JP2002070627A - Self-diagnostic method and self-diagnostic device for outboard motor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a self-diagnostic method for an outboard motor capable of execution of display of a failure or abnormality position from an engine control unit(ECU) at a low cost by use of equipment being used by an engine or equipment already owned by a dealer. SOLUTION: In this self-diagnostic method, the engine control unit 1 displays only generation of the failure or the abnormality on a display device in operation of the engine, and displays a self-diagnostic result as a symbol after an engine stop.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a self-diagnosis method and a self-diagnosis apparatus for an outboard motor which can display an outboard motor failure or abnormality at a low cost by using an engine control unit provided in a fuel injection engine. Things.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An engine control unit (hereinafter referred to as an ECU) for controlling a fuel injection type engine of an outboard motor controls an appropriate actuator output according to various operating conditions based on a plurality of sensor inputs. . However, a failure or abnormality of a sensor or a failure or abnormality of an actuator causes a decrease in engine output, a deterioration in exhaust gas level, or the like, resulting in a situation where initial performance cannot be exhibited.

Conventionally, when such a failure or abnormality occurs, the driver is notified of the failure or abnormality by a buzzer or a warning lamp provided on an instrument panel. Further, depending on the content of the failure or abnormality, the driver is informed that repair is required.

[0004] When repairs are required, they are usually requested to a dealer for repairs. In this case, the dealer needs to check which part is faulty or abnormal. The number of various sensors and actuators provided in the fuel injection engine is large, and usually a tester or a computer is connected to an ECU that stores the state of the failure or abnormality, and inspection is performed by a failure or abnormality analysis program.

[0005]

However, testers and computers are expensive devices, and computers are cumbersome to operate, so some dealers may be reluctant to operate the computers.

Further, the engine is mounted on an outboard motor and exported and used in various countries. When a computer is used to detect a failure or abnormality of the engine,
The characters displayed on the computer screen must also be made in that country, which has the further problem of increasing costs.

[0007] An object of the present invention is to provide a self-diagnosis of an outboard motor capable of displaying a failure or abnormal location from an ECU at low cost by using equipment used by the engine or equipment already possessed by the dealer. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and a self-diagnosis device.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a self-diagnosis method and a self-diagnosis method for an outboard motor which can display the operating time of the engine using the equipment used by the engine or the equipment already possessed by the dealer. It is to provide a device.

[0009]

According to the present invention, a connection device including various sensors for detecting an operation state of a fuel injection engine, a battery, a key switch, and various actuators for controlling the engine is connected. An ECU is provided, the ECU includes a connected device state storage unit that stores a state of each of the connected devices, and an engine state diagnosis unit that diagnoses the state of the engine from the storage content of the connected device state storage unit, An outboard motor self-diagnosis method for performing self-diagnosis of an outboard motor by using these is improved.

In the self-diagnosis method for an outboard motor according to the present invention, the ECU displays a message during the operation of the engine when the engine state diagnosis means diagnoses that the engine has failed or is abnormal. Only the display of the occurrence of a failure or abnormality in the display is performed, and after the engine is stopped, the contents of diagnosis by the engine state diagnosis means are symbolized and displayed on a display.

In the self-diagnosis method for an outboard motor according to the present invention, when the engine condition diagnosis means diagnoses that the engine has failed or is abnormal, the ECU determines whether the engine is running. It is characterized in that the display only displays that a failure or abnormality has occurred, and that after the engine is stopped, the contents of diagnosis by the engine state diagnosis means are symbolized and displayed on the display.

According to such a display method, while the engine is operating, it is possible to perform safe driving if necessary while knowing that a failure or abnormality has occurred. Since the self-diagnosis result is symbolized and displayed after the engine stops, it is possible to know a failure or an abnormal part after the engine stops. From the symbolized self-diagnosis result, the failure or abnormal part can be known by looking at the column of the corresponding symbol in the engine manual. Normally, the manual is translated into each language and can be used without any problem in any country. According to the display of such a self-diagnosed result, even without using an expensive tester or computer,
Further, even a person who is not good at handling computers can easily find out a failure or an abnormal part. By using, for example, a device used by the engine or a device already owned by the dealer, it is possible to easily display a failure or an abnormal location with a symbol. The indicator used when a failure or abnormality occurs in the engine and the indicator used to display the diagnosis result using symbols may be different or the same.

