Detroit revamps DDEC system
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• Detroit Diesels has revamped its electronic engine management system, called Detroit Diesel Electronic Control (DDEC). The system can now be fitted to the company's two-stroke diesel engines as well as to the new four-stroke 60 Series engine.
The system is claimed to give greater computational speed to help with engine management, greater diagnostic functions, and better communications with the engine management system.
Using a new Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM) microchip the system can be reprogrammed without replacing the microchip, or the hardware. This means that owners of the second generation system can select cruise control top speed, road speed governing, or automatic engine shutdown protection. The vehicle parameters — such as tyre sizes or engine power — can be changed, and a customer password can also be used.
The system can now be used for logging incidents like high engine coolant temperature, or engine over-revving, so that a record can be accurately kept. The improved engine management communications mean that information is now available for electronic instrument panels, trip recorders and the like. The system will record total fuel consumed, and engine operating hours, which can be displayed on an electronic dashboard.
The DDEC system was first released in 1985, when Detriot Diesels was part of General Motors. The company is now part of the Penske organisation and has continued to develop DDEC with the help of Delco.