Method and system for monitoring cooling system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018073418-A1
Application number	US-201615267010-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 15, 2016
Priority date	Sep 15, 2016
Publication date	Mar 15, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

Methods and systems are provided for determining coolant system health. In one example, a method may include predicting degradation in the coolant system based on oscillations of an estimated coolant temperature at an outlet of a radiator. The method may further control an engine based on the estimated coolant temperature.

First claim

1 . A method for a cooling system, comprising:
adjusting coolant flow with a thermostat; based on thermostat position, estimating a coolant temperature at a position between an end of a radiator core and a junction of a radiator lower hose and a heater core output line; and indicating cooling system health based on the estimated coolant temperature.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the thermostat is at a first position to flow the coolant through the radiator, and at a second position to bypass the coolant from the radiator.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the cooling system health includes radiator failure, radiator useful life, and thermostat degradation.

4 . The method of claim 3 , further comprising indicating the radiator health based on an oscillation of the estimated coolant temperature.

5 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising indicating radiator failure based on the amplitude of the oscillation.

6 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising indicating radiator health if the number of oscillation in the estimated coolant temperature is greater than a threshold.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the estimated coolant temperature is the coolant temperature at a radiator outlet.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the estimated coolant temperature is coolant temperature in a radiator end tank.

9 . The method of claim 3 , further comprising measuring the coolant temperature at a position between an end of a radiator core and a junction of a radiator lower hose and a heater core output line via a sensor.

10 . The method of claim 9 , further comprising indicating thermostat degradation by comparing the measured coolant temperature with the estimated coolant temperature.

11 . A method for a cooling system, comprising:
stopping coolant flow from a thermostat to a radiator; determining a coolant flow rate from a heater core to a radiator end tank; estimating a coolant temperature at a position between an end of a radiator core and a junction of a radiator lower hose and a heater core output line; and indicating degradation of the cooling system based on the estimated coolant temperature.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein coolant flow rate from the thermostat to the downstream radiator is zero when the coolant flow is stopped.

13 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising estimating an engine temperature based on the estimated coolant temperature, and operating the engine responsive to the estimated engine temperature.

14 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising estimating a radiator temperature based on the estimated coolant temperature, and operating a radiator fan responsive to the estimated radiator temperature.

15 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the engine temperature is estimated based on a measured coolant temperature at the position between the end of a radiator core and the junction of the radiator lower hose and the heater core output line via a thermal state estimator.

16 . A vehicle system, comprising:
a pump upstream of an engine for pumping coolant to the engine; a radiator includes a radiator core and an end tank; a lower hose directly coupled to the end tank; a heater core; a thermostat downstream of the engine to control coolant flow to a radiator; and a controller configured with computer readable instructions stored on non-transitory memory for:
estimating coolant temperature at a position between an end of a radiator core and a junction of a radiator lower hose and a heater core output line;
predicting radiator failure based on the estimated coolant temperature; and
operating the engine responsive to the predicated radiator failure.

17 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the end tank of the radiator is in direct fluid communication with both an input of the pump and an outlet of the heater core.

18 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the controller is further configured for predicating radiator health based on a coolant flow rate from the heater core to the radiator end tank when the radiator is bypassed.

19 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the controller is further configured for determining thermostat degradation.

20 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the controller is further configured for adjusting a radiator fan responsive to the predicated radiator failure.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Bonkoski Phillip
• Karnik Amey Y
• Mehravaran Meisam
• Styron Joshua Putman

Classifications

• F01P11/16 Primary

  concerning coolant temperature (F01P11/20 takes precedence) · CPC title

• F01P11/18

  concerning coolant pressure, coolant flow, or liquid-coolant level · CPC title

• F01P2031/18

  Detecting fluid leaks · CPC title

• F01P7/16 Primary

  by thermostatic control · CPC title

• F01P2025/08

  Temperature · CPC title