180Marty wrote:I just cranked mine up and thought I had the phone on video but didn't----just a still so of no value----maybe next time. It got down into the 30's last night so I plugged the Reiff in for three hours and it was nice and warm. Did my three accelerator pumps and pulled it through five blades. Got in, mixture rich, throttle cracked and turned the key. It was running within 180 degrees of crankshaft rotation----my kinda start. I did some figuring and I have owned this plane for just under two years and have started it like this about 180 times. If the battery was dead, this is what I would do except I would make sure the prop was positioned just right and make the mag's hot and I bet most times it would be running with one pull of the prop. Thought of this----I don't bother to get in as I'm just standing on the ground leaning in working the throttle so I can quickly get around to pull the prop to prime.

Zzz wrote:

A1Skinner wrote:[The issue is the accelerator nozzle squirts up by by the time you get out to spin the prop it's ran back down into you airbox. Especially in a C180 it really doesn't get into the induction, it squirts up out of the carb and falls right back down unless you are actively cranking the engine amd sucking it in. I've seen to many air boxes that are blackened up and I highly recommend only using throttle pumps while cranking... but it's your airplane so you can do as you wish.

This is an interesting tangent. My O-320 has no primer on it. When it's cold, three partial pumps of the throttle and hit the starter. Usually goes fine.

However, one time it was moderately cold out (30°F ha! by my old Oregon standards) and the battery was dead. I couldn't get it to fire hand-propping it, probably because of the issue you noted which is the fuel runs back down into the airbox by the time you get around the front again. And it's not warm enough to get it vaporizing just from ambient air temp.

I’d be installing a primer. Many fuel injected planes came without a primer….use the boost pump to prime. Works till the battery is dead. Was going to fly with a guy in a 170 with fuel injection. Battery was dead. He said “We’re done”. I said use that primer, and I’ll prop this thing. We got the flight review done.

He wondered why the mechanic who did the engine install kept the manual primer. Now he knows.

180Marty wrote:

I’d be installing a primer. Many fuel injected planes came without a primer….use the boost pump to prime. Works till the battery is dead. Was going to fly with a guy in a 170 with fuel injection. Battery was dead. He said “We’re done”. I said use that primer, and I’ll prop this thing. We got the flight review done.

He wondered why the mechanic who did the engine install kept the manual primer. Now he knows.

Thanks, I learned something again. Where were the primer fittings located on the 170? Also, where would primer lines be located on an IO520? I know what would work but might not be legal- weld a fitting into the intake elbow runners. Here's a little different deal but same theory. My 1992 Toyota 4x4 22RE didn't get used a lot in more recent years and after extended non use it either lost it's prime or the 5th coldstart injector in the intake manifold wasn't working. It would crank and crank but not start. There is a little plug in the intake plenum and I would squirt a little bit of ether into that plug, put it back and that would make for an instant start.

contactflying wrote:A question about small Continental engines, MTV. Without primer or accelerator pump, closed throttle can get you a dripping air box sometimes. Is that just gravity or is there something sucking the fuel in?