Patent ID: 8244501

Claim:
A method for diagnosing an electrically controllable pop-off valve of a turbo-charging device of an internal combustion engine, a compressor of the turbo-charging device being situated in an air supply channel for supplying air to the internal combustion engine, the pop-off valve being situated in a pop-off pipe bypassing the compressor, the method comprising: providing an air mass flow reading regarding an air mass flow supplied by the air supply channel to the internal combustion engine; after an activation of the pop-off valve in order to switch over the pop-off valve, analyzing by a processor a time curve of the air mass flow reading in order to determine, within a specified time after the beginning of the activation of the pop-off valve, whether a local maximum of the air mass flow indicated by the air mass flow reading appears; and detecting, by the processor, a fault of the electrically controllable pop-off valve if the local maximum of the air mass flow is not able to be determined within the specified time period.