
SHORT TERM FUEL TRIM
Short Term Fuel Trim (STFT) represents short term corrections to the fuel injector pulse width calculations, based on
the oxygen sensor input signal to the PCM.
When the engine is started cold, in "Open Loop," the PCM will control the fuel injection pulse width based upon various
sensor inputs such as RPM, ECT, MAF and TP sensor until the oxygen sensors become hot enough (approximately
315 degrees C) to operate properly. During this "Open Loop" period, both Short Term Fuel Trim (STFT) and Long Term
Fuel Trim (LTFT) are disabled and will read 0% on a Tech 2 scan tool.
When the oxygen sensor has come up to its normal operating temperature (approximately 600 degrees C or above), it
will produce a varying voltage to the PCM and provide a good indication of what has happened in the combustion
chambers.
At this time the PCM will switch from "Open Loop" to "Closed Loop" and the STFT will start to constantly monitor the
oxygen sensor signal, so that the PCM can modify fuel injector pulse width with greater accuracy than in "Open Loop".
STFT monitors the oxygen sensor signal so that it can adjust the fuel injector pulse width to maintain an air/fuel ratio of
14.7 to 1 for maximum catalytic converter efficiency. An STFT value of 0% is equivalent to an air/fuel ratio of 14.7 to 1
and an average oxygen sensor signal voltage of 450 mV.
The normal position for Short Term Fuel Trim is 0%, any change from this value indicates the Short Term Fuel Trim is
changing the fuel injector pulse width. The amount of pulse width change depends upon how far the STFT value is from
0%. If the STFT value is above 0%, the fuel injector pulse width is being increased, thus adding more fuel. If the STFT
value is below 0%, the fuel injector pulse width is being decreased, thus removing fuel. The normal operating range of
STFT is considered to be between -22% and +25% ; any value out of this range is usually caused by a malfunction.
If an engine has a restricted fuel filter, the low fuel pressure will result in less fuel being injected and allows more air into
the air charge than is needed to ignite the amount of fuel the fuel injector has injected, therefore, a lean air/fuel ratio
exists in the combustion chamber. After combustion has taken place, the exhaust gases still contain more oxygen
content than normal and the oxygen sensor reads this as low voltage, say 200 mV. The STFT detects that the oxygen
sensor signal is low and will increase the value to richen up the air/fuel mixture. On a Tech 2 scan tool it will display
STFT as a value above 0%. This STFT change will increase the injector pulse width allowing the fuel injectors to stay
open longer and inject more fuel.
If the additional fuel was injected and the oxygen sensor signal voltage is still low, the STFT will continue to increase its
value until the oxygen sensor signal voltage goes above 450 mV. If the STFT continues to detect a low oxygen sensor
signal voltage it will continue to try and compensate for the lean exhaust condition until it runs out of its authority in the
particular Long Term Fuel Trim (LTFT) cell it's operating in. At this point, the PCM will reset STFT to 0% and go through
this procedure again until it can control the system.
If after a specified amount of resets have been tried and failed, the PCM knows that it cannot control for the failure and
the STFT will remain at its maximum value.
STFT values are based on the oxygen sensor signal voltage reading, therefore, STFT is used by the PCM to make
quick changes to the fuel injector pulse width over a short period of time.
LONG TERM FUEL TRIM
Long Term Fuel Trim is used to adjust for engine to engine variation and to adjust for engine aging. LTFT is a portion of
the PCM memory used to adjust fuel delivery across all operating conditions of the engine. The PCM monitors the
STFT and will adjust the long term trend of the fuel injector pulse width if the STFT has been at a value for a certain
period of time. LTFT is used to change the long term fuel injector pulse width and is only operational w hen the fuel
control system is in "Closed Loop." A normal LTFT value is 0% and should follow the STFT value.
If an engine has a restricted fuel filter, the low fuel pressure will result in less fuel being injected and will cause the
STFT value to go higher than 0%, say 2%. If this STFT value change does not compensate for the restricted fuel filter,
the PCM will continue to increase the STFT value. The STFT may climb as high as its maximum calibrated value if
there is a severe restriction. The PCM will continue to monitor STFT as it climbs, but it will not make any changes to the
fuel injector pulse width for a specific period of time. After a specific period of time has elapsed and the STFT value has
remained above say +8%, the LTFT will move up to say 4% and wait again to detect if the STFT has dropped back
down to 0%. If not, the STFT will gradually move toward its maximum calibrated value limit until it gains control of the
fuel injection system. If STFT and LTFT are both set at their maximum value limit, the fuel control system is "out of the
limits of control" and will set either a Diagnostic Trouble Code (DTC) 44, or DTC 64 (lean exhaust) or DTC 45, or DTC
65 (rich exhaust) and go into "open loop" operation. Under the conditions of power enrichment, (Wide Open Throttle,
WOT), the PCM sets the STFT to 0% and freezes it there until power enrichment is no longer in effect. This is done so
that LTFT will not try to correct for the commanded richness of power enrichment.
The PCM will keep the latest LTFT values stored in its LTFT memory cells. MAF sensor readings and engine RPM are
used by the LTFT to determine what cell to read. LTFT values are stored in the PCM's long term memory, for use each
time the engine's RPM and load matches one of the LTFT cells. All LTFT values are reset to 0% when the PCM's "long
term memory power supply" is disconnected, as when diagnostic trouble codes are cleared. The Tech 2 scan tool also
has the ability to reset LTFT to 0% with a special command.