Winter Flying, Starters and a 68 Arrow

In Montreal (CYHU) last week on a business trip, first real shot of winter and the plane would not start - every time i turned the mag i would get a long "weeeeeee". Now this did happen to me a couple of times in the summer, I simply reset the mag, turned again and off she went. But not this Saturday in -10C temps, every turn of the mag resulted in the same long "weeeee". We tried preheating and silcon spray to the bendix but no luck. To get the plane started one of the AMEs on the field pulled the bendix out manually. He said "make sure, when you get home, have your AME look at your starter". Smart guy, sounded a lot like the same guy i heard in head from the summer.

Then to make matter somewhat worse I didn't even make it all the way home, cut short in Oshawa (CYOO) due to low ceilings so I had to stop and take a train the rest of the way home . Of course when I landed in Oshawa I tested the starter and same thing - lots of "weeeee" but no prop a spinning. Now the questions:

1) how do you manually engage the bendix? i was in the plane (waving my keys at him) and couldn't really see what he was doing
2) I thought the starter in the plane was somewhat new (I’ve only owned this plane for about 9 months) - when she catches she cranks really well. AME wants to replace with new SKY TEC starter (ones they are using in the club planes). I have heard they are good but should really check with the old owner as to what was the history with this one - but perhaps someone has a comment on that.
3) FBO recommendations in Oshawa - CYOO - what the heck - see if anyone in local area is reading?

Comments

  • I've experienced this several times over the years on my '78 Arrow. To manually engage the Bendix just stick a screw driver into gear and turn it while slightly rocking the prop back and forth so the Bendix will engage the ring gear. The Bendix should extend when you turn it. I've had some limited success by spraying a lubricand (WD40) into the Bendix. Since it sits directly in the slip stream it has a tendancy to accumulate contaminants. The last time I replaced my starter I went with the Sky Tec and have been very happy with it. Really spins the prop. Good luck.
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