
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 wi th 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
when 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 sy stem. 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.