Method and device for priming a fuel metering device

A method for priming a fuel metering device for an internal combustion engine that comprises at least one piston arranged in a combustion chamber that drives by means of a connecting rod a crankshaft that is rotatably supported in a crankcase, further comprises a fuel pump that is a diaphragm pump driven by fluctuating pressure in the crankcase and that sucks in fuel from a fuel tank and conveys the fuel to a metering valve that opens into a metering chamber at alternating operating pressure, and further comprises a control unit that calculates and controls timing for the metering valve for metering a fuel quantity corresponding to a load situation of the internal combustion engine;

• the method comprising:
• providing a start control device and, in a starting phase of the internal combustion engine, overriding with the start control device the timing calculated by the control unit and keeping open with the start control device the metering valve, independent of the timing for the metering valve calculated by the control unit, for a priming duration when the following conditions are fulfilled:
• the alternating operating pressure of the metering chamber that exists at a mouth of the metering valve is negative;
• and
• a fuel system pressure in the fuel metering device is below a target pressure.