Paul,

 Any chance you will be able to stop by tomorrow afternoon?  I still
 haven't been able to get the engine started but think I've got a couple
 of things to try.

 Thanks
 Randy

 I'll will be there about 1PM.
 Have you checked for top dead center?
 You can get a rough indication by putting a screw
 driver in the lower spark plug hole and turning the
 engine over slowly by hand.

 A better way is modify an old spark plug and attach
 a clear plastic  tube about 3 feet long orientated vertically.
 Than fill the chamber with thin oil and watch the oil go up and down
 in the tube as the engine is rotated by hand.

 The timing should be about 22 BTDC. Mark this on the ring
 gear with white paint.

 Paul Lamar

I would think you want to use the oil like you would a piston stop when
degreeing a cam. When you get the chamber full at approximate TDC, rock it
back and forth by hand slowly to watch the oil rise and fall. When it reaches
the highest level, stop and mark the flywheel or pulley. Then continue in the
same direction for 10 or 20 degrees as the level falls. Then reverse direction
and stop again when the level just reaches the highest again. Put another
mark. The difference between them is actual TDC. Repeat to verify. Then with a
degree wheel it is easy to mark the 22 BTDC.
Before starting, crank it with the plugs out to get the oil out so you do not
hydraulic lock it.

Dale Davies

We got it running in just a few minutes. The number 4 wires from the battery
in the aft fuselage were too small for the starter current. Too much voltage drop. We jumped the starter directly from a car battery and it kicked right off.
There is something wrong with the Ellison carb as you have to keep priming it to keep it running. More on this later.


Paul Lamar

Contaminants in the Ellison?  Is there a good fuel filter?  How about fuel pressure?


This is a pretty clever setup. I do wonder how hot the Ellison is going to get when heat soaking after shutdown. Will it melt internal plastic/rubber parts?


Matt-


It is on the cool side of the turbo.
We rigged up a temporary header tank so there was only about one foot of
head on the Ellison. I think the pin holes may be plugged as it sat around
for ten years with oil in the fuel.

Paul Lamar

That was the good news,  after switching carbs to a back up Ellison I
was able to get the engine started and keep it running.  It was running
very rough though so I played with the throttle and the mixture to see
if it would make a difference.  A quick check of the gages showed 1500 -
2000 rpm but no oil pressure, then the engine stopped as if it had
seized.  This was all in the course of about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.  There
was oil in the gas and 5 quarts in the pan.  The engine will not crank,
I can turn it over with a plug out and a breaker bar but it is very hard
to turn.  I pulled the re-drive to make sure that wasn't the problem and
I'll pull the alternator belt tomorrow but I have a feeling a bearing
may have stuck.  This engine has been sitting for around 20+ years so I
may have to do a tear down.  Very depressing as it looked like it was
ready to go.
Thanks for your help today Paul.

Randy

Darn. We should have checked the oil pressure. Don't turn it over
any more. Obviously the rotor and main bearings are damaged.
You will have to take it apart and swap out the bearing shells.
The apex and sided seals are probably OK. It is not as bad as it seems.

It has happened to Finn Lassen except the throttle was stuck wide open
with no prop. The engine buzzed to 10,000 RPM and then seized. He chiseled it apart, put new bearings in and flew it for 600 hours before crashing in the trees on an unlighted  dirt strip at night while trying to land. The guy lived a charmed life as he survived unhurt :)

Make a compartmented box identifying  all three corners of the marked rotor
to store the seals. Put them back in where they came from.

Let me know when you get it apart and I will try to get over
there to inspect the e-shaft. I'll be gone next week and
the newsletter will be shut down during that time.

Paul Lamar


Here are some shots of that bearing and turbo mount.

Randy

Randy and I took the engine apart today. There was relatively little
damage from the lack of oil pressure. Rear main and rotor bearings
appeared to be OK. The front main had some very strange damage but
I am not sure it was caused by lack of oil pressure. Randy was not
sure it had no oil pressure to begin with as the engine stopped so
quickly.

Has anybody ever seen anything like this? It looks like a poorly
machined e-shaft to me. Another possibility is incorrect end play.

We will stick the e-shaft in the lathe tomorrow and check it
for run out.

BTW the bare block as you see it here weighs only 116 pounds.
This is a 12A based one rotor.

Paul Lamar