C206 Hot Start Tips

surveypilot

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surveypilot
I just got into a 206F. About 10 hours and I'm still looking for the perfect hot start procedure. It seems like everybody has their own way of doing it and I am still looking for my way.

Just searching for some tips and info from other pilots.

Thanks!
 
I just got into a 206F. About 10 hours and I'm still looking for the perfect hot start procedure. It seems like everybody has their own way of doing it and I am still looking for my way.

Just searching for some tips and info from other pilots.

Thanks!

What engine?


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Continental TSIO-520-C

Roger, can’t help on that one. I have Turbo Viking with Lycoming and I can start hot every time. Trick a friend with an SX300 taught me. It’s simple.

Don’t touch anything. Crank the engine over and it will fire! Immediately go full rich and add 1/4 throttle. It has worked flawless for all my big bore Lycomings.

Dewey


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Mixture at lean cutoff, run fuel pump for 30 seconds, crank engine, crack throttle 1/4, mixture at full rich, engine starts. Maybe.
 
Trick a friend with an SX300 taught me. It’s simple.

Don’t touch anything. Crank the engine over and it will fire! Immediately go full rich and add 1/4 throttle. It has worked flawless for all my big bore Lycomings. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
When I read this it leaves me with questions:

1.) Is this for carb'd engine?
2.) Where was the mixture and throttle right before your turned the key to start it?
3.) Did you use any prime
4.) Did you shutdown right before this hot start by pulling the mixture until it stopped?
 
Continental TSIO-520-C
Not sure why people keep asking if it's fuel injected...all of that is available ^.

Anyways, with that engine, I would do the following:
1.) Prime as you normally would for cold start.
2.) Fuel pump/prime off
3.) Throttle & mixture full forward
4.) Start cranking, and at the same time, start pulling the throttle back slowly. The engine will catch and start running as you're pulling the throttle back. Continue to pull the throttle back smoothly and you can do it without any RPM jump.

If this technique doesn't work, something is broken.

I've tried every known and described technique for hot-starting 520s & 550s and had inconsistent results. The above technique is courtesy of @Ted DuPuis. Any person I've ever showed it to was an instant convert.
 
I've tried every known and described technique for hot-starting 520s & 550s and had inconsistent results. The above technique is courtesy of @Ted DuPuis. Any person I've ever showed it to was an instant convert.

I remember the moment you were converted, too.

*attempts to hot start Malibu - fails*
Me: “Mind if I try my method?”
Jesse: “Sure”
*Ted method works*
*Heavens open, choirs of angels sing*
 
Continental FI has a fuel return. Lean cutoff and run the pump to purge the lines. If you think its flooded begin cranking at lean cutoff and normal throttle.
 
When I bought the Turbo Lance from the prior owner, preparing to fly it home, the engine was still warm from the prior flying.

The owner said, "As you know, these things don't like hot starts."

My response was, "Well, maybe this one will like me. Who knows?"

I went out, and it hot-started within three blades. I got a great thumbs-up from the now-prior owner, and was smiling with a grin that could have been seen from the Space Station.

:)

My recipe for my plane is to crack open the throttle, have the mixture full-lean.
Engage the starter, and advance the mixture until it catches.

If this doesn't work, then I advance to the flooded-engine style.

Same thing, but throttle begins at WFO.
 
Not sure why people keep asking if it's fuel injected...all of that is available ^.

Anyways, with that engine, I would do the following:
1.) Prime as you normally would for cold start.
2.) Fuel pump/prime off
3.) Throttle & mixture full forward
4.) Start cranking, and at the same time, start pulling the throttle back slowly. The engine will catch and start running as you're pulling the throttle back. Continue to pull the throttle back smoothly and you can do it without any RPM jump.

If this technique doesn't work, something is broken.

I've tried every known and described technique for hot-starting 520s & 550s and had inconsistent results. The above technique is courtesy of @Ted DuPuis. Any person I've ever showed it to was an instant convert.

Definitely gonna try that!
 
I have learned every engine is different... What works for one person will not work on your engine. It is just trial and error to see what works. A Bonanza I fly was always hard to hot start. I have learned to leave mixture full rich, crack the throttle and it fires right up... On all the other engines I fly that does not work.....
 
I have learned every engine is different... What works for one person will not work on your engine. It is just trial and error to see what works. A Bonanza I fly was always hard to hot start. I have learned to leave mixture full rich, crack the throttle and it fires right up... On all the other engines I fly that does not work.....

Certainly you are correct... to a point. There are some techniques that will work great on engines and not well on other engines. Some of it also has to do with the technique of the user. I saw someone do that Bonanza trick you mentioned on my 414 (the guys at MT when they were doing dynamic balancing). He was able to do it, and said for him it worked most of the time (but not all). I couldn't get the timing right on it.

That said, the techniques I prescribed as my go-tos for Lycomings and Continentals I've seen work 99+% of the time, regardless of aircraft I try them in. Note that for each one it's a different technique due to the differences in how the fuel systems operate, and I've also found they're easy for anyone to do.
 
Not sure why people keep asking if it's fuel injected...all of that is available ^.

