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birddog486

Well Known Member
So, I stopped for gas, fill up and hop back into the plane. Flip on the master, buckle up the seat belt and close the canopy.

Flip on the strobes, both mags and hit the start button, I hear the typical clunk of the start contactor and usually the prop starts spinning but thats not what happened today.

I tried the start button again and get the clunk from the contactor but no starter. After pushing the start button 10 more times I kill the mags, strobes and climb out.

As I'm staring at the cowl thinking what a pain in the rear it's going to be removing the cowl on a deserted ramp and saying a few choice words I decide to just let it cool for another 10 minutes and go from there.

I hop back into the plane, turn on the master, mags, strobes and say a little prayer.

I push the start button and clunk goes the contactor but no starter. The prayer didn't work so I may have gone the other direction with the vocabulary.

I figured I had nothing to loose so another 10 starter button pushes we go. As I was saying to myself this is the last button push BAMMMM

The prop starts winging over and she fires off. I was able to keep it running and made the uneventful flight home.

At home after shutdown I let it heat soak for about the same amount of time it took to gas up and tried the starter again. BAMMMM first try so,,,,,

I'm guessing the starter solenoid maybe has the issue but not sure. I know I cant trust stopping for gas away from home until I figure it out.

This engine has the typical lightweight starter from lycoming, was delivered 6-2019 and just turned over 650 Tach time yesterday.

Anyone had the same issue and found the culprit without replacing unnecessary parts?
 
I had the same issue twice in June. Replaced the starter contactor after the first episode. Problem recurred the next day. Went through B&C’s troubleshooting procedure a week later. Still not sure what the problem is/was.
 
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OP’s experience duplicates what I have had when it was a bad starter contactor. Can’t explain Kyle’s signature……

Last time it happened to me I was at the Mothership, so getting a contactor was pretty simple, as was getting some tools to change it out.When we dissected the bad contactor, we found all sorts of arcing/scoring that was causing high resistance. They don’t last forever….

Troubleshooting using the B&C and/or SkyTech web procedures is usually pretty accurate in finding the cause.

Paul
 
Lots of threads on those SkyTec starter solenoids. Mine started becoming flaky at 10(!!) hours and failed at 25. I’m around 60 hours total time and on my third solenoid.
 
Draker said:
Lots of threads on those SkyTec starter solenoids. Mine started becoming flaky at 10(!!) hours and failed at 25. I’m around 60 hours total time and on my third solenoid.
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The problem is….which solenoid is he talking about? The one on the starter, or the one on the firewall? There are a couple of ways to wire starter circuits, and he could have two of them (as many of us do). I have never had a lick of trouble with the solenoid on a SkyTech, but have had trouble with the firewall solenoid.

Paul
 
I had the same issue the OP had on two different occasions, with two different RV-8s that were equipped with Sky-Tec LS starters. In both cases it was the solenoid on the starter that was the issue.

The first time it occurred was on my first RV-8 when I was out in the boonies with no one else around. It was just like the OP described, and after many attempts the solenoid finally decided to kick in and the engine started.

The second time was with my current RV-8. I finally gave up trying to start it. Luckily, I and a buddy had flown out to lunch with both our RV-8s. Since I have experience hand-propping airplanes with larger engines, and my buddy knows how to handle the engine controls for a FI engine (think hot start), I decided to hand prop it. Much to the surprise of both of us, it started on the second flip of the prop. It started easier than using the starter! It is a 180 HP, YIO-360-M1B, with an impulse coupled Slick mag and an LSE Plasma III EI. The RV-8 has a nice stance and height for hand-propping.

This experience also reinforces how dangerous touching or moving a prop can be, if a mag is hot for whatever reason. I cringe when I see pictures of people touching or leaning on a prop.

Note: All caveats about being correctly taught how to hand prop an airplane, knowing how to properly and safely hand prop an airplane with a larger engine, and taking the appropriate precautions when doing so, apply. This is a not a self-taught or YouTube-taught activity.
 
RV8JD said:
Note: All caveats about being correctly taught how to hand prop an airplane, knowing how to properly and safely hand prop an airplane with a larger engine, and taking the appropriate precautions when doing so, apply. This is a not a self-taught or YouTube-taught activity.
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To be honest, I'm not sure engine size is *that* material. I knew a Luscombe guy who lost an arm to an A65. Be careful...
 
Kyle Boatright said:
To be honest, I'm not sure engine size is *that* material. I knew a Luscombe guy who lost an arm to an A65. Be careful...
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Actually, it is. Obviously, any prop can maim or kill you. The point I was trying to make was that higher HP engines are more difficult to hand prop than, say, the low compression 65 HP or 85 HP engines that some may have experience with. The larger engines take much more force and leverage and may cause some to 'lean' into it a little too much, or tempt someone to wrap their fingers around the blade to get a better purchase, with possible dire consequences.
 
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Ironflight said:
The problem is….which solenoid is he talking about? The one on the starter, or the one on the firewall? There are a couple of ways to wire starter circuits, and he could have two of them (as many of us do). I have never had a lick of trouble with the solenoid on a SkyTech, but have had trouble with the firewall solenoid.

Paul
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Yeah, we're all focusing on the starter contactor not the firewall one - but it seems that's the more common failure too. All the more reason to go through Skytec's troubleshooting procedure.
 
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