ME-Motronic

engine management

Combustion in the gasoline engine

Electronic engine-management sys-
The spark-ignition engine 2
tems have advanced to become decisive
factors in promoting fuel economy and Gasoline-engine management
enhancing the motor vehicle’s environ- Technical requirements 4
mental compatibility. Cylinder charge 5
The engine-management system’s pri- Mixture formation 7
mary assignment is to furnish the torque Ignition 10
requested by driver demand while at the Inductive ignition systems 13
same time ensuring maximum fuel econ- Gasoline-injection systems
omy and minimum emissions. The ME- Overview 16
Motronic engine-management system
ME-Motronic engine management
for the gasoline engine (also known as
The overall Motronic system 18
the spark-ignition (SI) or Otto-cycle en-
Cylinder-charge control systems 21
gine), unites all of the subsystems re-
Fuel system 28
quired to meet this challenge: The elec-
Operating-data acquisition 34
tronic throttle control (ETC, or “drive by
Operating-data processing 42
wire”) regulates the flow of induction air
Operating conditions 47
to satisfy instantaneous torque demand,
Closed-loop idle-speed control 52
while the fuel-injection subsystem regu-
Lambda closed-loop control 52
lates fuel mass. Meanwhile, the ignition
Evaporative-emissions
subsystem governs ignition timing and
control system 55
the generation of spark energy.
Knock control 57
ME-Motronic’s capabilities extend even
Boost-pressure control 58
further to embrace coordinated action
Protective functions 59
with other automotive systems designed
Improved drivability 60
to enhance comfort, convenience and
Cruise control 60
safety for the user. An example is the way
Integrated diagnosis 62
ME-Motronic adjusts torque levels to en-
ECU 68
sure maximum traction in response to
Interfaces to other systems 70
demands from the ABS and ESP sys-
tems.
Progress in satisfying this highly varie-
gated range of engine-management
functions has been marked by ever-
closer coordination of the individual sub-
systems. This brochure explains the
design concept behind ME-Motronic
engine management as well as how the
system operates.
Conventional Motronic systems are de-
scribed in a publication from this series
entitled “M-Motronic engine manage-
ment”.
 ME–Motronic

20
ME-Motronic engine management ME7 (Example)
Fig. 2

1 Activated-charcoal canister,
2 Check valve, 1
3 Canister-purge valve, 8
4 Intake-manifold pressure sensor,
5 Fuel rail/Injector, 2 3
6 Ignition coil/Spark plug,
7 Phase sensor,
8 Electric secondary-air injection pump, 6
9 Secondary-air injection valve,
5
10 Air-mass meter,
11 Throttle-valve assembly (ETC), 7 9
ME-Motronic system diagram

4
12 EGR valve,
13 Knock sensor,
14 RPM sensor,
15 Temperature sensor, 16
16 Lambda oxygen sensor, 10 11
17 Electronic control unit (ECU), 12 13 15
18 Diagnosis interface,
19 Diagnosis lamp,
20 Vehicle immobilizer, 25
21 Tank pressure sensor, 17 14
22 In-tank pump assembly,
23 Accelerator-pedal module,
24 Battery.

16

18
21

19

20 22 23 24

CAN

UMK1674Y
Cylinder-charge Principle of air control using air bypass valve Cylinder-
charge
1 Idle valve (bypass valve), 2 ECU,
control systems 3 Throttle valve, 4 Bypass tract. control
systems
Throttle-valve control
On spark-ignition engines with external 3
mixture formation, the prime factor
determining output force and thus power 4
is the cylinder charge. The throttle valve
1
controls cylinder charge by regulating the
engine’s induction airflow. UB
n
Conventional systems TM 2
α DK

Conventional layouts rely on mechanical
linkage to control the throttle valve. A
Bowden cable or linkage rod(s) translate
accelerator-pedal travel into throttle-
valve motion.
To compensate for the cold engine’s
higher levels of internal friction, a larger
air mass is required and supplementary
fuel must be injected. Increased air flow
is also required to balance drive-power
losses when ancillaries such as air-
conditioning compressors are switched
on. This additional air requirement can
be met by an air-bypass actuator, which
controls a supplementary air stream
routed around the throttle valve (Figure
2). Yet another option is to use a throttle-
valve actuator designed to respond to
demand fluctuations by readjusting the
throttle valve’s minimum aperture. In both
Fig. 1
ETC system
Sensors
UMK1677Y
D/AC
Fig. 2
cases, the scope for electronic
manipulation of airflow to meet
fluctuating engine demand is limited to
certain functions, such as idle control.
Systems with ETC
In contrast, ETC (electronic throttle
control) employs an ECU to control
throttle-valve travel. The throttle valve
forms a single unit along with the throttle-
valve actuator (DC motor) and the
throttle-valve angle sensor: This is the
throttle-valve assembly (Figure 1).
Two mutually-opposed potentiometers
monitor accelerator-pedal travel as the
basis for controlling this type of throttle-
Actuators

CAN

Monitoring
M
module
UMK1627E

Accelerator-pedal module Engine-management ECU Throttle-valve assembly

21