Start control apparatus for an internal combustion engine and fuel nature determination apparatus

Abstract

A start control apparatus for an internal combustion engine which guarantees excellent startability regardless of the nature of the fuel used. In addition, a fuel nature determining apparatus designed to prevent mistakes in the determining of the nature of the fuel. When conditions for beginning the starting of an internal combustion engine have been established, normal start control is performed in order to start the internal combustion engine. After the starting of the internal combustion engine has begun using the normal start control, if the starting is completed within a predetermined length of time, a determination is made that the fuel supplied to the internal combustion engine is of a light nature. If, however, the starting is not completed within a predetermined length of time, a determination is made that the fuel supplied to the internal combustion engine is of a heavy nature. In this case, after a predetermined length of time has elapsed, heavy fuel start control is performed in place of the normal start control so that the starting of the internal combustion engine will be quickly completed. According to the above method, the nature of the fuel is detected before the starting of the internal combustion engine is completed and, when the fuel is of a heavy nature, the start control can be altered to control which corresponds to the nature of the fuel.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.