Cold wx starting quirks

In article ,
"Steven Barnes" wrote:

Our '65 Cherokee seems to like 2 or 3 shots of prime before cranking, with
the primer left out during cranking. When the engine catches, slowly put the
prime in. I've tried variations with the above yielding the least cranking.
We do have Tanis heater and are hangered in a "heated" (read at least above
freezing...) community hanger.

My experience with starting non-injected Cherokees is that you do best
to pump the throttle while cranking instead of worry too much about
priming.

On Fri, 24 Dec 2004 00:00:47 GMT, "Steven Barnes"
wrote:

We're hoping to fly the club's 182 to Indiana Christmas day & back the next.
Not sure, as cold as it is here. That 182 is hard starting cold. Yet to find
a good technique for that animal...

WIth the bigger engine you might want to try 4 full shots of prime.
Wait a few seconds, and try to fire her up.

HTH.
z

Not sure, as cold as it is here. That 182 is hard starting cold. Yet to find
a good technique for that animal...


My Cessna 172 has the 180 hp
When it is cold here in Florida 40 degrees
I prime once then do my preflight. 3 shots on the throttle and she fires right
up.
Hank

Hi Jim

There is one thing about this thread that puzzles me.
you are getting lots of advice on how to start an engine in below zero
temperatures. But nobody has suggested that you preheat the engine.
I would never attempt to start my 0300D engine, below zero, if it wasn't
preheated first. Look up cold starts and engine wear on google for more.

Tony

--

Tony Roberts
PP-ASEL
VFR OTT
Night
Cessna 172H C-GICE

In article .com,
"Jim Rosinski" wrote:

Usually the carbureted Lycoming O-320 in my Skyhawk is easy to start.
But when it gets cold (below freezing), often the first crank yields
nothing. Not even a hint of a kick regardless of how long the starter
is engaged. Doesn't matter how many shots of prime are in there either
(in cold weather I normally use 3 or 4). The "trick" I've found that
works is to wait 5-10 seconds after disengaging the starter, NO
additional priming, then engage the starter. Usually starts in two or
three blades. In the rare instances that the engine still isn't
started at this point, I'll add a couple more shots of prime and try
the same sequence again.

Be darned if I know why this (waiting between cranks) works, but it
does. If anyone knows why or even has a theory, I'd love to hear it.
Jim Rosinski

I use 32 degrees F as a preheat-needed criteria on my 172M. Higher if
it has been sitting for several or more days. It might be conservative
but the engine service since new has been outstanding.

"tony roberts" wrote in message
news:nospam-31132B.20394023122004@shawnews...
Hi Jim

There is one thing about this thread that puzzles me.
you are getting lots of advice on how to start an engine in below zero
temperatures. But nobody has suggested that you preheat the engine.
I would never attempt to start my 0300D engine, below zero, if it wasn't
preheated first. Look up cold starts and engine wear on google for more.


I think the pre-heat is kind of implicit below zero. Still, unless you
really warm the engine up (hard to do in less than an hour) most planes I've
flown are still kinda cranky to start. My 172N has always been pretty good
though- four shots of prime and hit the switch and it will almost always
start after a few blades, pre-heated or not, and it has almost 1900 on the
tach.

C Kingsbury wrote:

I think the pre-heat is kind of implicit below zero. Still, unless
you really warm the engine up (hard to do in less than an hour) most
planes I've flown are still kinda cranky to start.

Yes, for the purposes of this discussion I assumed preheat is implicit
below about 0 or -5 deg C. Though I don't always have the patience for
an hour or more of preheat time. Thanks to all who posted--I've
learned lots in this cold-starting 101 lesson.

BTW, I've got a great device for preheating. A $20 electric heater
with fan I bought at Kmart that fits beautifully beteween the nose
strut and bottom cowling of my Skyhawk. Nice to find some things in
aviation that can be done cheaply.

Jim Rosinski

Jim Rosinski wrote:

BTW, I've got a great device for preheating. A $20 electric heater
with fan I bought at Kmart that fits beautifully beteween the nose
strut and bottom cowling of my Skyhawk. Nice to find some things in
aviation that can be done cheaply.

Could you be more specific about where you place this during use?

Thanks...
- Andrew

Andrew Gideon wrote:

BTW, I've got a great device for preheating. A $20 electric heater
with fan I bought at Kmart that fits beautifully beteween the nose
strut and bottom cowling of my Skyhawk. Nice to find some things
in aviation that can be done cheaply.

Could you be more specific about where you place this during use?

Sure, here are a couple of photos of it:
http://www.burningserver.net/rosinsk...ex.html#HEATER

You can click on each picture to expand it.

Turned out to be just blind luck that it fit beneath the cowling so
well. I actually owned the heater before I bought the airplane.
Jim Rosinski

On 28 Dec 2004 11:18:30 -0800, "Jim Rosinski"
wrote:

Andrew Gideon wrote:

BTW, I've got a great device for preheating. A $20 electric heater
with fan I bought at Kmart that fits beautifully beteween the nose
strut and bottom cowling of my Skyhawk. Nice to find some things
in aviation that can be done cheaply.

Could you be more specific about where you place this during use?

Sure, here are a couple of photos of it:
http://www.burningserver.net/rosinsk...ex.html#HEATER

You can click on each picture to expand it.

Turned out to be just blind luck that it fit beneath the cowling so
well. I actually owned the heater before I bought the airplane.
Jim Rosinski


Thanks for the pics. It's been a long time since I've seen Longmont.

Question: What's with the extra long exhaust pipe on your bird?

z