If you saw my post two years ago about building an ECI O360 you might have wondered how it turned out. I fired up the engine for the first time today, using an engine run-in procedure that Mahlon so graciously provided. The first two runs are at 800 and 1000 rpm for 3 minutes each. With the 90+ temperatures here today in Va Beach, these were the only one I did. There are about 5 more runs and varing speeds for up to 10 minutes. Engine was hand turned to get oil pressure, then the first start attempt resulted in the engine starting within about 5 seconds. Everything green
. No abnormalities spotted by the 3 witnesses, shutdown and inspected with no apparent problems (no leaks and nothing loose). Only two squawks, both external to the engine. The VM1000C monitor read only 1/2 of the actual RPM. Will check the programming tomorrow. The lasar II electronic ignition ran rough. Start the engine on this, then brought the mag on-line and it was smooth as silk. Tryed to verify timing on the 2nd run, but the sun was too bright to see the strobe. Will try again tomorrow before the sun gets too bright.
Oil pressure was 80 psi. CHT was 308F max and oil temp was 128F max. The first run was supposed to be limited to 800 rpm, but because of the tach error, there was about a minute of operation at 1600 rpm before we realized the speed was too high and the monitor was in error.
All in all, 2 successful runs for the engine. Just shows anyone can put one of these together. Thanks to all who have given me advice in the past. If anyone had similar issues with the lasar II or the VM1000c and have some advice to give, feel free. All experience is appreciated. I'm pleased as punch. Once the run-in is complete on the engine, the plane is ready for inspection and first flight.
. No abnormalities spotted by the 3 witnesses, shutdown and inspected with no apparent problems (no leaks and nothing loose). Only two squawks, both external to the engine. The VM1000C monitor read only 1/2 of the actual RPM. Will check the programming tomorrow. The lasar II electronic ignition ran rough. Start the engine on this, then brought the mag on-line and it was smooth as silk. Tryed to verify timing on the 2nd run, but the sun was too bright to see the strobe. Will try again tomorrow before the sun gets too bright.Oil pressure was 80 psi. CHT was 308F max and oil temp was 128F max. The first run was supposed to be limited to 800 rpm, but because of the tach error, there was about a minute of operation at 1600 rpm before we realized the speed was too high and the monitor was in error.
All in all, 2 successful runs for the engine. Just shows anyone can put one of these together. Thanks to all who have given me advice in the past. If anyone had similar issues with the lasar II or the VM1000c and have some advice to give, feel free. All experience is appreciated. I'm pleased as punch. Once the run-in is complete on the engine, the plane is ready for inspection and first flight.
