Method and Apparatus for Inferring Engine Oil Temperature for Use With an Oil Change Indicator

This invention relates to the field of electronic engine control and more particularly to techniques for determining the temperature and quality of lubricating oil within an internal combustion engine.

As most vehicle owners know, engine lubricating oil plays an important role in the proper operation of a vehicle engine. Not only does lubricating oil provide lubrication for the valvetrain and other moving parts in the engine, it also plays an important role in dissipating heat generated by the engine, as well as cleaning moving engine parts. As most vehicle owners are also aware, engine oil requires periodic changing in order to maintain proper engine operation. Heat and impurities in the engine cause the oil, and the additives often contained in the oil, to become dirty and to break down, resulting in reduced lubrication and cleaning ability.

Suggested engine oil change intervals vary depending primarily on the manner in which the vehicle is driven and the conditions under which it is driven. It is known that engine oil temperature contributes significantly to the useful life of the oil. Cold oil temperatures and high oil temperatures both reduce the useful operating life of oil, while a temperature within a certain range provides the longest useful oil life. Thus, as can be seen, harsh operating environments such as extreme cold or extreme heat decrease engine oil life, as does extended operation at high speeds or loads. U.S. Pat. No. 5,060,156 entitled Method and Apparatus for Determining Engine Oil Change Intervals According to Actual Engine Use, to Vajgart et al. describes a system which determines an oil change interval as a function of engine oil temperature.

Known methods of determining oil temperature typically utilize a mechanism, similar to that utilized by Vajgert et al., which employs an oil temperature sensor which transmits a signal indicative of the oil temperature to a control module. The temperature sensor however, imposes an added cost to the engine. Moreover, the temperature sensed by the oil temperature sensor is not always accurate. Accurate determination of engine oil change interval accordingly suffers, engine performance and operational life decrease as a result.

Consequently, there is a need for a system which provides low cost and reliable determinaton of engine oil temperature.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an accurate determination of engine oil temperature.

In accordance with the primary object of the invention, an engine oil temperature is determined by determining a steady state oil temperature value as a function of an engine speed value which is indicative of the rotational speed of the engine, and an aircharge value which is indicative of aircharge in lbs per cylinder filling. A time constant value, which is indicative of the rate of change of oil temperature in the engine, is then determined as a function of an airmass value, which is indicative of the mass flow rate of air into an intake manifold of the engine. The temperature of the oil is then determined as a function of the steady state oil temperature value and the time constant value.

An advantage of certain preferred embodiments is that oil temperature is accurately determined without the need for a sensor. As a result the engine oil temperature is determined in a reliable manner and cost of the system is reduced by eliminating the need for an engine oil temperature sensor.

These and other features and advantages of the present invention may be better understood by considering the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention. In the course of this description, reference will frequently be made to the attached drawings.

FIG. 1 of the drawings shows a schematic diagram of a preferred embodiment of portions of an internal combustion engine and a electronic engine controller which utilizes the principles of the invention;

FIGS. 2, 3(a), 3(b), 4(a) and 4(b) are flowcharts showing the steps performed by a preferred embodiment; and

FIG. 5 is a graph showing the relationship of lubricating oil life to oil temperature.

FIG. 1 of the drawings shows an Electronic Engine Controller (EEC) 10 and an internal combustion engine 100. Engine 100 draws an aircharge through an intake manifold 123, past a throttle plate 128, and intake valve 136 and into combustion chamber 135. An air/fuel mixture which consists of the aircharge and fuel, is ignited in combustion chamber 135, and exhaust gas produced from combustion of the air/fuel mixture is transported past exhaust valve 137 through exhaust manifold 129. A piston 130 is coupled to a crankshaft 106, and moves in a linear fashion within a cylinder defined by cylinder walls 110. An oil pump 141 pumps engine oil from an oil pan 142 via oil channels in the valvetrain, piston and crankshaft. The engine oil lubricates cylinder walls 110 to facilitate movement of piston 109, and to dissipate heat from cylinder walls 110 and piston 109 caused by combustion of the air/fuel mixture in the combustion chamber 135.

