Abstract: The present invention relates to a hot shutdown monitor for an internal combustion engine, in which the engine control module (ECM) obtains engine operating information from various sensors and calculates an instantaneous load factor of the engine based upon various factors such as engine speed, engine fueling, exhaust manifold temperature, oil temperature, etc. This instantaneous load factor is preferably heavily filtered with the output of the filter determining a cumulative weighted load factor that represents a condition of the engine (i.e. the heating and cooling of the engine components). The present invention monitors for a shutdown request both from the operator (i.e. ignition keyoff or from other ECM control algorithms (i.e. engine protection). When an engine shutdown is detected, the weighted load factor is compared to a predetermined threshold. If the threshold is exceeded, a fault indicator is set within the ECM and the current engine data is captured for later retrieval.