Patent ID: 7874281

Claim:
A method for operating an internal combustion engine with a fuel pump, which on the drive side is coupled with a camshaft or a crankshaft, and a fuel accumulator, which is supplied by the fuel pump and to which a pressure sensor is assigned for sensing the pressure in the fuel accumulator, whereby each cycle of the internal combustion engine is assigned a first and a second crankshaft rotation, the method comprising the step of: depending on a signal sequence of the sensed pressure in the fuel accumulator which is characteristic of the respective crankshaft rotation ascertaining whether the crankshaft is in its first or second rotation, wherein a threshold value is determined depending on a variable which is characteristic of a fluid temperature, depending on the signal sequence, determining a characteristic value, and depending on a comparison of a characteristic value with the specified threshold value, ascertaining whether the crankshaft is in its first or second rotation.