Patent ID: 6671594
Filing Date: 2003-12-30
Classification: B60R

Abstract:
A vehicle having an engine and various vehicle systems having operating fluids and characterized by operating fluid levels, the vehicle comprising:an electronic system controller; a data communications bus connected at one node to the electronic system controller; a plurality of sensors connected to the data communications bus for transmitting data to the electronic system controller; an user input/output interface; an on board computer connected to the user input/output interface and to the data communications bus, the on board computer including memory; and a vehicle inspection regimen stored in the memory and executable on the on board computer, providing, means for evaluating a plurality of preset inspection triggering conditions, the preset inspection triggering conditions including one or more of the following; request by the driver, movement of an ignition key from an off to an on position, movement of the ignition key from an off to an on position after a minimum time interval from a previous occurrence of movement of the ignition key from the off to the on position, movement of the ignition key from off to on when an engine coolant temperature reading is below a minimum, occasion of a change of driver of the vehicle, a specific time day, and a minimum time interval since the previous inspection, means for checking fluid levels against one or more limits for various vehicle systems before engine start, means for prompting an operator through the user input/output interface to start the engine if the operating fluid levels meet applicable limits; and means for completing the vehicle inspection regimen after an engine start.