Question on Cessna 182T fuel flow on starting

[Beachcomber]

I have a 2002 182T, purchased it in December of last year. Typical starting procedure is you crack the throttle, mixture idle cut off, turn on the boost pump, and enrichen the mixture. Once you see positive fuel flow and it stabilizes (3-5s), mixture back to idle cut off and turn off the boost pump.

Problem is on my plane, it takes about 8-15s for this to occur. POH even states 3-5s. Every 182T I have flown with the IO-540 is also a pretty quick couple seconds.

Boost pump is good, so no issues there.

Thoughts? Do others out there have the same situation? Wonder if something isn’t right.

 

[Dan Thomas]

G1000 or steam gauges? The mechanical gauges can be slow if the line from the flow divider to the gauge is full of air. It has to be compressed before the gauge will rise. Might need bleeding.
If it starts after a 3-5 second prime, that is. If it takes 15 seconds to get enough to prime, I'd start suspecting the boost pump.
You are opening that throttle, right? Try opening it further. The idle mixture link rod might be out of whack. What rpm rise do you get at idle cutoff?

 

[Beachcomber]

Thanks Dan. Steam gauges. Now that I think about it, the 182T's that I rented prior to my purchase were all G1000's. If I do a count to 5, it barely rises. I try to start it and nothing. Then I do it, but wait about 10s, and good to go. I have replaced the boost pump already due to a leak, and was the same before and after the new boost pump. I was hoping the new boost pump would fix the issue. I now open the throttle about 3-4", maybe even half. That did shave a few seconds off. Maybe it's just a mechanical gauge thing and it's normal. I was just used to the G1000 I suppose.

 

[Geosync]

I fly a 2004 steam gauge. I’ll count to 7 before firing it up. 5 seconds is usually not enough. It takes at least 2 seconds for the needle to come alive. You’re ok.

 

[oilburner]

My son’s technique on our 2004 T182T is to run the boost pump for several seconds beyond the stabilized fuel flow & he always seems to get a start on his first cranking attempt. But, we have an aftermarket starter, which is placarded to avoid much cranking. So, for a cold engine I usually run the boost pump only until stabilized flow, then crank for a shorter amount of time and am quick to advance the mixture once the first cylinder hits. If I’m nimble on the mixture, I don’t have to crank as much.