Further, in the outboard motor self-diagnosis method according to the present invention, the display unit displays the operating time of the engine stored in the connected device state storage means of the ECU.

In the display, the time may be displayed by a symbol, or the time may be displayed as it is. The display is
The equipment used by the engine or the equipment already possessed by the dealer can be used.

Further, the present invention comprises an ECU to which connected devices including various sensors for detecting the operating state of the fuel injection engine, a battery, a key switch, and various actuators for controlling the engine are connected. The self-diagnosis of the outboard motor includes an ECU connected state storage means for storing a state of each connected apparatus, and an engine state diagnosis means for diagnosing the state of the engine from the contents stored in the connected apparatus state storage means. It is an improvement of the device.

In the self-diagnosis device for an outboard motor according to the present invention, when the engine state diagnosis means diagnoses that an engine failure or abnormality has occurred, the ECU displays a display while the engine is operating. A diagnostic result display means for only displaying that a failure or abnormality has occurred, and for displaying the result of the diagnosis by the engine state diagnostic means on a display after the engine is stopped. And

In the self-diagnosis device for an outboard motor according to the present invention, the ECU may display during the operation of the engine when the engine state diagnosis means diagnoses that the engine has failed or is abnormal. A diagnostic result display means for only displaying that a failure or abnormality has occurred in the display, and for symbolizing the contents of diagnosis by the engine state diagnostic means after the engine is stopped and displaying the result on the display unit. It is characterized by.

If such a diagnosis result display means is provided, it is possible to perform safe operation if necessary while knowing that a failure or abnormality has occurred while the engine is running. Since the self-diagnosis result is symbolized and displayed after the engine stops, it is possible to know a failure or an abnormal part after the engine stops. From the symbolized self-diagnosis result, the failure or abnormal part can be known by looking at the column of the corresponding symbol in the engine manual. Normally, the manual is translated into each language and can be used without any problem in any country. According to the display of the symbolized self-diagnosis result, even if an expensive tester or a computer is not used, even a person who is not good at handling the computer can easily know the failure or the abnormal part. As a display,
For example, by using a device used by the engine or a device already possessed by the dealer, it is possible to easily display a failure or an abnormal location by a symbol. The indicator used when a failure or abnormality occurs in the engine and the indicator used to display the diagnosis result using symbols may be different or the same.

In the self-diagnosis device for an outboard motor according to the present invention, the display is a liquid crystal display.

When a failure or an abnormal location is displayed as a symbol on such a liquid crystal display, the failure or an abnormal location can be displayed on a small, simple and inexpensive liquid crystal display. Further, according to the liquid crystal display, the symbol can be displayed as a readable symbol, and a failure or an abnormal portion can be easily recognized by looking at the corresponding symbol column in the engine manual.

Further, in the outboard motor self-diagnosis device according to the present invention, the indicator is a tachometer.

When the indicator is a tachometer,
Normally, tachometers are often equipped as standard on the display of the engine, and in the case of engines not equipped as standard, the dealer has it, so it is possible to connect to the tachometer connection point of the ECU and display it. it can. The display is output, for example, from the ECU as a pulse output corresponding to the number of revolutions indicating a failed or abnormal location, and the pulse output is given to a tachometer to display the number of revolutions indicating the failed or abnormal location. Therefore, it is possible to use the existing tachometer to display a symbol indicating a failure or an abnormal location.

In the self-diagnosis device for an outboard motor according to the present invention, the indicator may be a combination of a tachometer and a warning lamp, a combination of a tachometer and a buzzer, or a combination of a tachometer, a buzzer and a warning lamp. It is characterized by.

According to such a combination, the warning lamp can be turned on, turned off, and blinked.
The buzzer can also sound, stop and intermittent,
By combining the display with the tachometer, even if there are many failures or abnormalities, the display using the symbol can be easily performed.

Further, in the self-diagnosis device for an outboard motor according to the present invention, the display device displays the operating time of the engine stored in the memory of the ECU.

In the display, the time may be displayed by a symbol, or the time may be displayed as it is. The display is
The equipment used by the engine or the equipment already possessed by the dealer can be used.

[0027]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of an embodiment of a self-diagnosis method of an outboard motor according to the present invention, showing a connection state between an ECU and connected devices such as various sensors and actuators. . This example shows an example in which the present invention is applied to a fuel injection type three-cylinder engine.

