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fstringham7a

Well Known Member
RE: Engine Break-In....Hot Start Procedure

BUZZ (N74BZ) has 18 on the hobbs and all is running great. All known squack have been taken care.

BUT

The power plant is an ECi IOX 360 Titan equiped with ECi fuel system/throttle body and aeroflow performance fuel pump. Cold it starts real easy, but HOT is another story. What have you aviators...especially running the ECi setup found to be the best hot start method???

2nd question is real simple. Magic indicators that the engine is broken-in???

Frank @ SGU and 1L8 ...RV7A... Phase 1 @ 18 hours and counting
 
Hot start w/AFP

Hello Frank,

This hot start method works fairly consistent for me:

  • mixture & purge full rich
  • Throttle 1/4"
  • Boost pump on 3 or 4 seconds
  • Purge to idle cutoff
  • Throttle 3/4 full
  • Hold brakes, hand on Purge control, and crank engine. In my case, the engine fires in about 6 seconds.
  • When engine comes to life, push the Purge control to full rich and quickly bring the Throttle to idle position.
Again, this is what works the best for me. I've tried the Purge method and those suggested by others, but this method is far more predictable.

Bill
RV-7 N151WP
Barrett IO390 w/AFP
 
fstringham7a said:
The power plant is an ECi IOX 360 Titan equiped with ECi fuel system/throttle body and aeroflow performance fuel pump. Cold it starts real easy, but HOT is another story. What have you aviators...especially running the ECi setup found to be the best hot start method???

2nd question is real simple. Magic indicators that the engine is broken-in???

Frank @ SGU and 1L8 ...RV7A... Phase 1 @ 18 hours and counting
Click to expand...

I will leave the first question to those that have RV's with the same set up. I have flown behind F/I Lycomings (Navajo's and Super Vikings) and my methods for hot starting was not was what was described above. However, it worked for me and that was enough.

2. Two questions:
a. How are your CHT's? Have they come down from the initial readings when you first started to fly?
b. Is your oil consumption stable at acceptable levels? No oil fouled spark plugs? (i.e. < 1 qt/10-12 hr)

I am not familiar with ECi 360, but was the engine run in a test cell after assembly? If is was, then chances are that it was mostly "broken in" prior to when it was installed on your RV.
 
Speaking of...

Hope I'm not thread jacking here, but...

Do the factory new engines from Van's\Lycoming get run in a test cell? Do they need to be broken in?
 
Test cell not break in

I'm not an engine expert, but did build my own ECi O360 and did quite a bit of research. Others on this site, such as Mahlon, are experts and have provided a good bit of info on this. Search on Engine Run In and you'll get some previous posts. Engine time on a test cell after assembly is referred to as "run-in" not break in. It is not the same. It is for the purpose of verifying proper assembly and operation prior to it pulling an airplane through the sky! The break-in is performed on the airplane, typically in about the first 25 hours of operation. It would be possible to do the break in on the test cell, just expensive as you would be paying the additional charges for test cell time and operators. This is my guess why you don't get the break-in before you get the engine. Same thing for a car- you have to break in the engine on a new vehicle. This is also the same for the engines purchased through van's. The only engine you purchase which doen't need a break in, is a used engine:D
 
CHT's and oil use stabilized; Hot start

I think jetjok had the right questions. I watched for CHTs to come down and stabilize and for oil use to stabilize. I have 85 hrs on new cylinders and both happened within 30 hours or so.

I had someone at Poplar Gorve, IL take the time to show me his hot-start procedure and it has worked great for almost 2 years now. It's pretty close to BillGill's procedure but I don't have a purge line back to the tanks.

1) throttle to full and mixture to full rich
2) boost pump on for a 5 count
3) boost pump off, mixture to "idle cut-off" throttle remains full
4) turn the key or flip mag switch and engage starter depending on your wiring
5) as the engine starts to fire pull the throttle back smoothly to about 1/2 throttle until the engine starts, then reduce to idle and move mixture towards rich. Don't move it fast or you might smother it

Sometimes after it starts it'll cough a little and sometimes I put the boost pump back on until I think all the hot fuel has been burned.
 
I found on my TMX IO360 with Precision Aeromotive Silverhawk FI that hot starts were much easier if I did not prime before starting. If I did it always would flood the engine and make it difficult to start if not impossible to start.

Here was my method for when my engine was within an hour of having been shut down from flying:

No Priming....
Throttle - Full Open
Mixture - Full Open
Throttle - back to 1/4" open
Mixture - Full Closed
Crank Engine and after about 2 turns of the prop it would fire - Immediately push Mixture to Open
Throttle as desired

FI engines are kind of like FSDOs....they all have their own personality and procedures. Just takes some experimentation to find "your" best method.
 
Superior XP IO-360

Manual instructions.........No boost, mixture full lean, throttle 1/2. After firing, pull thottle back to idle and full rich.
 
The info is out there... Webb and Mike basically have what I use for hot starts on my AFP injection, but I don't have my purge set up right which is why I don't use it. Otherwise, I think the purge instructions were the correct ones.

As for break in, an hour on a test cell does not break the engine in. According to Superior's manual, the engine needs to be run as hard as practical until the oil consumption settles. In my case, since I'm at 7k, that meant Brad Ransom (my test pilot) finding some lower altitudes near Sedona so he could run the engine full throttle and rich enough to keep it within acceptable temps. It took about 15 hours to break in.
 
RE:Thanks for the info

Thanks for the info.

Bob Looper, who test celled the engine varifies that lowered CHT's, and oil consumption stabilized at the aforemententioned levels will show break in is coomplete. With Buzz having 19 hours on the hobbs .... one oil change @ 15 hours... I will know better about the oil consumption at the 25 hour plus mark.

He also said that engines are interesting in the hot start department. They all have their own personality. My ECi set up is like Robbie Attaways http://www.attawayair.com/eci_fi_system.htm

My normal start, which is different than the normal, is to 1. Master on 2. P-Mags to on position 3. Prime to count of 5 to 7 depending on temp. 4. Brakes on 5. Throttle 1/4 closed 6. Mixture full rich 7. clear Prop. 8. Push start button. Engine will start smoothly after about three turns of the prop ...............Great for the cold Start............

Now for the hot start that SEEMS ??????? to work the best. Throttle full in....Mixture full in......Clear prop......while priming (after a 7 count) hit the start button and continue the fuel pump pushing fuel through the system until the engine start. (You would think it would floods but it doesn't). After a number of blades the engine will start .... fuel pump is off after the engine finally clears boiled fuel..where upon the throttle is brought back to idle. The engine will run a bit rough as the boiled fuel is pushed through the system. On some ocassions the throttle has had to be pushed in and back to keep the motor going. One has to be real quick on all the various devices to close/open/stop to get the job done!!!!! So there it is. I don't like it but it is what it is!!!!!!!!

Now for one question. I followed Dan C. (Sharpie) purge system installation. Was going to use it until my engine guru's said with my system from ECi it wouldn't be needed. So I would like to see info/pictures of your purge systems.

Frank @ 1L8 and SGU ...RV7A... Phase on @ about 19 hours
 
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