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

If an internal combustion engine 1 that has been automatically stopped is to be restarted during a decrease in engine speed, a control unit 8 starts cranking when the crank angle of a cylinder of the internal combustion engine 1 in the compression stroke is closer to bottom dead center than a threshold value set in advance. More specifically, if the engine speed of the internal combustion engine 1 is forward rotation, cranking is begun when the crank angle of the cylinder of the internal combustion engine 1 in the compression stroke is closer to bottom dead center than a threshold value A set in advance. Moreover, if the engine speed of the internal combustion engine 1 is backward rotation, cranking is begun when the crank angle of the cylinder of the internal combustion engine 1 in the compression stroke is closer to bottom dead center than a threshold value B set in advance.