i would like to submit the following
a cold engine that is breathing in cold air is compounded by the injection of fuel
fuel has a certain latent heat and has a tendancy to refrigerate the air even more so.
according to detroit,, (back in the old days) when they had a fuel shutdown cable
instead of an ignition activated fuel rack solenoid the said to pull the rack closed (no fuel)
and crank the engine over several revolutions to build heat in the cylinder
and then slowly release the rack to add fuel,,, it helped a bunch to start them when it was
below zero F.
while i have never tried it on a lister/oid, i have tried it on a 12 hp changfa
and it does make the engine start faster and easier, but both the detroits and my changfa are
electric start and not hand cranked,,
i would not want to hand crank a lister several compression strokes to build heat!
but i would think that i would probably try to limit the fuel rack on a cold engine to reduce
the amount of injected fuel.
also it would stand to reason that a faster cranking speed would aid in starting for a couple of reasons
1. the compression will be higher, less loss past the rings
2. the amount of time that the heat of compression is reduced and leaves less time to lose this hard earned
heat to the cold cast iron.
but the problem is a handcranked engine gets more difficult to turn over when it is cold,, so cranking speed is going to be
an issue for the vast majority of folks.
as for motorcycle steering,, i had to learn that the hard way,, my first bike was a 74 cubic inch wide glide
and i never road one up till after i bought that one,, you learn quick what would seem intuitive is not reality on
a machine that outweighs one by a factor or 4 or 5.
i don't know anything about free electron's or for that matter enslaved electron's,, so i will defer to those who know.
from a practical standpoint,, if i were to do something to aid starting a handcranked engine it wouldn't be the admission of anything like
a starting fluid, misted gasoline or anything that might cause a kickback and a broken or disjointed arm.
what i might do or would suggest is the addition of..
1. a tank type heater,,, as suggested in the cooling system to preheat the water jacket,, i would think a 750 watt model like they
install in the heater hose circuit of cars and trucks would be sufficient... paying attention to thermosiphon principles
several minutes of that probably would help alot. or
2. cummins years ago had a glow plug that was made by champion spark plug,, from the outside it looked like a 7/8 hex ford plug,
but had a coil about an inch long instead of the normal electrodes, these were used with a diesel injector that sprayed fuel over it with
a hand pump sort of their version of a flame start.. i don't think a flame start is necessary,, but those heaters made alot of heat
enough for a 855cu/in engine to start below zero with flame start,, but likely enough heat for a liter 6/1...
they were very tough and put up with alot of abuse. i suspect they are still available from cummins or someone.
in any event i would try reducing the fuel rack on cranking and see how this helped in starting,, then depending on the ambient temps
and what i had to work with,, maybe either or both of these other methods.
interestingly enough,, the non clorinated brakecleaners make a decent starting fluid that does not bark and knock, but rather provide just a bit of
help in starter motor driven engines, and is by far safer on engine components than ether... although i have not tried it on a lister/oid.
one last thing,, and i don't know why it works
on my changfa r195m 12hp engine
if i leave the compression release partially engaged to where the valve leaks a bit, the engine seems to build heat and start much faster
again i have no idea why, but it seems to work.
anyway i am late to you guys party,, but thought i would throw in my two cents worth.
bob g