As shown in the figure, the ECU 1 of the fuel injection type three cylinder engine has a throttle position sensor (TP).
S) 2, crank position sensor (CPS) 3, engine temperature sensor 4, oil level sensor 5, battery 6, key switch 7, first, second, third fuel injectors 8, first, second, third Air injector 9,
First, second and third ignition coils 10, tachometer 11, warning buzzer and warning lamp 1
2. Connected devices such as the fuel feed pump 13 are connected. The ECU 1 has a connected device status storage unit 14 for storing the status of these connected devices and the operating time of the engine.
And an engine state diagnostic means 15 for diagnosing the state of the engine from the stored contents of the connected equipment state storage means 14 and outputting a failed or abnormal connected equipment as a symbol signal.

Next, the self-diagnosis method of the outboard motor according to the present embodiment will be described. First, when any of the connected devices such as various sensors provided in the engine has a failure or abnormality or detects a failure or an abnormality, the connection device state storage unit 14 stores the information, and From the storage contents of the device state storage means 14, the engine state diagnosis means 15
Diagnoses the state of the engine and outputs a connected device that has failed or becomes abnormal as a symbol signal. The tachometer 11 and the warning lamp 1 that this symbol signal uses as a display
2 is output. In this example, 27 failures or abnormalities are predicted as shown in Table 1, and are indicated by symbols as shown in Table 1. For example, if the indication of the tachometer 11 is 0 and the warning lamp 12 is displayed with a symbol consisting of lighting, the failure or abnormality indicates that the battery voltage is rising, and the indication of the tachometer 11 is 1000 and the warning lamp 12 is When the display is made with a symbol consisting of blinking, it indicates that the failure or abnormality is the first ignition coil. The indicated value of the tachometer 11 is
1 indicates a required indication value by, for example, a pulse signal formed based on a self-diagnosis result.

When these symbols are known, the dealer can find out the failure or abnormality by looking at the column of the corresponding symbol in the failure or abnormality display list as shown in Table 1 of the engine manual.

[0031]

[Table 1] While the engine is running, the display of the failure or abnormality indicates only that the failure or abnormality has occurred by blinking of all warning lamps 12, etc., and after the engine is stopped, the self-diagnosis result is symbolized as described above. Can also be displayed.

According to such a display method, while the engine is operating, only the occurrence of a failure or abnormality is displayed, so that it is possible to perform safe driving while knowing that repair is necessary. . Since the self-diagnosis result is symbolized and displayed after the engine stops, it is possible to know a failure or an abnormal part after the engine stops.

The display of the failure or abnormality is not limited to the combination of the tachometer 11 and one warning lamp 12, but the display by the tachometer 11 alone, the tachometer 1
A combination of one and a plurality of warning lamps 12, a combination of a tachometer 11 and one warning buzzer 12, a combination of a tachometer 11 and a plurality of warning buzzers 12, a combination of a tachometer 11 and one each of a warning buzzer 12 and a warning lamp 12, a tachometer A combination of a plurality of warning buzzers 11 and a plurality of warning buzzers 12 and warning lamps 12 can be considered. However, since the display is provided as a standard equipment on the display panel of the engine, it can be easily implemented. Some outboard motors do not have the tachometer 11 as standard equipment, but the dealer has the tachometer 11, so if this tachometer 11 is connected to a tachometer connection cord (not shown) of the ECU 1, a failure or similar failure occurs. An abnormality display can be performed by the tachometer 11.

As a failure or abnormal indicator, a liquid crystal display may be incorporated in addition to the above. It is also conceivable to use a tachometer composed of a liquid crystal display as a failure or abnormality display. When a failure or an abnormal location is displayed as a symbol on such a liquid crystal display, the failure or an abnormal location can be displayed on a small, simple and inexpensive liquid crystal display. Further, according to the liquid crystal display, the symbol can be displayed as a readable symbol, and a failure or an abnormal portion can be easily recognized by looking at the corresponding symbol column in the engine manual.

In the present invention, the diagnosis result display means is constituted by a display for displaying when a failure or abnormality has occurred and a display for displaying the contents of diagnosis. These displays may be used in combination with the same display, or may be used in different displays.

Further, in this self-diagnosis method of the outboard motor, the display unit can display the operating time of the engine stored in the connected device state storage unit 14 of the ECU 1. At this time, the time may be displayed by a symbol or the time may be displayed as it is. Also in this case, the operating time can be displayed using devices such as a tachometer and a liquid crystal display used by the engine and devices such as a tachometer and a liquid crystal display already possessed by the dealer. By knowing the operating time of the engine, it is possible to know the timing of replacing parts and the like.

