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One important area of SI-engine diagnosis is the diagnosis of leakage in the air-intake system. This is because a leakage can cause increased emissions and drivability problems. A method for accurately detecting leaks is presented. The results are developed for a turbo-charged engine but they are also valid for a naturally aspirated SI-engine. The method is based on a physical model of the leaks and includes an estimation of leakage area. By knowing the area, it is possible to reconfigure the control algorithm such that, the effect of the leak on emissions, is suppressed. As small leaks as 2 mm in diameter can be detected and it is possible to distinguish between leakages before or after the throttle. The method is suitable for on-line implementation.

Because of legislative regulations like OBDII, on-board diagnosis has gained much interest lately. A model based approach is suggested for the diagnosis of the air intake system of an SI-engine. Important research issues are modeling concepts, residual generation and evaluation, overall performance, and limiting factors. The diagnosis system is based on a non-linear semi-physical model and uses a combination of different residual generation methods. It is capable of detecting and isolating faults in the throttle actuator, throttle sensor, air mass now sensor and manifold pressure sensor. The scheme is experimentally validated on a real production engine.

Spark ignited engines require accurate control of both air and fuel, and one important component in this system is the throttle servo. A non-linear throttle model is built and used for control design. It is shown that the non-linear model-based controller improves the performance compared to a conventional gain scheduled PI controller. Furthermore a method for estimating the load torque that the air flow produces on the throttle shaft is presented.