So back in September, we found ourselves with the Val at Van?s, and when Louise hit the start switch to taxi to the fuel pump, all she got was a ?click?. We told that story already in another thread, and the cure was a new starter solenoid. Things were just great, and the airplane has been cranking better than ever. Better, that is, until, I hit the start switch the other morning up at Big Bear for a little local flying, and all I got was a strong ?click? ? no starter motion. I watched the voltages on the busses as I tried again ? and got no significant drop ? so I knew right off that there was no current draw through the starter motor. I safed everything and went out to wiggle the prop ? nothing locked up there, everything was fine ? it was just as if the starter wasn?t doing a thing.
Since I obviously wasn?t going anywhere quickly, I pulled the cowling (always carry enough tools to at least get the cowl off) and started poking around. It didn?t take long ? as I put my hand on the cable connection to the starter, I noticed that it turned just a bit. Looking closer, it appeared that the nut wasn?t really tight. I got out a half inch wrench and spun the nut off ? and off fell a burned half of a lock washer. The nut had a little slag on the ?inside? face. Obviously, someone (and I am about the only one that maintains this bird) hadn?t gotten the nut quite tight enough (it might have been when I was doing the work at Van?s, or back when I changed jugs last spring) and because it was loose, there wasn?t a good electrical connection for the high amps seen at the starter motor. Eventually, the arc tracks built up enough resistance that it wouldn?t kick the starter in. A visit to a neighboring hangar produced a replacement lock washer, and in five minutes I was ready to put the cowling back on. We were airborne ten minutes later, enjoying a smooth, cool day above the mountains!
Lots of folks experience slow cranking or poor starting performance in their birds. There is a list of things to check when this happens ? starting with the battery, cable connections, solenoid, more cable connections, and the starter. In my experience, the problem is rarely a major component (battery, starter, etc). SkyTec has a great troubleshooting guide that almost always leads you to a bad connection or bad solenoid (which, it has been pointed out frequently; we really don?t need with the new-style starters). Even batteries frequently aren?t the cause ? and new ones get more expensive every day. In this case, I cleaned up the contacting faces with my pocket knife and tightened things up. Next time, I?ll have a little piece of emery cloth in my ?away bag?, just in case. Once again, the lesson is ? start with the simple stuff. Oh, and make sure that your connections are tight!
Paul
Since I obviously wasn?t going anywhere quickly, I pulled the cowling (always carry enough tools to at least get the cowl off) and started poking around. It didn?t take long ? as I put my hand on the cable connection to the starter, I noticed that it turned just a bit. Looking closer, it appeared that the nut wasn?t really tight. I got out a half inch wrench and spun the nut off ? and off fell a burned half of a lock washer. The nut had a little slag on the ?inside? face. Obviously, someone (and I am about the only one that maintains this bird) hadn?t gotten the nut quite tight enough (it might have been when I was doing the work at Van?s, or back when I changed jugs last spring) and because it was loose, there wasn?t a good electrical connection for the high amps seen at the starter motor. Eventually, the arc tracks built up enough resistance that it wouldn?t kick the starter in. A visit to a neighboring hangar produced a replacement lock washer, and in five minutes I was ready to put the cowling back on. We were airborne ten minutes later, enjoying a smooth, cool day above the mountains!
Lots of folks experience slow cranking or poor starting performance in their birds. There is a list of things to check when this happens ? starting with the battery, cable connections, solenoid, more cable connections, and the starter. In my experience, the problem is rarely a major component (battery, starter, etc). SkyTec has a great troubleshooting guide that almost always leads you to a bad connection or bad solenoid (which, it has been pointed out frequently; we really don?t need with the new-style starters). Even batteries frequently aren?t the cause ? and new ones get more expensive every day. In this case, I cleaned up the contacting faces with my pocket knife and tightened things up. Next time, I?ll have a little piece of emery cloth in my ?away bag?, just in case. Once again, the lesson is ? start with the simple stuff. Oh, and make sure that your connections are tight!
Paul