The display of such a failure or abnormality can be performed, for example, by repeatedly pressing the key switch 7 a plurality of times to give the ECU 1 an instruction to switch to the self-diagnosis mode.

[0038]

In the outboard motor self-diagnosis method according to the present invention, when the engine state diagnosis means diagnoses that an engine failure or abnormality has occurred, the ECU displays on the display during the operation of the engine. Only the indication that a failure or abnormality has occurred is displayed, and after the engine is stopped, the contents of diagnosis by the engine state diagnostic means are symbolized and displayed on the display. During this operation, it is possible to perform safe driving if necessary while knowing that a failure or abnormality has occurred. Since the self-diagnosis result is symbolized and displayed after the engine stops, it is possible to know a failure or an abnormal part after the engine stops. From the symbolized self-diagnosis result, the failure or abnormal part can be known by looking at the column of the corresponding symbol in the engine manual. Normally, the manual is translated into each language and can be used without any problem in any country. According to the display of such a self-diagnosed result, even without using an expensive tester or computer,
Further, even a person who is not good at handling computers can easily find out a failure or an abnormal part. By using, for example, a device used by the engine or a device already owned by the dealer, it is possible to easily display a failure or an abnormal location with a symbol. The indicator used when a failure or abnormality occurs in the engine and the indicator used to display the diagnosis result using symbols may be different or the same.

Further, in the outboard motor self-diagnosis method according to the present invention, the display unit displays the operating time of the engine stored in the connected device state storage means of the ECU. Alternatively, the time may be displayed as it is. Since a device used by the engine or a device already owned by the dealer is used as the display, the display can be easily performed.

In the self-diagnosis device for an outboard motor according to the present invention, when the engine state diagnosis means diagnoses that an engine failure or abnormality has occurred, the ECU displays a failure or abnormality on the display while the engine is operating. Diagnostic results display means for displaying only that an error has occurred and encoding the contents of diagnosis by the engine state diagnostic means after the engine stops and displaying the result on a display unit. Can perform safe driving if necessary while knowing that a failure or abnormality has occurred.Also, by symbolizing and displaying the self-diagnosis result after the engine is stopped, it is possible to know the failure or abnormality of the engine. it can. From the symbolized self-diagnosis result, the failure or abnormal part can be known by looking at the column of the corresponding symbol in the engine manual. Normally, the manual is translated into each language and can be used without any problem in any country. According to the display of the symbolized self-diagnosis result, even if an expensive tester or a computer is not used, even a person who is not good at handling the computer can easily know the failure or the abnormal part. By using, for example, a device used by the engine or a device already owned by the dealer, it is possible to easily display a failure or an abnormal location with a symbol. The indicator used when a failure or abnormality occurs in the engine and the indicator used to display the diagnosis result using symbols may be different or the same.

Further, in the outboard motor self-diagnosis device according to the present invention, since a liquid crystal display is used as a display, it is possible to display a failure or an abnormal part by a small, simple and inexpensive liquid crystal display. Further, according to the liquid crystal display, the symbol can be displayed as a readable symbol, and a failure or an abnormal part can be easily recognized by looking at the corresponding symbol column in the engine manual.

In the self-diagnosis device for an outboard motor according to the present invention, since the display is a tachometer, the tachometer is usually provided as a standard on the display portion of the engine. In the case of (1), since the dealer has the tachometer, the tachometer can be connected to the tachometer connection point of the ECU to display the tachometer.

Also, in the outboard motor self-diagnosis device according to the present invention, the indicator is a combination of a tachometer and a warning lamp, or a combination of a tachometer and a buzzer;
Alternatively, since the combination of a tachometer, a buzzer, and a warning lamp, the warning lamp can be turned on, turned off, and blinked, and the buzzer can also sound, stop, and intermittently. Even if there are many failures or abnormal locations, it is possible to easily display the symbols.