A crankshaft position sensor 105 detects the rotation of crankshaft 106 and transmits a crankshaft position signal 115 to EEC 10. Crankshaft position signal 115 preferably takes the form of a series of pulses, each pulse being caused by the rotation of a predetermined point on the crankshaft past sensor 105. The frequency of pulses on the crankshaft position signal 115 are thus indicative of the rotational speed of the engine crankshaft. A Mass AirFlow (MAF) sensor 103 detects the mass flow rate of air into intake manifold 123 and transmits a representative signal 113 to EEC 10. MAF sensor 103 preferably takes the form of a hot wire anemometer. A throttle position sensor 104 detects the angular position of throttle plate 128 and transmits a representative signal 114 EEC 10. Throttle position sensor 104 preferably takes the form of potentiometer. An engine coolant temperature sensor 108 detects the temperature of engine coolant circulating within the engine and transmits a representative signal 118 to EEC 10. Engine coolant temperature sensor 108 preferably takes the form of thermistor.

A visual indicator 143 which preferably takes the form of a light emitting diode (LED) or light bulb provides a visual indication to an operator of the vehicle of expiration of an oil change interval. LED 143 operates under control of oil change signal 144 which is generated by EEC 10 in a manner to be described. An oil change reset button 150 is operable by the vehicle operator to provide an indication to EEC 10 of the start of a new oil change interval. The oil change reset button 150 is preferably actuated when the engine oil is changed in order to provide an accurate indication to EEC 10 of the beginning of an oil change interval. EEC 10 determines the expiration of the oil change interval and provides an indication to the vehicle operator, via LED 143. The visual indication provided by LED 143 informs the vehicle operator of the need for an oil change.

EEC 10 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 21 for executing stored control programs, a read-only memory (ROM) 23 for storing the control programs, a random-access memory (RAM) 22 for temporary data storage, a keep-alive-memory (KAM) 24 for storing learned values, a conventional data bus and I/O ports 25 for transmitting and receiving signals to and from the engine 100 and other systems in the vehicle.

The oil temperature is determined according to the steps shown in FIG. 2, and the oil change interval is determined according to the steps shown in FIGS. 3, 4(a) and 4(b)

A preferred embodiment advantageously determines the oil temperature in engine 100 in an accurate manner without the need for an oil temperature sensor by executing an oil temperature routine as shown in FIG. 2. The oil temperature routine is preferably executed periodically during engine operation, as part of a background routine which executes substantially continuously during engine operation. The instantaneous oil temperature value OILT generated by the routine is advantageously stored in KAM 24 for use during subsequent engine operation.

The oil temperature routine is initiated at 201 and at 202, a steady state difference value OILT.sub.-- SS.sub.-- DEL is calculated as a function of an engine speed value N which is indicative of the rotational speed of the engine, and an aircharge value AC which is indicative of aircharge in pounds per cylinder filling. Engine speed value N is generated as a function of the crankshaft position signal and the aircharge value AC is generated as a function of the MAF signal. OILT.sub.-- SS.sub.-- DEL is advantageously generated by retrieving the steady state difference value from a two-dimensional difference table which contains a plurality of empirically derived steady state difference values indexed by engine speed value N and aircharge value AC. Each stored steady state difference value is indicative of a difference between steady state engine oil temperature, at a particular engine speed and aircharge, and an engine coolant temperature of 200 degrees farenheit, and an ambient temperature of 80 degrees farenheit. The difference table is preferably a two-dimensional table with six columns and six rows.

At 203, the steady state difference value is adjusted to account for the vehicle speed, ambient temperature and actual engine coolant temperature, to generate a steady state oil temperature value OILT.sub.-- SS. Steady state oil temperature value OILT.sub.-- SS is determined as a function of the steady state difference value, an engine coolant temperature value ECT, which is indicative of the temperature of the engine coolant, and two additional values FNXXB(ECT) and FNXXC(INFAMB, VSBAR) according to the relationship shown at 203. The value FNXXB(ECT) is indicative of higher heat transfer into the oil at lower engine coolant temperatures. The value FNXXXC(INFAMB.sub.-- KAM, VSBAR) is indicative of a loss of heat via the oil pan and exposed engine parts due to ambient temperature. INFAMB.sub.-- KAM, which is used as an index value in FNXXXC is stored in KAM 24 and is indicative of ambient air temperture. VSBAR which is also used as an index value in FNXXXC is indicative of vehicle speed.

At 204, an oil temperature time constant TC.sub.-- OILT, which is indicative of the rate of change of oil temperature in the engine, is generated as a function of an aimass value AM. Airmass value AM is indicative of the mass flow rate of air into the intake manifold in pounds per minute as measured by MAF sensor 103. The value TC.sub.-- OILT is preferably generated by retrieving a value from a time constant table which contains a plurality of empirically derived values indexed by aimass AM. Each of the oil temperature time constants stored in the time constant table is indicative of an empirically determined rate of change of temperature in the engine as a function of airmass.

