Wet engine wouldn't start ...

[Webmaster]

Bruce Schimmel wrote on 5May2009:

my uncowled engine wouldn't start in the rain. once dried it fired up. is that normal? has this happened to you? would you suggest replacing or spraying the sparkplug wires with silicone?

thanks,

Bruce

[Webmaster]

John Lawton wrote on 8May2009:

Hey Bruce,

That's a weird one. As the old saying goes, "All engines require air, fuel and spark". Air and fuel can probably be eliminated in your situation. Maybe water got into the wiring in the ignition system module? The starter relay and master relay I'm pretty sure are sealed, so that should't be it. If water got into the ignition module wiring and somehow grounded the ignition module that would be just like the mag switch being off. That could be what happened. Never heard of it, just spitballin' here.

In regard to silicone, be very careful to not get any on your painted surfaces. In fact, we recommend that folks never use any product with silicone or silica on their painted surfaces ever. Although there are silicone removers available and they sorta work, silicone rejects paint and is very hard to get rid of once it's on the surface, even with sanding. If you get silicon on your painted surfaces and at some point down the road need to repair those surfaces, residual silicon makes it way more difficult. We see this a lot, especially when repairing cracks and chipping around canopy rails because some folks use furniture polish on their canopies and some brands of furniture polish have silicone in them.

Good luck and let us know if you figure this one out.


Regards,

John Lawton
Whitwell, TN (TN89)
Ximango #135

[Webmaster]

Bruce Schimmel wrote on 10May2009:

well, the alternator was pretty wet, so it may not have be generating sufficient spark. because as soon as it was dried, it fired up. on a related note: my alternator was not charging until I pulled the fuse and cleaned it off. now it works. if you've been getting electrical gremlins --and even if you haven't-- I suggest cleaning *all* the fuses.