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ShortSnorter

Well Known Member
I recently installed a SureFly in place of my impulse mag on my IO-390 to "help" make hot starts easier (although I generally don't have too much trouble). After ~15 hours on the SureFly I really can't see any benefits in hot starting. I'm curious if its because my mags/harness were so new to begin with (~300 hours)? Has anyone else had a similar experience?

The only two noticeable changes are that it seems to idle smoother at low rpm and CHT's are slightly higher. Other than that I haven't noticed any benefit.
 
My carbureted O-360 starts very easily with a SurFly on the left impulse side, but it’s probably the same if I had the impulse mag. One of the benefits I see is that in cruise I can fly lean of peak (with a carb), probably due the advanced timing. I don’t think it would run as smoothly LOP with two mags. The other benefit is a possible lack of any maintenance until TBO.
 
On my 10, the Surefly helped a little with the hot starts, but not a huge difference. Being in South Fl I was tired of wondering how many attempts it would take during the typical summer hot humid Florida days. You choices are find the best method for your engines hot start personality (review Dan Horton’s 101 on hot starts) and find out what best works for your engine and accept it’s gonna sometimes take minutes and a few repetitive cranks, which I tolerated with for six years. Or, as I recently upgraded to, install an Airflow Performance purge valve, which flushes fresh fuel into your system (except the flow divider and cylinder) which elements hot starts since the vapors are purged out.
 
It sounds like I may have had unrealistic expectations. My hot starts were never really a bear that I’ve heard horror stories about, just not quite as easy as a cold start.

I will say installation was a breeze and long term cost of ownership seems like a win, so I’m definitely still happy with the decision to switch.
 
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