Cold weather starts

[The-sky-captain]

This is the first winter that I have had my Mooney and was wondering if any of you guys in the cold wx states used a specific method to get the bird started in colder temps. 

[67M20F]

I have mine in a hager that is kept at about 60f. When i was doing my traing in 172's about ther only diff, was leting it warm up before take off. Sometime i would have to sit at run up for a long time. But with my mooney i just keep cowl flaps closed to try to keep heat in. But like i said its warm before its pulled out.

[67M20F]

Before I had my hanger tho i did use a gas fired heater on the tailgate of my truck pointed at the spinner, with cowl flaps closed and after about 5 min the motor was warm.

[The-sky-captain]

I have an unheated hanger but i do have two space heaters that are configured with scat hose to go up into the cowl flaps. I turn these on the night before I fly and it seems to work fairly well at getting motor and oil warmed up.

[Cruiser]

I have Rieff heaters on the cylinders and an oil sump heat pad. I put a ceramic box heater in the cockpit and turn it on when I get to the hangar. One trick I find very helpful is to prime the engine and then wait at least a minute before attempting the start.

I usually will get a start in two or three blades.

[mooniac227]

Quote: Cruiser

I have Rieff heaters on the cylinders and an oil sump heat pad. I put a ceramic box heater in the cockpit and turn it on when I get to the hangar. One trick I find very helpful is to prime the engine and then wait at least a minute before attempting the start.

I usually will get a start in two or three blades.

[MooneyPilot231]

Summer I can hit the primer for 7 seconds and it will fire off immediately. Once it got cold
I had real problems starting my 231. Here is what I came up with. Prime 10 seconds, turn on
axuillary fuel pump hit the starter and at the same time hold the prime button down. Throttle open 1/2".
As soon as the engine fires turn off the axuillary pump but you may have to keep the primer going until
the engine smooths out. I had fits until I figured all this out. Takes a little hand coordination but
my plane went from several minutes to start to several seconds. This morning it was 23 degrees
and using this method it fired right up. If you forget to turn the pump off it will not hit on all
cylinders. You will figure out what is up pretty quick. Let me know if this works on the 201 as well
as it did on the 231...good luck.

[The-sky-captain]

THe problem I was running into when it got cold was flooding. The guy that gave me my check ride told me to use the boost pump until the fuel pressure was well into the green. The cold wx was making the gauge read slow hence the flooding. Now I keep the pump on for 3-5 seconds and it works well.

[alun]

Quote: MooneyPilot231

Summer I can hit the primer for 7 seconds and it will fire off immediately. Once it got cold

I had real problems starting my 231. Here is what I came up with. ...... This morning it was 23 degrees

.

[mooniac58]

Quote: alun

i wish I had your definition of cold!!!!!!   its hailing and raining, blowing a dog of a chain and about 3 degrees outside.  and that's not a bad winters day!

Of course, is it possible that MooneyPilot231 is talking about F and Alun in C?  23F = -5C and 3C = 37F ~ hard to say because I know in England they seem to use C and F interchangibly

[alun]

maybe that explains it.....  i would love a cold weather day to be 23 deg celcius!!

[mooniac58]

Quote: alun

maybe that explains it.....  i would love a cold weather day to be 23 deg celcius!!

 A cold day in Hawaii is around 23C (73F)   Of course it is 80F right now so no need to break out the long sleeve shirts just yet!

[KSMooniac]

The 201 and 231 fuel systems are quite different.  I've found that 3-5 seconds of priming (throttle cracked slightly open, mixture rich) followed by 30-60 seconds of waiting will usually result in a quick start.

[MooneyPilot231]

I wish I was talking Celcius! People in other parts of the country don't think it gets cold in Texas. Not true! Not all the time, but mid-twenties (Farenheit) is common. The titanium in my lower back and neck have instructed me to move to
a year round warm climate next year when I retire....

[Rae]

Quote: The-sky-captain

This is the first winter that I have had my Mooney and was wondering if any of you guys in the cold wx states used a specific method to get the bird started in colder temps.