At 205, an instantaneous oil temperature value OILT, which is indicative of the instantaneous temperature of the engine oil, is generated as a function of the steady state oil temperature value OILT.sub.-- SS and the oil temperature time constant TC.sub.-- OILT. OILT is advantageously generated by taking the rolling average of OILT.sub.-- SS and TC.sub.-- OILT. The value OILT is preferably stored in keep-alive memory for use during subsequent engine operation. The oil temperature routine is then exited at 206.

FIGS. 3(a), 3(b), 4(a) and 4(b) show the steps executed by EEC 10 to implement an oil change interval routine in order to provide an indication to a vehicle operator of the expiration of an oil change interval. As with the oil temperature routine of FIG. 2, the oil change interval routine is executed by the EEC as a portion of a background loop which executes substantially continuously, during engine operation.

The oil change interval routine is entered in FIG. 3(a) at 210 and at 211 an initialization flag INIT.sub.-- FLG is checked to determine if the present execution of the background routine is the first time the background routine is being executed since the engine was turned on. INIT.sub.-- FLG preferably has a value of zero before and during the initial execution of the background loop and a value of one thereafter.

If INIT.sub.-- FLG is not equal to zero then the routine skips initialization step 212 and proceeds to step 213. Otherwise, at 212 an initial value for the engine oil temperature value OILT is calculated by first calculating a cooldown factor e.sup.-t/TC, where t is a value indicative of an amount of time elapsed when the engine was turned off and is preferably generated from an engine-off time sensor which detects the amount of time for which the engine is turned off. TC is a calibratable time constant which is indicative of a rate at which engine oil cools when the engine is not running. The instantaneous oil temperature value OILT is then calculated as a function of the instantaneous oil temperature OILT stored in KAM before engine shutdown, as adjusted by ambient air temperature value INFAMB.sub.-- KAM and the cooldown factor.

At 213, an oil stress value OIL.sub.-- LIFE.sub.-- MUL which is indicative of a rate at which the oil degrades is calculated as a function of the instantaneous oil temperature value OILT. OIL.sub.-- LIFE.sub.-- MUL is advantageously determined by retrieving an oil stress value from an oil stress table which contains a plurality of oil stress values, each of which is indicative of an empirically determined rate of oil degradation at a particular oil temperature. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, in view of the present disclosure, oil degrades at different rates depending upon its temperature. FIG. 5 shows in graphical form, relative rates of oil degradation for different temperatures. In FIG. 5, oil temperature in degrees farenheit is given along the horizontal axis and the relative rate of degradation is given along the vertical axis. An oil degradation rate of 1.5 indicates a rate of degradation which is 50% greater than a degradation rate of 1.0 As can be seen in FIG. 5, oil which is at a temperature above 240 or below 180 degrades at a faster rate than oil which is between those temperatures. A preferred embodiment advantageously determines the expiration of an oil change interval as a function of the degradation rate, in order to more accurately inform a vehicle operator of the need for an oil change.

At 214, the oil quality value OIL.sub.-- LIFE.sub.-- REVS, which is indicative of the relative efficacy of the engine oil is calculated by modifying the present value of OIL.sub.-- LIFE.sub.-- REVS with the oil stress value and an engine revolution value ENGINE.sub.-- REV which is indicative of the number of engine revolutions elapsed between the present execution of the oil change interval routine and the prior execution of the oil change interval routine. The value ENGINE.sub.-- REV is calculated according to the following relationship:

where,

N is the rotational speed of the engine in revolutions per minute; and

BG.sub.-- TMR is a value which is indicative of the number of seconds elapsed between the present execution of the oil change interval routine and the prior execution of the oil change interval routine.

FIG. 3(b) shows the steps executed after step 214 in FIG. 3(a). At step 220, a KAM integrity value KAM.sub.-- ERROR is checked to determine the integrity of the values stored in the KAM. Values stored in the KAM may become corrupted if power to the KAM is lost, such as by disconnecting the car battery from the vehicle electrical system. If KAM.sub.-- ERROR equals one then the KAM values are determined to have been corrupted and at 221, a flag OILLT.sub.-- BL.sub.-- FLG is set to a value of one to enable a visual indication to the vehicle operator, via LED 143 that the automatic determination of an oil change interval is not possible. This indication is preferably given by causing the LED 143 to blink in a manner shown in FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b).

