I have had no problem in starting my SR20 in temperatures down to below 32F. The method I use is
- Mixture rich
- Full throttle
- Prime for 20 secs
- Close throttle almost to the stop
- Boost pump on
- Start with key
Note item 4. The SR20 seems to start best with almost no throttle.
Mike Glazer
N184CD
Mike:
Your method seems to agree with what TCM is recommending and I have now heard twice that this works. How low below 32F have you tried to start?
This seems to be the way to go but this is not what the Cirrus POH states and is not what they are advocating at the factory.
This is a problem for 2 reasons. The POH legally is the accepted operating standard (here it seems to be wrong) and the amount of fuel left on the ramp after the 30+ seconds of prime that Cirrus recommends is enough to cause a small bonfire. Cirrus need sto readdress this!
Brian
How low below 32F have you tried to start?
I would guess that the lowest temperature I have encountered so far is about 28F (it doesnt usually get much colder than that here in the UK).
Mike Glazer
I have had no problem in starting my SR20 in temperatures down to below 32F. The method I use is
- Mixture rich
- Full throttle
- Prime for 20 secs
- Close throttle almost to the stop
- Boost pump on
- Start with key
Note item 4. The SR20 seems to start best with almost no throttle.
Mike Glazer
N184CD
Mike:
Your method seems to agree with what TCM is recommending and I have now heard twice that this works. How low below 32F have you tried to start?
This seems to be the way to go but this is not what the Cirrus POH states and is not what they are advocating at the factory.
This is a problem for 2 reasons. The POH legally is the accepted operating standard (here it seems to be wrong) and the amount of fuel left on the ramp after the 30+ seconds of prime that Cirrus recommends is enough to cause a small bonfire. Cirrus need sto readdress this!
Brian
I understand from from Mike Busch that Cirrus has aggressively addressed the issue with Continental. I don’t recall exactly what Mike said but the mechanism that delivers fuel directly to the cylinders wastes much of it during priming, ie fuel doesn’t reach the point where it can be effectively combusted but is dumped overboard onto the ramp. One thing is clear; the cylinders are not getting the fuel they need when its cold to start. Without excessive priming the starter justs cranks and cranks without the engine as much as coughing - its starved for fuel. I suspect that’s why mine starts best with the throttle closed.
First: The temperature of -15 degrees was said by TCM.
Second: I believe priming 20-30 seconds will be successfull. But the contamination is a big problem at some FBO´s.
Yesterday I have been in Eelde. We tried priming with mixture idle cut off. The excess fuel has been the same as with mixture full rich.
I can´t understand that such an engine has the certification of FAA.
Dieter
The above procedure is for cold starting down to 15 degrees C."
Do you really mean 15 degrees C which is 59 degress F? Maryland doesn’t get temperatures that high until spring. My club doesn’t preheat the C172’s until the temperature is below 25 F and then only because of the oil not starting problems.