Patent ID: 7596447

Claim:
A control apparatus for an internal-combustion engine, comprising; a high-pressure fuel pump for taking in a fuel from a fuel tank, pressurizing the fuel, and then discharging the pressurized fuel; a fuel injection valve for injecting the fuel discharged from the high-pressure fuel pump into a cylinder of an internal-combustion engine; a fuel-pressure sensor for detecting a pressure of the fuel discharged from the high-pressure fuel pump; a high-pressure-fuel-pump control means for, during operation of the internal-combustion engine, controlling an amount of the fuel discharged from the high-pressure fuel pump, by controlling a drive timing for a flow-rate control valve provided in the high-pressure fuel pump in such a way that a target pressure set in accordance with an operation condition of the engine coincides with the fuel pressure detected by the fuel-pressure sensor; and a high-pressure-fuel-system diagnosis means for, upon activation of an engine, making the high-pressure fuel pump perform high-pressure-fuel discharge operation prior to initial fuel injection operation by the fuel injection valve and based on the condition of the resultant fuel-pressure rise, performing a diagnosis on whether or not a malfunction exists in a high-pressure fuel system.