If KAM.sub.-- ERROR does not equal one, then at 222 two comparisons are performed. First, initialization flag INIT.sub.-- FLG is checked to determine if the present execution of the background routine is the first time the background routine is being executed since the engine was turned on. Second, the oil quality value OIL.sub.-- LIFE.sub.-- REVS is compared to a predetermined threshold value OIL.sub.-- LIFE.sub.-- MAX, which is indicative of a predetermined maximum oil life. If OIL.sub.-- LIFE.sub.-- REVS is greater than OIL.sub.-- LIFE.sub.-- MAX, and if INIT.sub.-- FLG equals zero then at 223 an oil state flag OILLT.sub.-- STATE is set to a value of one to enable a visual indication to the vehicle operator, via LED 143 that an oil change is required. The visual indication is only enabled if at 222, the vehicle is determined to be in startup. This is performed to avoid startling the vehicle operator. Turning on the visual indication for the first time at engine start-up has the additional advantage of giving the operator the opportunity to consult the vehicle owner manual.

At 224, an oil interval reset flag OIL.sub.-- RESET is checked to determine if the vehicle operator has pushed the oil change reset button 150 to initiate a new oil change interval. The flag OIL.sub.-- RESET has a value of one if the OIL.sub.-- RESET button has been actuated by the driver to initiate a new oil change interval, and a value of zero otherwise. Once OIL.sub.-- RESET is set to a value of one, it is reset to a value of zero at step 225.

If OIL.sub.-- RESET equals a value of one then at 225, a plurality of values are initialized. OILLT.sub.-- BL.sub.-- FLG, OIL.sub.-- LIFE.sub.-- REV and OILLT.sub.-- STATE are as described above, and OILLT.sub.-- BL.sub.-- TMR is an oil indicator blinking value which will be described in the description accompanying FIG. 4(a).

If OIL.sub.-- RESET does not equal one, then at 226, OILLT.sub.-- BL.sub.-- FLG is tested and if it equals a value of one, then at 227, an oil indicator blinking routine is executed. Otherwise the oil change interval routine is exited at 228.

FIG. 4(a) shows the steps executed by EEC 10 to implement the oil indicator blinking routine shown at 227 which causes the visual indicator 143 to indicate to the vehicle operator that an automatic determination of an oil change interval is not possible. The routine is initiated at 301 and at 302 the value of INIT.sub.-- FLG is checked. If INIT.sub.-- FLG equals one, indicating that the background loop has already been executed once, then at 303, oil indicator timer value OILLT.sub.-- BL.sub.-- TMR which contains a value indicative of an amount of time the visual indicator has been blinking, is initialized to a value of zero, and the routine proceeds to step 305. If INIT.sub.-- FLG is not equal to a value of one at 302, then at 304, OILLT.sub.-- BL.sub.-- TMR is incremented by a calibratable increment value OILLT.sub.-- BL.sub.-- STP which is indicative of a predetermined amount by which OILLT.sub.-- BL.sub.-- TMR should be incremented per background loop. Once incremented, OILLT.sub.-- BL.sub.-- TMR is compared to a maximum timer value, and if the value of OILLT.sub.-- BL.sub.-- TMR is greater than the maximum timer value then OILLT.sub.-- BL.sub.-- TMR is clipped to equal the maximum timer value. In a preferred embodiment the maximum timer value has a value of 255. At 305, OILL.sub.-- BL.sub.-- TMR is compared to a maximum timer value OILLT.sub.-- BL.sub.-- MAX and if OILLT.sub.-- BL.sub.-- TMR is less than OILLT.sub.-- BL.sub.-- MAX, indicating that the visual indicating blinking period has not expired, then at 306, the visual indicator is lit by executing a lighting routine shown in FIG. 4(b). Otherwise, the visual indicator blinking period is determined to have expired and the routine is exited at 307.

FIG. 4(b) shows the steps executed by EEC 10 to implement the lighting routine shown at 306. The routine is initiated at 321, and at 322 an LED timer value OILLT.sub.-- B2.sub.-- TMR is incremented by BG.sub.-- TMR. At 323, OILLT.sub.-- B2.sub.-- TMR is compared against a predetermined maximum on timer value OILLT.sub.-- BL.sub.-- T1, and if OILLT.sub.-- B2.sub.-- TMR is less than OILLT.sub.-- BL.sub.-- T1 then at 324 OILLT.sub.-- STATE is set to a value of one to energize LED 143. At 325, OILLT.sub.-- B2.sub.-- TMR is compared against a maximum off timer value OILLT.sub.-- BL.sub.-- T2.

It is to be understood that the specific mechanisms and techniques which have been described are merely illustrative of one application of the principles of the invention. Numerous modifications may be made to the methods and apparatus described without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention.