I've got an IO-360 and I have always used the crank at lean procedure. In
fact, I crank at full lean until it fires. I don't open the mixture until I
get some sort of bark from the engine.

When hot, no priming. Works every time. I fly an amphib so being able to
reliably start - even when hot - is very important to me since I could be
drifting toward obstacles after pushing off from a dock.

I tend to underprime. I would rather prime a little, try to start, prime a
little more, start. I find this more reliable than overpriming and then
trying to clear the engine.

The only time I have not been able to start is when I primed a hot engine.

--
-------------------------------
Travis
Lake N3094P
PWK


"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
oups.com...
On our flight to Nevada, I was impressed with the smoothness and
car-like predictability of Jim Burns' start-up technique with his
Lycoming IO-540s. Jim had a way to start them that I'd not seen
demonstrated before, which I will describe he

1. Fuel pump on
2. Electric primer on for (a few?) seconds
3. Crack throttle
4. With mixture at full lean, start cranking
5. Gradually enrichen the mixture until the engine fires

(I may have some of this wrong, as the Aztec has nearly every switch
and gauge in bizarre, usually invisible locations...)

By using this method, his engines both started without cranking or
coughing, just like my Subaru.

So, of course, I've been experimenting with this method, which is quite
different than the one described in my POH. (Which basically says
"crank at full-rich"...) It has worked perfectly several times,
especially on hot starts, until yesterday.

Yesterday, after a short stop for a piece of pie ala mode at a nearby
airport, I primed a few pumps, cracked the throttle, and started
cranking with the mixture at full lean. I slowly enrichened the
mixture until the engine caught...at which point it ran VERY rough, and
did not want to stay running.

This condition continued until I LEANED the mixture back, at which
point everything returned to normal. I was able to slowly enrichen
back to full rich, with no further difficulty. Mag checks were normal,
and the flight home -- after a very careful and prolonged run up -- was
normal.

What happened here? Why did this technique induce an over-rich
condition? Theories, anyone?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"