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Yo Paul,
OK, so it WASN'T the ECU! Not
electrical? I assume by now you have checked all electrical
connections?? Not the fuel filter etc? No water in the
fuel??
Vapour lock with EFI is pretty hard to get.
At 3 Bar pressure, the EFI pumps will see to that (as long as they don't
have to suck uphill). The only place you could get a vapour lock is
between the tank(s) and the lift pump, if you have one. As I have no
idea how your fuel is plumbed, I can only make wild guesses.
So, ... SILLY question. How much fuel was
actually in the tanks?? Some aircraft are notorious for not being able to
access a fair percentage of what is left in the tanks at unusual
attitudes. ALL is OK in level flight, but on rotation, or
a steep (unbalanced) bank or side slip, the tank pickups are
uncovered. I've also come across problems of highly inaccurate fuel
guage(s). The only sure way is to dip the tank. I seem to remember
reading about a similar incident in a "Crash Comic" just recently. Even
the pros screw up occasionally (e.g., Boeing 307
Stratosubmarine!).
Got to get to the bottom of this - you are too good
a pilot and too nice a bloke to needlessly have a prang.
Cheers mate,
Leon
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, February 12, 2005 5:21
AM
Subject: [FlyRotary] Re: To Paul SOme
diagnosis thoughts was Re: [FlyRotary] Re: Microtech EFI and Tuning
Hi, Leon....I appologize for being late in
responding....I haven't had a chance to get on the computer. Yes, I ran
the engine yesterday. After inspecting the spark plugs (looked like new with
no evidence of rich soot or burned porcelain), I fired it up and it ran great.
Good idle, midrange, and 5300 rpm static instead of my usual 5200 rpm. I ran
it WOT until the temps finally got so high that I had to shut it down and
watch the antifreeze burp out of the overflow on the surge tank. Set up
a cooling fan for a few minutes, then restarted the engine and temps came down
right away with the circulating of the water/antifreeze through the engine and
radiator.
As I mentioned in my
previous post, I am higly suspect that my problem was vapor lock/heat related
due to the two close together WOT engine runs I performed just prior to
takeoff. Normally, I always take off with temps around 160 to 180, not 220 or
better. My temps normally come down in the climb, but at only 250 feet, I'm
fairly confident I hadn't gotten much cooling air to the radiator at WOT in
the climb. I will keep you posted. Thanks again for taking the time to
help out. Paul Conner
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