Looks like Plastic Explosive is going to be down for a while longer. Here is the background, basically I have a cobbled-together fuel injection and ignition system. Check my other blog entries for the details. A few years back I eliminated my second magneto put a second set of coils ignition in place. I am now was all electric. So far, so good.
About that time, if the batteries were a little low I noticed I sometimes started getting a kickback during starting. Unfortunately, the company that makes the EC3 engine computer (Real World Solutions) has been out of business for some time and there's no support for it. This occasional kickback thing kept on happening but I found if I hit the starter for a few revolutions before turning the electronics on, I had much better success.
My Odyssey batteries were getting a little long in the tooth and the kickback kept happening, so I got a new battery which made it better, but I haven’t been flying much. But now, a new problem surfaced, the starter seemed to be “slipping”. I would hit the starter, it wouldn’t turn and I heard a kind of grinding noise. Then on the next try it fired right up. But, after a couple of flights was I was afraid that it may have damaged the crankshaft starter gear so I pulled the engine to take a look. I couldn’t see anything obvious that would cause the starter to be slipping, just a couple of slightly chipped teeth on the starter gear and a bit of wear on the starter pinion gear.
After calling B&C I decided to send the starter back for inspection and started looking for the other parts. I found a couple of vendors for the new crankshaft starter gear, one listed at $2,200 and the other at $3,200! I did find one on Ebay for $450 and it’s on it’s way.
Now, back to the ignition coils. With the EC3 controller, each plug has it’s own coil. They suggested using LS1 coils, commonly used in GM products such as the Corvette. When I decided to replace the mags and go all electric, I read somewhere that the LS2 coils had more oomph, so that’s what I used.
After all these troubles came up I somehow managed to locate a techy guy that was very familiar with the EC3 controller and with the coil requirements. Yay! It turns out that the coils have an internal, non-published, dwell time and the LS1 and LS2 coils have different dwell times and that is most likely leading to the kickback issues. I ordered another set of Delco LS1 coils and they are sitting on my workbench. Keep your fingers crossed.
Once everything has arrived, I will pull the oil sump and accessory case so I can get to the crankshaft starter gear. Then I have to establish new mounts for the replacement LS1 coils. I hope I don’t have to order new spark plug wires.
So, I won’t be making the Spring Fling this year. I’m not going to rush things.