Anyways, with that engine, I would do the following:
1.) Prime as you normally would for cold start.
2.) Fuel pump/prime off
3.) Throttle & mixture full forward
4.) Start cranking, and at the same time, start pulling the throttle back slowly. The engine will catch and start running as you're pulling the throttle back. Continue to pull the throttle back smoothly and you can do it without any RPM jump.

If this technique doesn't work, something is broken.

I've tried every known and described technique for hot-starting 520s & 550s and had inconsistent results. The above technique is courtesy of @Ted DuPuis. Any person I've ever showed it to was an instant convert.

I remember the moment you were converted, too.

*attempts to hot start Malibu - fails*
Me: “Mind if I try my method?”
Jesse: “Sure”
*Ted method works*
*Heavens open, choirs of angels sing*

I am one of the converts to the "Ted Method". It works way better and faster than the book method, it doesn't require three hands, and it doesn't result in the big after-start surge that the book method does.

Depending on the amount of time since shutdown, I may purge the lines first by running the fuel pump with the mixture at ICO and the throttle full forward. Doing this with the right tank selected and the door open allows me to hear when it stops sputtering vaporized fuel. But then, it's prime as normal, everything firewalled, pump off, and pull throttle while cranking.

I think what's going on with the "Ted method" is this: Priming as normal, with the engine hot, is going to create an overly rich mixture in the cylinders. Starting to crank with the throttle open is going to pump more air into the cylinders, and as you close the throttle you'll eventually hit the right mixture and it'll light off. I'm not sure how much fuel is getting pumped by the engine-driven pump at that point, but I can say that this method has worked for me every time, and it's always faster than any other method.
 
I think what's going on with the "Ted method" is this: Priming as normal, with the engine hot, is going to create an overly rich mixture in the cylinders. Starting to crank with the throttle open is going to pump more air into the cylinders, and as you close the throttle you'll eventually hit the right mixture and it'll light off. I'm not sure how much fuel is getting pumped by the engine-driven pump at that point, but I can say that this method has worked for me every time, and it's always faster than any other method.

I think true to a point. Also remember that a Continental fuel injection system is essentially a mechanical fuel pump and then orifices for the throttle and the mixture. So it's continuing to pump fuel in as you're cranking. At cranking RPM your manifold pressure won't change much (a bit, but not hugely so), but you're going to start flushing out some of that fuel from your priming and adding more fuel as you're cranking. As the throttle gets pulled back you'll pull a bit less air in but I suspect the fuel that goes in decreases a more noticeable amount.

Either way, eventually you hit the right mixture and off she fires.

In over 1,000 hours of use among all Continental injected aircraft, there is one and only one time I recall that method did not work for me in the 310. I'm not quite sure why, but the right engine would die each time I tried it (tried about 5x times). What I ended up doing then was flooding the thing, mixture to idle, throttle full, and started it like a hot Lycoming. That did work. It was cold out but a hot start after a quick turn.

Not saying there aren't other ways to skin that cat - there are, and anyone who has a method that they're happy with working, stick with it! But this is as close to a universal hot start for Continentals as I've ever found, so it's a good one to keep in the toolbox.
 
Not sure why people keep asking if it's fuel injected...all of that is available ^.

Anyways, with that engine, I would do the following:
1.) Prime as you normally would for cold start.
2.) Fuel pump/prime off
3.) Throttle & mixture full forward
4.) Start cranking, and at the same time, start pulling the throttle back slowly. The engine will catch and start running as you're pulling the throttle back. Continue to pull the throttle back smoothly and you can do it without any RPM jump.

If this technique doesn't work, something is broken.

I've tried every known and described technique for hot-starting 520s & 550s and had inconsistent results. The above technique is courtesy of @Ted DuPuis. Any person I've ever showed it to was an instant convert.

Would this technique work the same for a Continental TSIO-520-D, not a "C"? I tried this in the 206 yesterday and it worked great. But I am about to move into a 210.
 
Would this technique work the same for a Continental TSIO-520-D, not a "C"? I tried this in the 206 yesterday and it worked great. But I am about to move into a 210.

I believe it will work well on any fuel-injected Continental.

I'd be curious to hear what Ted suggests be done differently for a Lycoming...
 
Would this technique work the same for a Continental TSIO-520-D, not a "C"? I tried this in the 206 yesterday and it worked great. But I am about to move into a 210.

I've found it works on any Continental - both naturally aspirated and turbocharged, top induction and bottom induction.

I believe it will work well on any fuel-injected Continental.

I'd be curious to hear what Ted suggests be done differently for a Lycoming...

I went into it in one of my threads. Basically:

- Mixture to idle cut-off, throttle full forward
- Fuel pump on
- Mixture forward for 5-8 seconds
- Mixture to idle cut-off
- KEEP THE FUEL PUMP ON
- Crank until the engine catches. When it catches put the mixture about halfway, and then when it fully catches throttle to idle and mixture full rich

For Lycomings it's still more of a 3-handed operation, but works on every Lycoming.

Note that Lycoming fuel injeciton systems work fundamentally differently from Continentals, which is why the different procedure.
 
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