I have a buddy of mine that has a 1996 Citabria 7ECA with a Lyc. O-235-K2C. He has owned the airplane for 8 years or more and has always had a problem starting it. He has been on the Citabria site and had them try to figure out what the problem is - with no luck. I told him that I would ask here and see if we can find the problem. Here are the particulars:
Skytec starter (this problem may have begun with the high speed of the starter)
requires 8 pumps of the primer when cold and 4 when hot to get it to fire (he has tried many different combinations over the years and this is the best) The engine only has primer lines to two of the cylinders instead of all 4
the prop turns through 10 blades until it fires (to me it seems to be over primed but he says it takes longer with less prime)
it has Slick mags with impulse couplings on both
he rebuilt the mags 7 years ago and there was no change in starting
there is no kick-back
compressions are all in the mid 70's
burns strictly 100LL and the bottom plugs foul after about 10 hours - cleaning or replacing the plugs make no difference in starting.
I asked him to try hand propping to see if it made any difference - don't know if he has done that yet
He talked with Lycoming about the problem and also the plug fouling. They didn't recommend the Iridium plugs because the engine runs so cool.
Any ideas that you have I'll pass along to him. I know that there is someone else with a Citabria and the same engine that is having the same problem. He said that he gave up about 6 years ago and is just living with the hard starting.
Thanks
Brian
Skytec starter (this problem may have begun with the high speed of the starter)
requires 8 pumps of the primer when cold and 4 when hot to get it to fire (he has tried many different combinations over the years and this is the best) The engine only has primer lines to two of the cylinders instead of all 4
the prop turns through 10 blades until it fires (to me it seems to be over primed but he says it takes longer with less prime)
it has Slick mags with impulse couplings on both
he rebuilt the mags 7 years ago and there was no change in starting
there is no kick-back
compressions are all in the mid 70's
burns strictly 100LL and the bottom plugs foul after about 10 hours - cleaning or replacing the plugs make no difference in starting.
I asked him to try hand propping to see if it made any difference - don't know if he has done that yet
He talked with Lycoming about the problem and also the plug fouling. They didn't recommend the Iridium plugs because the engine runs so cool.
Any ideas that you have I'll pass along to him. I know that there is someone else with a Citabria and the same engine that is having the same problem. He said that he gave up about 6 years ago and is just living with the hard starting.
Thanks
Brian