An internal combustion engine-based system includes an internal combustion engine. The internal combustion engine-based system includes an engine interrupt connected to the engine. The engine interrupt is configured to selectively stop the operation of the engine. The internal combustion engine-based system includes a controller in communication with the engine interrupt. The internal combustion engine-based system includes a carbon monoxide detector in communication with the controller. The controller uses the engine interrupt to stop the operation of the engine when the carbon monoxide detector provides the controller with signals that are representative of a carbon monoxide level proximate the internal combustion engine that together form a trend of building carbon monoxide amounts over a set time interval.

Methods and systems are presented for improving engaging automatic vehicle motive power source stopping and inhibiting automatic vehicle motive power source stopping. The methods and systems include processing driver inputs in a machine learning model and characterizing the driver in one of a plurality of driver groups. Automatic vehicle motive power source stopping and starting may be adjusted responsive to a group in which a driver is a member.

A method for an enhanced vehicle monitoring system that utilizes cameras and other sensors to determine the state of the interior and/or exterior of a vehicle is provided. The method comprises detecting that a driver has exited a vehicle. The method further comprises monitoring a state of the vehicle. The method further comprises determining based, at least in part, on the monitoring, if an object has been left in the vehicle unintentionally or if the vehicle has been left running unattended. The method further comprises, upon determining that the object has been left in the vehicle or the vehicle has been left running unattended, sending a notification to the driver.

A valve timing controller includes: a driving side rotation member that rotates synchronously with a crankshaft of an internal combustion engine; a driven side rotation member that integrally rotates with a cam shaft of the internal combustion engine; a phase regulating mechanism with which a relative rotation phase of the driving and driven side rotation members around a rotation axis is set by a driving force of an electric motor; a phase sensing portion that acquires the relative rotation phase; and a phase controlling section that controls the electric motor to set the relative rotation phase based on an acquisition result by the phase sensing portion. The phase sensing portion includes a cam angle sensor, a reference determination sensor, and a pattern storage unit. The valve timing controller further includes a phase acquisition portion.

Methods and systems are provided for diagnosing a source of degradation in an exhaust system of a vehicle. In one example, a method may include actuating an electric turbocharger to rotate in a first direction to evaluate integrity of an exhaust pipe of the exhaust system and rotation the turbocharger in a second direction to assess an exhaust manifold of the exhaust system, after an engine of the vehicle is turned off. Pressures generated in the exhaust system are compared to thresholds based on barometric pressure and/or turbocharger speed.

A method of controlling oxygen purge of a three-way catalyst may include: performing a fuel cut-off; determining whether a fuel cut-in condition is satisfied after the fuel cut-off; calculating an optimum valve overlap according to an intake amount, an engine rotation speed, and an ignition timing if the fuel cut-in condition is satisfied after the fuel cut-off; controlling a CVVD apparatus to be at the optimum valve overlap; and performing the oxygen purge at the optimum valve overlap.

An internal combustion engine 1 is provided, in an exhaust passage thereof with an electrochemical reactor including: an ion conductive solid electrolyte layer; an anode layer arranged on a surface of the solid electrolyte layer; and a cathode layer arranged on a surface of the solid electrolyte layer and able to hold NO.sub.X. The engine includes a current control device for controlling the current supplied to the electrochemical reactor so as to flow from the anode layer through the solid electrolyte layer to the cathode layer. The current control device is configured so as to supply current to the electrochemical reactor at least temporarily while that internal combustion engine is stopped.

Systems and methods for operating a vehicle that includes an engine that may be automatically stopped and started are described. In one example, the inhibiting or preventing automatic engine stopping may be performed when a human driver releases a brake pedal, which causes the engine to automatically start, and the inhibiting may continue until vehicle speed exceeds a speed where the engine was automatically stopped.

A control device for a multi-stage automatic transmission-equipped vehicle includes a hydraulic power controller, a combustion controller configured to, if a predetermined combustion stop condition is satisfied when the vehicle is traveling, perform deceleration-period combustion stop control, and limit combustion restart triggered by a reduction in rotational speed of an internal combustion engine, during execution of the deceleration-period combustion stop control, and a motoring controller configured to control the rotational drive of the internal combustion engine by a motor during execution of the deceleration-period combustion stop control so that the rotational speed of the internal combustion engine is maintained at a predetermined rotational speed during a period of time from the time that the rotational speed of the internal combustion engine decreases to the predetermined rotational speed until downshifting to a predetermined gear ratio is completed.

Provided is a vehicle control device configured to suppress power to be consumed by an arithmetic device while the vehicle operation is stopped, and to diagnose the operation frequency of the timer for abnormality. The vehicle control device of the present invention allows the bandpass filter to convert the operation frequency of the timer into the voltage value. The holding circuit holds the value corresponding to the converted voltage value. The arithmetic device diagnoses whether or not the timer has been normally operated using the voltage value held in the holding circuit.