Gipsy Major Starting

[djwood]

In the spirit of sharing knowledge (and in anticipation of the cold damp of autumn creeping up on us) I thought I'd start a thread on tips and tricks for starting reluctant Gipsy Majors.

Tips and tricks I've found useful are:

1. On very cold weather I flood the inlet manifold and then, before the fuel has all run out, lift the Moth's tail to head-height for a few moments in order to swill the fuel around the inlet manifold prior to lowering it and sucking in. I find that vastly improves the chance of the engine catching when it's cold.

2. I've found that in damp weather it is often worth cleaning behind the contact-breaker plate every few hours. There is an inevitable collection of grunge there which appears to lessen the likelihood of easy starting. Never quite sure why, but it seems to work. I find that the cue for this are the occasions when the engine fires on just one cylinder as it's pulled through. Cleaning the back of the plate often cures that.

3. I've also found that putting a greenhouse heater into the bottom of the cowling on a temperature-triggered switch and covering the cowling with a blanket keeps some of the damp off the mags in winter, which again makes starting in winter easier.

4. Like others, I carry a short length of wooden dowel in my flying overalls with which to tap the bottom of the impulse mag housing if I can't hear a 'tick'. I find that that helps prevents the pawls from sticking, especially in winter.

5. Until recently I had two Moths, and one had a particularly oily engine. I found that oil tended to drain into the inlet manifold overnight. That had the effect of clogging up the little pin-hole vent on the bottom of the manifold, meaning that the excess priming fuel couldn't escape. One could hear fuel running in, but none ran out. Solutions: 1. lift the tail and swill the fuel around, accelerating the dilution of the oil-block until such time as the fuel runs out; 2. attach a short lenght of rubber hose (carried for the occasion) to the bottom of the vent tube and either blow or, if brave enough, suck to clear the obstruction; 3. have a cuppa and let nature take its course.

Those are my starters for 10. Any others? We're all learners...