CONTROL METHOD FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE AND CONTROL DEVICE FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE

If an internal combustion engine that has been automatically stopped is to be restarted under a decreased engine speed, a control unit of the internal combustion engine starts cranking when a crank angle of a cylinder in compression stroke of the internal combustion engine is closer to bottom dead center than a threshold value set in advance. More specifically, if an engine speed of the internal combustion engine is in forward rotation, the cranking is begun when the crank angle of the cylinder in compression stroke is closer to the bottom dead center than a threshold value set in advance. If the engine speed of the internal combustion engine is in backward rotation, the cranking is begun when the crank angle of the cylinder in compression stroke is closer to the bottom dead center than another threshold value set in advance.