Patent ID: 6188224
Filing Date: 2001-02-13
Classification: F02P

Abstract:
A process for diagnosing an ignition device of an internal combustion engine, which comprises:providing an ignition device including at least one ignition coil, providing a switch connected to the at least one ignition coil, providing a control computer emitting at least one control signal for controlling the switch, and providing a current measuring means for measuring a current flowing through the switch;performing a sampling step defined by periodically extracting samples of a value of the current flowing through the switch with the current measuring means;performing a determining step defined by determining a moment of extraction and a conducting state of a circuit formed of the at least one coil and the switch at the moment of extraction for each of the samples;performing a checking step defined by checking if the moment of extraction for each of the samples satisfies at least one temporal condition with respect to the at least one control signal emitted by the control computer;performing a comparing step defined by comparing each of the samples with a predetermined threshold value if the at least one temporal condition was satisfied during the checking step; andperforming a deducing step defined by deducing a presence and nature of an operating fault of the circuit from results of the comparing step.