I've been having problems starting my 914F3 engine (vintage 1998, now 600 hrs smoh) at temps below about 45 degrees, just a little warmer and it starts right up. i was quite amused to see that the 914F3 engine cold weather starting spec listed in my 1998 operators manual is MINUS 15F :)
I am almost certain that it's an issue of "no spark" at less than 90 RPM as the neon bulb ignition tester does not light up in these cases. I suspect i have multiple small problems contributing to my woes: old starter, old ignition modules, 10w-40 instead of 5w-40 oil, plug gaps too wide and a two year old battery.
The cheap fixes - AGM battery with high CCA , plugs, 5W oil will probably improve things, but i got to wondering what happens when i'm out in the middle of nowhere and it's 20F(or colder!!) and i can't get 90 RPM for Spark?
>> Seems to me the root problem of cold starts is "no viable spark" at less than 90 RPM.due to charging coils not really supplying enough energy to ignition modules <<
Does that make sense to those of you who know more?
If so, then while an HD starter ( and maybe new ignition modules) would probably help a lot , but those ain't cheap fixes and in the case of the HD starter doesn't really DIRECTLY address the "root cause"
I got to thinking about this and wondered if anybody has ever tried/thought of supplying the equivalent of (>90 RPM) charging coil pulses to one(or both) of the ignition modules during engine start.
I am almost certain that it's an issue of "no spark" at less than 90 RPM as the neon bulb ignition tester does not light up in these cases. I suspect i have multiple small problems contributing to my woes: old starter, old ignition modules, 10w-40 instead of 5w-40 oil, plug gaps too wide and a two year old battery.
The cheap fixes - AGM battery with high CCA , plugs, 5W oil will probably improve things, but i got to wondering what happens when i'm out in the middle of nowhere and it's 20F(or colder!!) and i can't get 90 RPM for Spark?
>> Seems to me the root problem of cold starts is "no viable spark" at less than 90 RPM.due to charging coils not really supplying enough energy to ignition modules <<
Does that make sense to those of you who know more?
If so, then while an HD starter ( and maybe new ignition modules) would probably help a lot , but those ain't cheap fixes and in the case of the HD starter doesn't really DIRECTLY address the "root cause"
I got to thinking about this and wondered if anybody has ever tried/thought of supplying the equivalent of (>90 RPM) charging coil pulses to one(or both) of the ignition modules during engine start.
