An electric starter system is usable with a powertrain having an engine with a flywheel. The starter system includes a brushless starter motor having a machine temperature, and a solenoid operable for translating a pinion gear into meshed engagement with the flywheel and the starter motor in response to a requested engine start event. A controller has temperature regulation logic that includes a proportional-integral torque control loop. Execution of a method embodied by the logic, in response to the requested engine start event when the machine temperature exceeds a first temperature, causes the controller to determine a required starting torque of the starter motor using the control loop. The controller causes the starter motor to transmit the required starting torque to the engine at a level that reduces the machine temperature below the first temperature.

A vehicular apparatus receiving power from a battery mounted on a vehicle includes a main controller unit, a defect detection unit, and an operation controller unit. The operation controller unit is configured to turn off an operation of a target device among a plurality of devices controlled by the main controller unit in response to an occurrence of a voltage drop in which the voltage from the battery is equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold value. In response to turning off the operation of the target device due to the voltage drop, the operation controller unit is configured to transmit a notification indicating turning off of the operation of the target device to the defect detection unit. Upon receiving the notification, the defect detection unit is configured to cancel a determination of a defect relative to the target device.

Air starter and methods for determining hydrostatic lock in a combustion engine during a start sequence with an air starter, including during the start sequence of the combustion engine, monitoring a speed parameter indicative of a rotational speed of the turbine air starter and a pressure parameter indicative of an inlet air pressure of the turbine air starter, and determining that a hydrostatic lock condition exists in the combustion engine based on both the speed threshold and the pressure threshold.

Systems and methods for restarting an engine are presented. In one example, an engine may be automatically stopped and started in response to thresholds that may be adjusted as a distance traveled by the vehicle increases. The thresholds may be adjusted responsive to useful life consumed of an engine starter that may participate in automatic engine starting and stopping.

Disclosed is an electric starter with a manual turning function. A main shaft, a drive gear mechanism, a shift fork, an electromagnetic relay guide rod and a first return spring are arranged in a housing of the electric starter. A gear shifting mechanism comprises a force receiving component which extends out of the housing of the electric starter and serves as an external force applying point so as to promote the electromagnetic relay guide rod to move rightwards, a normally closed switch for cutting off a power supply of the electric starter when the force receiving component moves to an extreme position, a positioning component for locking the force receiving component when the force receiving component moves to the extreme position, and a first return component which enables the force receiving component to automatically returns to an original state when the force receiving component is unlocked. The main shaft is indirectly driven to rotate by the turning mechanism via a transmission mechanism or directly driven to rotate by the turning mechanism via a turning tool. An improvement is made to a structure of a traditional electric starter without affecting existing functions thereof, i.e., a function of manual turning is added. Therefore, a flywheel gear of a motor can be precisely positioned during maintenance so as to improve efficiency and eliminate potential safety hazards.

A starting control method for a vehicle having an engine may include determining, by an ECU, whether engine RPM rises when the engine is started, determining whether combustion-related parts are normal, when the engine RPM does not rise over a starter RPM, determining whether a cam position sensor and a crank position sensor are normal, when it is determined that the combustion-related parts are normal, performing control to offset a recognized crank angle by 360 degrees, when it is determined that the cam position sensor and the crank position sensor are normal, and restarting the engine based on the offset crank angle.

A startup control device controls a starter motor. The startup control device includes lock determination circuitry and motor control circuitry. The lock determination circuitry estimates a current value supplied to the starter motor based on a temperature of a battery, a remaining electricity amount in the battery, and an output voltage of the battery when the battery supplies electricity to the starter motor, determines a threshold period of time according to the current value estimated, and determines that an internal combustion engine does not start if a rotational speed of the internal combustion engine does not exceed a referenced speed within the threshold period of time after starting supplying electricity to the starter motor. The motor control circuitry stops supplying electricity to the starter motor when the lock determination circuitry determines that the internal combustion engine does not start after starting supplying electricity to the starter motor.

An engine control apparatus is used with a system equipped with an engine and an engine starter. The engine starter includes an electrical motor, a pinion gear driven by the electrical motor, and a pinion shifter which thrusts the pinion to a location where the pinion is engageable with a ring gear coupled to the engine. The engine control apparatus determines a pulsation parameter which represents a pulsating component of speed of the engine or a value correlating with the pulsating component. The engine control apparatus works to thrust the pinion through the pinion shifter to establish engagement with the ring gear and then rotate the electrical motor to crank the engine. The engine control apparatus alters a cranking terminating time as a function of the pulsation parameter. This minimizes mechanical noise occurring between the pinion gear and the ring gear at the start of the engine.

A starter system including a motor, a solenoid assembly having a solenoid switch, a pinion rotated by the motor and moveable into an engaging position in which an engine may be cranked and the solenoid switch is closed to energize the motor from an electric power source, and relay switch regulated by a controller and closed to apply electrical power to the solenoid assembly for actuating the solenoid switch. The controller repeatedly opens and closes relay switch during a starting operation if sensed motor energization voltage monitored by the controller falls below a predetermined threshold level within a predetermined time period after electrical power is applied to the solenoid assembly, whereby electrical power applications to the solenoid assembly are automatically repeated during a starting operation to correct click-no-crank events and prevent prolonged power application to the solenoid assembly. A related method is also disclosed.

A safety control system and method to be used with a starter system having a battery, ignition switch, starter, starter relay, and starter solenoid, the safety control system including an interrupt relay configured to be connected between a battery and the starter, and a controller configured to control the interrupt relay to selectively allow power from the battery to be supplied to the starter.