A control apparatus for an internal combustion engine of this invention includes: a turbo-supercharger; an exhaust gas purifying catalyst disposed in an exhaust passage on the downstream side of a turbine; and a WGV capable of opening and closing an exhaust bypass passage that bypasses the turbine. At the time of a catalyst warm-up request, catalyst warm-up control that opens the WGV and retards the ignition timing is executed. If the sensitivity of control of an intake air amount by a throttle valve is high, the intake air amount is controlled using the throttle valve during execution of the catalyst warm-up control. If the control sensitivity is low, the intake air amount is controlled using the WGV during execution of the catalyst warm-up control. When the WGV degree of opening is controlled toward a closed side during execution of the intake air amount control using the WGV, a retard amount of the ignition timing is increased.

A control apparatus for a diesel engine includes a neighboring temperature estimating section which estimates a temperature of a neighborhood of a glow plug that heats an interior of a cylinder upon startup, and a supercharging pressure control section which controls a supercharging pressure in such a way that a rotation fluctuation of the engine does not increase, on the basis of the estimated temperature of the neighborhood of the glow plug.

Systems and methods for increasing engine vacuum production and catalyst heating of a hybrid powertrain are described. In one example, a motor/generator rotates an engine at idle speed while the engine combusts air and fuel without providing torque sufficient to rotate the engine so that spark timing may be advanced or retarded from minimum spark timing for best torque to heat a catalyst and generate vacuum for vacuum consumers.

Aspects of the disclosure are directed to characterizing engine load for an engine in a vehicle. As may be implemented in accordance with one or more embodiments, an engine reporting strategy utilized by an on board diagnostic (OBD) system of a vehicle is detected based on output parameters of the OBD system and engine load values provided under engine operating conditions that maximize the load values.

A process of controlling operation in a multi-cylinder engine either during start of operation or low-load conditions is disclosed. The process may include skipping a supply of fuel in a first set of cylinders of the multi-cylinder engine for a pre-defined number of multiple working cycles. The process may further include supplying fuel-air mixture to a second set of cylinders of the multi-cylinder engine for the pre-defined number of multiple working cycles. The process may also include executing combustion of the fuel-air mixture supplied to the second set of cylinders for the pre-defined number of multiple working cycles. In addition the process may include either changing a selection of cylinders included in the first set of cylinders and the second set of cylinders respectively, or switching the supply of fuel, after the pre-defined number of multiple working cycles, from the second set of cylinders to the first set of cylinders.

Embodiments describe a method of controlling a two-stroke internal combustion engine. A method of controlling a two-stroke internal combustion engine includes determining a base nominal exhaust gas temperature, determining a base barometric pressure correction to base nominal exhaust gas temperature, determining exhaust gas temperature differential, determining exhaust gas temperature injection correction, and utilizing the exhaust gas temperature injection correction to make a final short-term fuel or ignition correction.

An engine control device for a vehicle is provided, which comprises a control unit configured to be connected to the engine of a vehicle and to control the switching of the engine from a first idle rotation speed to a second idle rotation speed in which the number of engine revolutions is lower compared to the number of revolutions of the first idle speed. The control device also includes a first sensor, configured to be connected to the engine and to instantaneously sense and transmit to the control unit the number of revolutions completed by the engine in the unit of time. The control device further includes a second sensor for detecting the presence of an operator at the vehicle controls, and the second sensor is configured to transmit to the control unit a signal indicating the presence of an operator at the vehicle controls. The control unit is configured to actuate a decrease in the engine rotation speed from the first idle speed toward the second idle speed if the signal transmitted by the second sensor indicates the operator's absence and the signal transmitted by the first sensor indicates that the engine is running at the first idle speed.

Aspects of the disclosure are directed to estimating the type fuel used by a vehicle. As may be implemented in accordance with one or more embodiments, a type of fuel burned by an engine in a vehicle is estimated by obtaining output parameters of an on board diagnostic (OBD) system of the vehicle. Respective estimates of the fuel type are generated based on the output parameters, using a different fuel type identifying method for each respective estimate, and the fuel type is determined based on the respective estimates.

Systems and methods for controlling engine idle speed based on electrical load are provided. A system includes a logic device configured to perform various operations for controlling an idle speed of an engine. The logic device is configured to determine a state of charge (SOC) of a battery, a maximum output of an alternator at a current idle speed of an engine, and a load on the alternator. The logic device is further configured to initiate an increased idle speed of the engine based on the determined SOC of the battery and based on the load being greater than the maximum output. The logic device is further configured to initiate a decreased idle speed of the engine based on the SOC being less than an SOC threshold. Associated methods are also provided.

Aspects of the disclosure are directed to characterizing effective vehicle frontal area. As may be implemented in accordance with one or more embodiments, one or more operating parameters of the vehicle are obtained. Such parameters may be obtained during one or more qualifying periods of time, such as those periods in which an operating parameter or parameters such as speed and/or acceleration are within a range of values. A value that provides an estimate of the vehicle frontal area is then generated based on the one or more operating parameters.