METHOD FOR DETECTING CLOGGING IN A FUEL FILTER IN AN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE SUPPLY CIRCUIT

摘要

The invention concerns a method for detecting clogging in a fuel filter (5), between a fuel pressure regulator (7) imposing a pressure towards the internal combustion engine (10) downstream of the filter (5), and an electric motor pump compressing fuel coming from the tank (3) towards the regulator (7) through the filter (5) which consists in: determining the fuel pressure at the pump (1) output and by considering it as the fuel pressure at the filter (5) intake; determining the fuel pressure at the filter (5) outlet as being the pressure imposed by the regulator (7); determining the pressure drop of the filter (5) from the difference between said filter input and output pressure levels, and by comparing at least a value based on said pressure drop with at least a reference value to deduce therefrom information concerning the clogging condition of the filter (5). The invention is applicable to preventive or predictive maintenance of fuel supply circuits in internal combustion engines.