Vehicle Testing of the OBD-II Catalyst Monitor on a 2.2 L Corsica TLEV

The performance of the OBD-II catalyst monitor of a 2.2 Corsica TLEV was investigated while operating on fuels with differing sulfur levels. Testing was performed using a driving schedule producing operating conditions which were acceptable to the production OBD-II system for active diagnosis of catalyst performance. During each test, catalyst diagnostic data and emissions performance data were collected simultaneously. Tests were performed at 22° C using California Phase II (35 ppm sulfur content) and Indolene clear (470 ppm sulfur content) fuels, and at 4°C using a commercial oxygenated Winter fuel (320 ppm sulfur content). Four dynamometer-aged converters were using in the testing. Converter performance in the form of HC conversion efficiency was found to generally decrease when the sulfur content in the fuel was increased. The OBD-II catalyst monitor followed a similar trend in that the measured oxygen storage capacity generally decreased as the sulfur content in the fuel was increased. This trend was particularly evident if the vehicle was subjected to increased dynamometer loading to simulate an incline in the road surface.