Yesterday , a beautiful Sunday , I boarded Sabina with my family for a combined test flight of a new North Sail A3 asymmetrical spinnaker / last sail of the season. After pre setting the asymm I hit the starter on the reliable Atomic 4 and it fired right up. I was bit hasty clearing the choke , and the engine died.That is common in cool weather ; I was impatient. So I pulled the choke again and hit the starter , got an instant restart. After 20 seconds or so the engine started faltering as it usually does with the choke pulled , so I pushed it in. Engine cleared , ran for 30 seconds or so , faltered and died. This was new. I cranked the starter , with and without choke ; it fired 2 cylinders with choke open but could not sustain itself. All indications were of a flooded engine. Water supply off , ignition off , swapped out the plugs. Rearmost 2 were soaked in gas , fwd 2 carbon coated. Water supply still off , I hit the starter with choke open & wot. I got the budda budda bubba bup bup bup bup buddabudda VROOM of a flooded engine clearing itself. Let it run for another 30 seconds , shut it down , opened water supply and restarted. Clean start , but after 45 seconds or so it gagged and died - FLOODED AGAIN !!! Now I was scratching my head. I was about to cancel the boat ride , but opted for one more try. Pulled and cleaned plugs , (same plug indications ) , water supply off - this time FUEL supply off , cranked with choke open & wot. Got the same sound effects as above , engine cleared , opened water supply , ran well for about 1 1/2 minutes until it faltered lean due to closed fuel valve. I decided to let the engine run while I opened the fuel valve , knowing that if it flooded again the carb was gagging the cylinders with gas. With supply opened the engine resumed normal running ; minutes passed ; shut down and restarted many times all normal. I tossed off the docklines and we had a beautiful sail.
Float stuck? By shutting fuel valve I emptied the carb bowl and whatever was wrong in the carb corrected itself? Anyone have a similar experience and/or explanation?
Thanks in advance , Laker
Float stuck? By shutting fuel valve I emptied the carb bowl and whatever was wrong in the carb corrected itself? Anyone have a similar experience and/or explanation?
Thanks in advance , Laker
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