Patent ID: 7191771

Claim:
A method of controlling an internal combustion engine having a lambda control, the method comprising: determining if predefined activation conditions are met upon starting the combustion engine by executing a first check procedure; measuring an internal temperature of the combustion engine and determining an adaptive value using a characteristic curve for calculating a fuel mixture based on the measured internal temperature, if the first check procedure is positive, the characteristic curve including a progression of the adaptive value relative to a progression of the internal temperature; determining if predefined adaptation conditions are met while the lambda control is in operation by executing a second check procedure; and determining an updated adaptive value using at least one control parameter of the lambda control and adjusting the characteristic curve using the updated adaptive value and the measured internal temperature, if the second check procedure is positive, and maintaining the unadjusted characteristic curve, if the second check procedure is negative, wherein the updated adaptive value is weighted by a weighting parameter during each combustion cycle until the lambda control is in effect.