Patent ID: 8220424

Claim:
A method of operating an electrohydraulic valve control system during an operation of an internal combustion engine, wherein the electrohydraulic valve system comprises at least one hydraulic work cylinder directly connected to a gas exchange valve, the method comprising: hydraulically actuating the gas exchange valve with the at least one hydraulic work cylinder, wherein the gas exchange valve is directly actuated by the hydraulic work cylinder; acquiring an actuation characteristic of the at least one hydraulic work cylinder, wherein the actuation characteristic is acquired during an actuation of the gas exchange valve; comparing the acquired actuation characteristic with a reference actuation characteristic, wherein the reference actuation characteristic describes a nominal characteristic of the gas exchange valve actuator; determining if a deviation occurs between the acquired actuation characteristic and the reference actuation characteristic; evaluating the deviation to determine whether a further operation of the at least one hydraulic work cylinder can lead to a breakdown of the internal combustion engine; and switching off the at least one gas exchange valve actuator in the event a further operation of the gas exchange valve actuator can lead to a breakdown of the internal combustion engine, wherein an actuation characteristic of at least one other gas exchange valve actuator, different from the at least one gas exchange valve actuator, of the internal combustion engine is manipulated in order to effect a compensation for a changed performance of the internal combustion engine as a result of switching off the at least one gas exchange valve actuator.