PSA: Picture free post!!
Just me and Allen today with the goal of trying the engine again. First I got a hose clamp on the fuel return line so that is sorted now. I checked the oil pressure on the panel and was still 2.9 psi. I made sure the spark plugs were in tight, and we removed the oil tank cap and dip stick for engine gurgling.
I slowly turned the blades, I’m not sure how many revolutions it was, but there was a very loud and clear burping from the oil cooler. Not subtle at all, good to know how straightforward it is. Pulled the plane out and hooked it up to Allen’s truck and started it again.
This time the panel showed oil pressure, fuel pressure and so on. It didn’t show oil temp or water temp. I stopped the engine and immediately the two gauges showed a value. We messed with the sensor wires a bit and the coolant terminal cane off the engine. Put it back on and re-started the engine, there were values for a little while but then they went off again. I ran the engine for about 2 minutes at 2500 rpm and it sounded great. Stopped the engine and the values appeared again. Obviously (I’d say) the vibrations are interfering with the sensor wires so I got some pliers and squished the terminals down so they fit much more tightly.
Put the plane back in the hangar and we did some general tidy ups – more tieing up of the panel wires, I cleaned all the floor of the cockpit so it is nice and shiny. I also got some more stripes on the side
(oh wait, there is a pic after all!)
Next up is the forward skin which will allow us to put the windshield on. I was going to do that on Sunday but had a last minute thought that I should check the engine bolt torque values one last time. I’m going to wait for Allen to help with that. It will also make it difficult to access the back of the panel but I think there is no more need to now.
Oh, the engine officially now has 0.04 Hobbs time on it 🙂