Further, in the outboard motor self-diagnosis device according to the present invention, the display indicates the operating time of the engine stored in the connected device status storage means of the ECU, so that the display of the operating time of the engine is also possible. This can be performed using existing equipment.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a connection state between an ECU and a connection device such as various sensors and actuators showing an embodiment of a self-diagnosis method and a self-diagnosis device for an outboard motor according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 ECU 2 throttle position sensor (TPS) 3 crank position sensor (CPS) 4 engine temperature sensor 5 oil level sensor 6 battery 7 key switch 9 first, second, third fuel injector 9 first, second, third Air injector 10 first, second, and third ignition coils 11 tachometer 12 warning buzzer and warning lamp 13 fuel feed pump 14 connected device state storage means 15 engine state diagnosis means

Claims (11)

[Claims] An engine control unit to which a connection device including various sensors for detecting an operation state of a fuel injection engine, a battery, a key switch, and various actuators for controlling the engine is connected.
The engine control unit includes a connected device state storage unit that stores a state of each of the connected devices, and an engine state diagnosis unit that diagnoses the state of the engine from the storage content of the connected device state storage unit. An outboard motor self-diagnosis method for performing self-diagnosis of an outboard motor using the engine control unit, wherein the engine control unit is configured to, when the engine state diagnosis unit diagnoses that a failure or abnormality of the engine occurs, During operation, the display only indicates that a failure or abnormality has occurred,
A self-diagnosis method for an outboard motor, characterized in that the contents of diagnosis by the engine state diagnosis means are symbolized and displayed on a display after the engine is stopped. 2. An engine control unit to which a connection device including various sensors for detecting an operation state of the fuel injection engine, a battery, a key switch, and various actuators for controlling the engine is connected.
The engine control unit includes a connected device state storage unit that stores a state of each of the connected devices, and an engine state diagnosis unit that diagnoses the state of the engine from the storage content of the connected device state storage unit. An outboard motor self-diagnosis method for performing self-diagnosis of an outboard motor using the engine control unit, wherein the engine control unit is configured to, when the engine state diagnosis unit diagnoses that a failure or abnormality of the engine has occurred, During operation, the display only indicates that a failure or abnormality has occurred,
A self-diagnosis method for an outboard motor, characterized in that after the engine is stopped, the contents of diagnosis by the engine state diagnosis means are symbolized and displayed on the display. 3. The outboard motor according to claim 1, wherein the display displays the operating time of the engine, which is stored in the connection device status storage means of the engine control unit. Self-diagnosis method. 4. An engine control unit to which a connection device including various sensors for detecting an operation state of the fuel injection engine, a battery, a key switch, and various actuators for controlling the engine is connected.
An outboard motor including: a connected device state storage unit configured to store a state of each of the connected devices; and an engine state diagnosis unit configured to diagnose the state of the engine based on the storage content of the connected device state storage unit. In the self-diagnosis device, the engine control unit, when it is diagnosed by the engine state diagnosis means that a failure or abnormality of the engine has occurred, a failure or abnormality has occurred in the display during the operation of the engine. Display only,
A self-diagnosis device for an outboard motor, comprising: a diagnosis result display unit that encodes a diagnosis content of the engine state diagnosis unit and displays the result on a display after the engine stops. 5. An engine control unit to which a connection device including various sensors for detecting an operation state of the fuel injection engine, a battery, a key switch, and various actuators for controlling the engine is connected.
An outboard motor including: a connected device state storage unit configured to store a state of each of the connected devices; and an engine state diagnosis unit configured to diagnose the state of the engine based on the storage content of the connected device state storage unit. In the self-diagnosis device, the engine control unit, when it is diagnosed by the engine state diagnosis means that a failure or abnormality of the engine has occurred, a failure or abnormality has occurred in the display during the operation of the engine. Display only,
A self-diagnosis device for an outboard motor, comprising: a diagnosis result display unit that encodes a diagnosis content of the engine state diagnosis unit and displays the result on the display after the engine stops. 6. The self-diagnosis device for an outboard motor according to claim 4, wherein the display is a liquid crystal display. 7. The self-diagnosis device for an outboard motor according to claim 4, wherein the display is a tachometer. 8. The self-diagnosis device for an outboard motor according to claim 4, wherein the indicators are a tachometer and a warning lamp. 9. The self-diagnosis device for an outboard motor according to claim 4, wherein the display is a tachometer and a buzzer. 10. The self-diagnosis device for an outboard motor according to claim 4, wherein the indicators are a tachometer, a buzzer, and a warning lamp. 11. The engine control unit according to claim 6, wherein the display unit displays the operating time of the engine stored in the connection device state storage means of the engine control unit. Outboard motor self-diagnosis device as described.