How to Prime and Start an Internal Combustion Engine

Adam Kemp: Hi, I am Adam Kemp, and today we are learning about Internal Combustion engines. For this clip, I am going to demonstrate priming and starting this Internal Combustion engine. In order to start your Internal Combustion engine, there is a few main steps you need to take in order to get it started. First of which is to use a pair of safety glasses. Next, if it's an old engine, you are going to need to check the spark plug because overtime the spark plug could have rusted or it could be fouled if it has extended periods of use. Next we are going to check our air filter to make sure that it's not fouled and in this case, it is brand new. Next we are going to check and make sure that we have gasoline inside of our gas tank. A nice tool to have is a funnel which is going to help allow get the gasoline in to the gas tank and not on to the ground. The final step we are going to take before starting our engine is to see if the engine has oil in it. In order to do so engines are equipped with a dip stick that is going to show you the level of the oil in your engine. If we look -- we are good. Next, we are going to check the ON/OFF switch which is the kill switch on the engine, in case you want to turn off the engine. We are going to put it in to the ON position, we are going to come over to our carburetor, we are going to press the prime pump to the manufacturer's specification and in this case, it is three pumps. That's going to introduce some gasoline in to the carburetor to help start the process -- to help in the starting process. Using a firm surface, I am going to hold the engine with one hand, place my foot on the bottom and give it a good pull back on the starting cable. What this is going to do is it's going to move the engine physically through its cycles bringing gas and air into the combustion chamber, compressing it, it's going to produce the sparks through the ignition coil and ignite the gasoline, move the piston down the cylinder, back up again and the exhaust gases will come back out through the muffler.

Alright, so now that the engine is running, we can move the throttle open. What this is going to do is this is going to increase the amount of fuel and air going into the engine, increasing it's revolutions. This concludes our video on how Internal Combustion engines work.