Re: Hard starting propane engine

Posted by Jon Hagen on December 22, 2005 at 20:51:14 from (69.26.17.191):

In Reply to: Hard starting propane engine posted by grabatire on December 22, 2005 at 19:11:59:

I Have a fair amount of experience with IMPCO propane equipment.
First thing to check is your fuel lock,is it a vacuum fuel lock ? if so inspect the vacuum hose from engine intake vacuum fitting to fuel lock for splits,cracks,or loose fit on the hose barbs. any leakage here will make for very slow fuel lock opening and slow starts. A tip on starting an impco fuel system with vacuum fuel lock.

1 crank the engine for 5 seconds with the throttle fully closed, this will raise maximum cranking vacuum and open the fuel lock faster.

2 wait 10 seconds after cranking with throttle closed for 5 seconds to open the fuel lock. This will allow enough time for liquid fuel released by the fuel lock, to vaporize and fill the vaporizer/regulator with propane vapor.

3 open the throttle 1/4-1/2 open and start the engine.

If the vaporizer outlet port is mounted lower than the mixer,then the vapor port and vapor hose may be full of oil which restricts propane flow,and makes for slow opening of the secondary regulator stage. Remove the vapor hose (usually 1 inch) and inspect for heavy almost grease like oil buildup in the hose and vaporizer port.

Another thing that can really speed that first morning start is a primer. Does your vaporizer have an electric or manual primer? Electric would be a solenoid unit screwed into the low pressure port in the side of the vaporizer,or a solenoid unit covering the prime button in the center of the vaporizer cover. There also was a manual primer gadget made to use a boden(choke type) cable,to push the prime button on the vaporizer cover.
You can also do a manual prime by cranking to open the fuel lock,then press the prime button on the vaporizer cover for 5 seconds then crank up the engine at 1/4-1/2 throttle. Not very convenient,but it works.
Try this then get back to me if you still have problems,there are more things to check,these are the most common problems.

Follow Ups:

• Re: Re: Hard starting propane engine grabatire 14:04:52 12/23/05 (1)
  • Re: Re: Re: Hard starting propane engine Jon Hagen 17:46:56 12/23/05 (0)

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