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1. 06:48 PM - Ignition Fixed (The Meiste's)
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--> Stratus-List message posted by: "The Meiste's" <meiste@essex1.com>
Stratus List,
Finally got my 60 hour Stratus powered 601 HD back in the air once again this week.
If you remember about a month ago I had an engine out while I was cursing
1,000 ft agl, and after switching to the back up ignition I was able to keep
it out of the corn & make it home strip safely.
Well here is a run down on what failed on my engine (ignition) in the order I believe
the failure(s) occurred.
1. Primary coil failed (resistance down to .2 ohms) - replaced.
2. The hot coil over heated the ignition wire running from #1 coil to the distributor
- replaced all wires, splitter to coils & to distributor.
3. The ICM in the distributor overheated & failed - replaced distributor, cap,
& rotor.
Cost to get plane flying again - just under $500! (There goes my head rework by
RAM I had been saving for).
I hope this isn't a bill I have to encounter every 60 hours!
Additional notes:
1. My new distributors air gap was set at zero when delivered. Stratus had my original
gap set at .016, I set mine to .012 (seems to be fine there).
2. I set my ignition timing to 31 degrees at 4,000 RPM. This seems to be about
3 deg more advanced than my original dist.just looking at it's location.
To reduce the chance of over heating my seemingly sensitive ignition system again
I made a few modifications.
1. Added exhaust wrap to pipes, & muffler.
2. Added two NACA vents to the top of my cowl (approx over the carbs).
One last additional note..... as my plane was down anyway for repairs I did my
annual inspection (was due this month anyway).
I found the ABS plastic elbow on the passenger side carb had swollen by the gas
and was covering the small orifice at the air intake. I removed the elbow to
try to file the bulge down but found the edge of the plastic elbow to be the texture
of old bubble gum. I tossed the thing away & just mounted that air filter
directly to the carb and eliminating the elbow .... seems to work fine that
way. Other elbow is still ok.
Plane seems to fly normally once again. Temps ran nice and cool (for my plane anyway)
water held at 195, & oil was 220, but OAT is cooler now so it's hard to
say if my mod's did any good.
Lastly I just wanted to thank all you Stratus guys that gave me advice and direction
sorting out my ignition problem!
It's nice to be fly'n again!
Kelly
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