False Start
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False Start
You might have read in a previous entry <link here> about how I replaced the spark plugs due to a bad magneto check.
Last Saturday was my first opportunity to test fly it since then and I was excited to go.
Arriving at the airport with temps in the mid 30s I plugged in the homemade preheater and started my customary preflight inspection.
All was well and after about thirty minutes of preheating I pushed the -8 out of the hangar. Start up was my first indication of a problem. It cranked very slow; I should have anticipated a low battery since its been sat so long since I last flew. Just as I was about to give up, another problem ensued, my starter wouldn’t disengage! I quickly flipped off the battery master to kill the deviant starter. Great!
I pushed it back into the hangar and pulled the top cowl to investigate. Starter relays can become stuck, sort of temporarily welded together due to high amperage. In this case it was from starting with low voltage on the battery – duh! I know this, but I was thinking more about going than I was about what the airplane was telling me. There’s a lesson here.
A couple of taps on the relay and it came unstuck. I then borrowed a battery charger from the airport manager and let it charge while I put the cowling back on.
Once charged and preheated (again), I pushed it back out for another attempt.
This time the start was successful and I taxied to the active. The run-up revealed a much improved magneto check thanks to the new spark plugs.
Checklist completed, I cleared the area for traffic, and made the appropriate radio call. As I advanced the power I was treated with a familiar, although much worse, stumble. I pulled the power back and rolled to a stop. Although my new plugs fixed the mag check, clearly there was something else causing this hesitation on throttle-up. Back to the barn forlorn.
Out of ideas and time, I put the airplane to bed and drove away.
As soon as I got home I went straight to the internet looking for answers. The time, since I had a good mag check, I focused on fuel delivery. I quickly honed in on a likely culprit – a partially blocked fuel injector.
So the next step will be to pull the injectors and carefully clean and reinstall. And so it is with airplanes, or any multi-system machine, you have a gremlin that you spend a couple of rounds chasing down, possibly even fixing other issues that aren’t the cause in the process.
Stay tuned to hear how it goes. Hopefully the weather will cooperate!
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Earlier this month one of our Archers finished getting a brand new engine installed, and lucky me was to take it out on the first flight. It was incredibly cold, in the teens, so I was glad to do the whole (extended) preflight in the relatively warm hangar. The first thing I noticed was that the engine didn’t want to stay running at low power settings. Potentially quite alarming but I have seen that after startup on very cold days before–I think the air is just so cold that too little fuel vaporizes on intake, effectively producing too lean a mixture. After things warmed up in the engine, this problem goes away.
I sure was glad I elected to circle above the airport for the 45-minute flight, though, rather than do an out and back. In a circling climb passing through maybe 2000 feet AGL, I saw the fuel pressure and flow gauges both read zero! I got myself mentally all set to glide back down to the runway, but then the engine never quit and in fact the entire rest of the flight was very normal. Even managed over 140 KIAS on the descent, since the instructions were to keep engine power as high as possible during that first flight, to seat the piston rings. I doubt I will see the airspeed that far into the yellow arc anytime again soon!
All in all a very rewarding flight, but I was glad I had the same heightened awareness of abnormalities as you are talking about here. After work has been done on critical parts, the pilot has to pretty much be expecting anything! I’m sorry you had a much less successful flight than mine, though.
Charley,
Thanks for sharing that story! Sounds like it worked out. I have my injectors out and there looked like they could use a good cleaning irregardless.
Brent
Of course now that the plane is back on the line, the weather has been too crappy for anyone to do much flying, especially since the new engine is restricted to high-power cross country flight for ten hours.
I have to say it was one of the simpler ADM exercises I’ve been through. Hm, fuel pressure reads zero, but the engine is running fine. Must be instrumentation! But my plan of action would have been WAYYY different if I didn’t have that big airport and a choice of six runways to glide into, right below me.
Hope your girl gets back into the air again soon!
I can relate with the weather, I has been a tough winter here in Ohio. The forecast looks promising for this weekend though.
Hopefully, I can fly this weekend to test her out!