Fellow “Fly-Rotarians” –
I’ve got an “Atkins Special” – 85-86
13B, short intake manifold, 2 injector TMW Throttle body, MicroTech
ECU, and Tracy’s EM2.
This weekend I finally was able to put everything in place
and try an engine start. I tried three tries cranking the engine for about 15-30
seconds and it felt like it was firing every once in a while but not enough to
start. I took the intake off and started to take the plugs out to see if there
was a pool of gas in the rotors, when it felt like one or both of the bottom
plug wires weren’t fully seated. I re-seated the plug wires and had my
wife crank the engine while I watched the intake. Ah ha! The rear (#2) rotor’s
injector wasn’t firing. So, I moved the #2 injector wires to the #1 rotor
and cranked again and there was spraying – so it wasn’t the wires
and off with the fuel rail and out comes the #2 injector. I couldn’t see
any obvious clogging, so I cycled it a few times while dropping penetrating oil
into it (OK it just happened to be the handiest thing at the moment). The penetrating
oil started to go through the injector after a couple cycles so I put it back
in and buttoned up the fuel rail and reconnected everything. I Cranked briefly again
and there was now a spray pattern. So,
it was time for another real try at starting. I cranked for 10 seconds or so
and ka-chug – Vrrrrooooommmmm 3500-4000 rpm
with a closed throttle! After 2 seconds of hysteria I turned the key to off and
went back (it’s a pusher) to see if there were any leaks or other
anomalies.
I guess I really wasn’t expecting it to start and my
plan for what to look for on my engine monitors and ECU went out the window
when it took off like that! A brief inspection of the engine, hoses, and wires turned
up nothing out of the ordinary. So
it was time to try again, this time with a real expectation of a start and another
plan on what to do in the first few seconds. Again a few seconds of cranking
and off she went. This time I checked “OP” on the EM2 and it was
reading 112psi – hmmm – a tad high but I guess high is better than
low. Fuel pressure was 61psi and RPMs were
3000-3500. After 30 seconds I
turned it off and went to re-check everything. Again everything looked good
except now that the oil had made to all the little nooks and crannies I was
about a quart low. So I added a quart, and checked coolant levels and topped
them off as well. I didn’t see any oil in the plastic rotor oil “injection”
lines so I decided, until I’m satisfied that there is oil flowing, I was going
to use 2-cycle oil. I added some 2 cycle and sloshed the tank around by rocking
the plane.
I read a little more in my ECU (MicroTech)
manual and turned off the cold start enrichment and found the screen where the fuel
flow at idle is set. I cranked it up
again and began fiddling with the idle fuel flow when the 2-cycle mix made it
to the injectors and things began to run rough and it died. I started it up
again and it ran rough for a few seconds and died again. And, that’s
where I had to leave it this weekend.
All in all I’m a happy camper! I didn’t fully expect to get the
engine running quite so easily. So, now it’s a matter of figuring out how
to control the open time on the injectors so I can idle at something less that
3000 RPM, and a whole bunch of fine tuning.
My airplane is now “whole”. All the parts are
there (well except the seat cushions). Now it’s just a small matter of
getting them all working together – the first time and every time, for as
long as I want them to!
Regards,
Joe Hull
Redmond (Seattle), Washington
Cozy MkIV #991 (working on Engine &
Electrical & Finishing)
http://www.maddyhome.com/canardpages/pages/JoeHull/index.html