Engine Quit on Runway

[Vinny Meoli]

OK so I put this in the WTFO file of my airplane ownership experience.  Not sure where to go from here and I would love some input.  I recently (<5hours ago) had my fuel pump changed and had a clean annual inspection.

I went for a short sight seeing flight yesterday.  I took off and climbed to 8500 feet.  Circled, took some pictures, and had a gradual 300-500 fpm descent.  I landed after about 45 minutes.  As I pulled the throttle to idle and touched down everything was normal.  Moments later as I was pulling on to the taxiway and the engine sputtered and quit.  It restarted easily but as I taxied with low RPM she quit 3 more times.  

I ran it up with my mechanic, and it did it twice more, even at 1000 RPM.  All the fuel flows, CHTs and EGTs looked fine.  Then as quick as it came it was gone.  We could no longer replicate it.  We looked over the engine compartment and couldn't find anything to explain it.  

Has this happened to anyone else?  Any ideas where I should start to look or should I just ignore it?

[Paul Safran]

First you need a mechanic with the proper gauges and fittings to carry out the TCM SID 97-3e, NO SHORT-CUTS!!!!

Those are classic symptoms of an improper fuel set-up when hot. Idle pressure needs to be the low end. Idle rise needs to be correct with a warm engine. Take-off flow can be by a calibrated true flow meter if you have one. The factory gauge is not.

[Vinny Meoli]

Thank you Paul.  

[Nick DeMarco]

I agree with Paul. Your fuel pressures are not right. Mine currently does the same thing. It is too lean on roll out. I've had it die on the runway (how embarrassing).

I had a reputable shop do the 97-3E setup. It still ran rough at the idle stop. Something is wrong. We're rolling up sleeves and $digging$ in until we find the root of the problem.

Nick

[Shelly Holson]

I've seen this happen with altitude compensating fuel pumps. The airplane would run-up perfectly, and fly well. Then the engine would quit when the throttle was pulled to idle after landing. A complete SID-97-3E check out showed nothing wrong, and it would ONLY happen after the plane was flown.

Turns out the altitude aneroid on the fuel pump was sticking in the lean position at altitude, and stayed there. After landing, the engine would die due to the lean mixture.

[Steve Alcorn]

N30819

1987 F33

IO 550

Hmmmm:

My plane is in the shop, about a month after it came out of a clean annual. About 300 hours on a rebujilt engine. Mixture/fuel flow has wandered ever since rebuild. doesn't stay where set. Now stalling on rollout and hot start difficult!!!!! Mechanic says unable to get  even minimal fuel flow at idle and new pump on order. Or could this also be the altitude aneroid and can it be corrected without replacing the whole thing? New pumps are expensive!! And warrenty won't cover.

Steve Alcorn

[Tom Pelz]

Gentlemen,

There is a rod on the right side of the fuel controller.  It is connected to the throttle cable.  There is also a spring attached to it.  

This connection may be inadequately/improperly adjusted.  It connects the throttle with the fuel flow.   

I had this happen to me when I installed a 520 in my K35.   I adjusted the fuel flow (just a bit, to increase the amount of fuel) so that, when the throttle was closed, there was still a bit of fuel being fed to the engine at idle.

Prior to that adjustment, I had the entire injection system overhauled.  It made no difference.  

It only occurred after landing.  It NEVER occurred prior to landing or while taxiing after start up.

With that minor adjustment all worked well thereafter, up to 2200 hours on the engine.

TomTom Pelz2011-06-06 22:25:28

[Mike Hemsley]

Vinny,

I had almost the same scenario happen to me last week.  I have a straight 35 with the E-185 engine. Just after taxiing off the runway, the engine acted like it wanted to quit 3 times while taxiing to the hangar.  Although it never completely quit running like yours did, my reaction was the same..WTFO!  It scared me!  I had my mechanic check the fuel selector fuel filter and last chance fuel filter and there were no signs of contamination. One explanation that my mechanic mentioned that makes a lot of sense is, after the flap extension and the nose pitch down attitude prior to landing, some water may have moved from the rear of the fuel bladder to the pick up tube during this pitch change.  Just one explanation.. I haven't had it happen again and have flown it about 3 hours since.  My airplane was sitting out in the weather for a few days prior to this and it did rain during that time.  I had my nose strut lowered a little as it was a little on the high side.  Hopefully, if it was a water contamination issue, I'll be able to remove it before flight in the future.

[Paul Hekman]

The guys at GAMI recommend 28 gph on a full power takeoff at sea level for a 520 for optimum cylinder cooling.  If you have adjusted your fuel flow to get this and haven't made any adjustment to idle fuel flow, the engine may run too rich at idle.  A temporary solution is not to land with mixture full rich. 

[Lewis Gage]

How does anyone know what to advise when the guy asking the question has not stated the aircraft model, engine installed, turbo or not, fuel pressure during taxi and idle operations, etc, etc, etc??

Regards,  Lew Gage

[Ian Van Wyk]

I agree, sounds like a classic fuel-setup issue. That is where I would start first. Also make sure your mechanics gauges are calibrated/certified.

http://www.tcmlink.com/pdf2/SID97-3E.pdf