912ULS Won't Start

For a moment I though you wanted to turn the prop manually… my fault!

Hi Alan,

I had the same problem on my 2007 not starting.  We put some ice on the module it and it fired up immediately.  Same thing with heat.  Also tried to check for spark and it started immediately although I have read since then not to check for spark as it may ruin the module.

I think you will find you have defective modules.

William L. Campbell  

I got a call from Lockwood yesterday. My modules are fully functional. They are tested after being placed in a freezer and after being heated up with a heat gun. And yes, I was told during my initial conversation with them that I shouldn't check for spark because it could ruin the modules. Fortunately I didn't. Now what? He recommended disassembling the key start switch and inspect for damage. I got my fingers crossed. 

Alan

Alan Arnold wrote:

Thank y'all for your inputs. I'm going to the airport this morning, on a much warmer day, and trying it again. My first check will be to look for spark plug function. I'll plug a new plug into the aft port side cylinder top cap, hold the plug against the cylinder head, and crank the engine. If there's no spark the ignition ain't working. As far as the throttle valves go, I've got 3 flights on the engine since working on the carbs and the only problem has been those 2 hard starts detailed in my first post above. Idle was fine and all other details of the flights had no decernable abnormalities. 

Alan

Alan,

You said that you worked on the carbs. I don't know to what extent you worked on them but be sure that you didn't get the choke linkage ass backwards. 

When I first got my plane it had the left carb choke shaft 180 deg. out. The symptoms where all over the  place and changed with OAT. When it was cold it wouldn't start, when it was warm it wouldn't run at WOT after the first T/O. I went through everything, BUT, I didn't know that you could assemble the choke backwards. Roger Lee told me to look for the center punch mark on the shaft and mine was wrong. The 5 min. that it took to take the linkage.off, turn the shaft 180 deg. and put the linkage on, fixed the problem.

I still owe Roger a beer.

Ron

Hi Ron. All I did to the carbs this time was to replace the float bowls because one of the float guide pins came loose, opening a hole in the bottom of the bowl. Nothing else was unhooked or changed.

Alan