas recirculation valve. In one example, a method may include attaining a first steady-state intake pressure with the exhaust gas recirculation valve closed, determining a second steady-state intake pressure and a differential pressure across the variable orifice with the exhaust gas recirculation valve open, and estimating the variable orifice effective area based on the second steady-state intake pressure and the differential pressure. In this way, a calibration table may be updated for an exhaust gas recirculation control apparatus that includes an exhaust gas recirculation valve and a variable orifice, such that an actual amount of recirculated exhaust gas reflects a commanded amount.

Provided is an injector control unit capable of preventing unintended fuel injection other than an engine drive period. The injector control unit includes a cutoff mechanism for cutting off current supply to the injector from at least the ignition OFF to the next ignition ON.

Various embodiments include a method for operating a fuel injector having a hydraulic stop comprising: applying a first current profile to a solenoid drive to inject a predetermined injection quantity; ascertaining a first value of a parameter correlating to a velocity of the armature when reaching the hydraulic stop; determining whether the first value of the parameter is greater than a first threshold value; and if the first value of the parameter is greater than the first threshold value, applying a second current profile to the solenoid drive to carry out a second injection procedure. The second current profile in comparison with the first current profile exerts a lower magnetic force in the direction of the pole piece on the armature.

A drive system for driving a motor vehicle has an internal combustion engine and an operating mode coordination device for determining and controlling the operating mode of the internal combustion engine. The drive system has a function coordination device for coordinating secondary functions of the drive system, the function coordination device being designed for generating, based on the coordination of the secondary functions, an operating mode request for the operating mode coordination device for controlling the operating mode of the internal combustion engine, and transmitting it to the operating mode coordination device. The invention further relates to a motor vehicle having a drive system, and a method for operating a drive system of a motor vehicle.

A method of determining the nature of a fault in the operation of a hydraulic fuel injector includes sending an actuation pulse to an actuator of the injector, the actuation pulse being above the minimum drive pulse of the injector. The method also includes analyzing a signal from an accelerometer of the injector to determine if there is a high frequency vibration component subsequent to the end of the activation pulse. The method also includes determining the functionality of a needle control valve of the injector dependent on the outcome of analyzing the signal from the accelerometer.