M14 air start oil purge system

[Scott Aldrich]

I learned something new about my M14's start system this weekend working
with Steve Rhodes up in Anchorage, figured I'd pass it on. Some of you may
already know but a search of other M14 list shows little or no mention of
it.

The air start distributor not only sends air to all nine cylinders in firing
order, it also sends air to the bottom four (#4,5,6 and 7) during their
exhaust stroke to help purge oil out of those cylinders during the start.
Cool. That combined with the manifold drain modifications should be a big
help in avoiding hydraulic lock.

Of course electric starts won't have this.

FWIW

Scott
Moose 174
www.goflyamoose.com






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[George Coy]

Scott,
You can add to the list of advantages for air start that it is difficult to
flood the engine, as the air blowing through the cylinders will tend to dry
them out. It is also why an air start engine needs lots of prime to start or
the mixture is too lean.
That said, the air blowing in the bottom cylinders during the exhaust cycle
does not always work. I have seen cases of hydrolock with both oil and fuel.
The fuel hydrolock from way over priming. It is still necessary to pull the
engine through before start no matter which starting system you have. If you
have the electric pump and the solenoid for prime, be especially cautious
about overpricing to a hydrolock.
The last caution I will mention (because it has happened to me several
times) is to be extremely cautious starting with a low battery or low air.
If you have a carb fire you need enough starter left to keep it going and
suck the fire into the engine. I strongly recommend that you keep an eye on
the carb air temp gage (what you don't have one!) during start to detect the
carb fire. It is also wise to have a fire bottle handy.

George Coy
President
Gesoco Industries Inc.
629 Airport Rd.
Swanton, VT 05488
TEL 802-868-5633
FAX 802-868-4465
Web Site www.gesoco.com
e-mail George@gesoco.com
Franklin County Airport (KFSO)

-----Original Message-----
From: mike.davis@dcsol.com [mailto:mike.davis@dcsol.com]On Behalf Of
Scott Aldrich
Sent: Sunday, October 16, 2005 10:21 PM
To: rebel-builders@dcsol.com
Subject: M14 air start oil purge system



I learned something new about my M14's start system this weekend working
with Steve Rhodes up in Anchorage, figured I'd pass it on. Some of you may
already know but a search of other M14 list shows little or no mention of
it.

The air start distributor not only sends air to all nine cylinders in firing
order, it also sends air to the bottom four (#4,5,6 and 7) during their
exhaust stroke to help purge oil out of those cylinders during the start.
Cool. That combined with the manifold drain modifications should be a big
help in avoiding hydraulic lock.

Of course electric starts won't have this.

FWIW

Scott
Moose 174
www.goflyamoose.com






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