Motor/Fuel/Exhaust Troubleshooting

Chapter 12 of the PPG Bible has a concise flow chart for the most common problems. This is another approach that has the space for far more details than would fit the book (which was already 32 more pages than planned). Whenever specifics are known for a particular engine, they will be provided. Contributions are welcome if you have specifics for a motor or additional troubleshooting expertise. Thanks!

Are paramotors reliable?

A lot can be done to prevent problems in the first place. Much money can be saved, too, by preventing a problem from progressing to where it tears up more expensive parts. Recommending oil is difficult because pilots have nearly religious affiliations to whatever it is they use. One that has earned a good reputation is Honda HP2 mc 2stroke oil.

This is a work in progress. Contributions of material, including motor-specific, will be welcome and will help the community overall. There are many good sources, especially the yahoo groups related to each brand. This is intended as an easy to use starting place.

Made possible with expertise from: holoweb,  Alex Varv, Jeff Baumgartener, Nick Scholtes, Chris Bowles, Bob Armond, Eric Dufour and others.

General Guidelines For Motor Troubleshooting

If your motor doesn't start on the first few attempts, something is wrong. Continued endless pulling will only provide exercise and wear out the starting system. Start with the simple and cheap. Here are some that qualify.

• Replace the spark plug if it's not running right. I'm amazed how often that cures a problem.
• Replace the Carb with a new one, a $100 quick-change that can eliminate many hours of tribulation.
• Disconnect the kill switch if easily done. You'll obviously need a safe alternative to kill the motor such as blocking intake air, starving fuel, choking (as equipped) or flooding with the primer bulb. Removing the kill circuit isolates what can cause a surprising array of problems, even ones that don't seem like they'd be related.
• Make sure there's new gas in the tank and take primer bulbs our of the fuel circuit temporarily, if easily done.
• Clean out the carb filter, if present, by spraying carb cleaner through it in reverse.
• Pressurize fuel lines and see if fuel leaks. There could still be an air leak but this will find the most grievous holes.

Problem

Possible solution or link.

Start Problems

Go here for pull-starter (recoil starter) issues.

Nothing happens when I press the starter.

There are a few mostly obvious causes here. Be extremely careful when troubleshooting these problems and ALWAYS take the spark plug off before working on it. Several pilots have suffered grievous injuries when they activated the start circuit unexpectedly and the motor roared to life.

1. The battery is completely dead.

2. A wire is broken/disconnected or the start switch is bad.

I hear a motor spin but the prop doesn't move.

See the caution above about the extreme danger of working on electric starter issues.

1. This probably means the solenoid that drives the starter gear onto the motor's gear is not working. It may be able to be repaired through lubrication or other means. Otherwise, the starter must be replaced.

added 2010 Mar 17

You can move the prop back and forth a quarter turn but it feels like something is stopping it hard.

1. The prop is on backwards. On props with a root section that's thicker than the hub, this root section can hit parts of the reduction drive or paramotor.

2. There is something stuck in the cooling fan or staring bell (for pull starts).

1. May be a fuel feed problem.

3. There's a carburetor problem.

4. There's a crankcase air leak.

5. On belt machines, the belt may have come loose.

6. 2010-09-16  The spark plug cap is loose (see Troubleshooting Ignition). Black sooty material in the cap or plug is evidence of this.

7. The coil/stator may be working loose or failing internally. Here's more on troubleshooting ignition.

1. There's a fuel feed problem.

2. There's a carburetor problem.

3. There's a crankcase air leak.

4. There may be a short between the kill wire and frame triggered only by vibration.

1. The master switch (as installed) is off.

2. Spray starter fluid into the air intake. If it still doesn't fire there may not be a spark (Ignition problem).

3. It may be flooded. Remove the spark plug. If it's wet, pull the motor over a few times and retry without priming or choking.

4. The carburetor may need adjustment. Rarely does a carburetor just go out of adjustment on it's own so, if it ran before, and you're at the same basic elevation (within a 3000 feet) then it should start.

1. There is a carburetor problem. If its a Walbro Carb, the pop-off pressure may be too high.

2. Could be ignition related. Change the plug, make sure the cap is on tight (no black soot).

1. It may be flooded. Pull the spark plug, disconnect the fuel, pull the starter (or run the e-starter) through about 20 revs. Put the plug back on (but not the fuel line) and try to start. Once it starts and quits, put the fuel line back on.

2. The plug may have fouled.

3. The decompressor valve, if installed, is stuck open or has other problems.

Idle Problems

(updated 2010-June-24, thanks to Lance Marczak and Alex Varv)

This is indicative of something interfering with the spark current since it only appears during the lower intensity spark at idle.

1. Replace the spark plug.

2. Clean the spark plug cap.

3. Unscrew the spark plug cap and see if there's black soot. Clean it and insure a good insertion.

1. If it dies suddenly then it may be that the carburetor needs adjustment.

2. There's a Reed Valve Problem.

3. There's an air leak.

4. The fuel may be bad.

1. It may be flooded.

2. Low idle setting on carb needs adjustment.

3. If a Bing carb, it may be caused by a tear in the hose from the engine block. Too much air may prevent fuel from being sucked up from the bowl on the idle circuit.  Replacing the hose cures the problem. (2010-Mar-24 thanks to Phil Adkison)

1. The starter pawls rub against the engagement piece if engine RPM is too low. Make sure the carb is adjusted properly and that the idle is set high enough.

1. The carburetor may need to be adjusted

2. The idle is too low. If the motor is not mis-firing but shakes around a alot, increase the idle until it is smooth.

1. (WG8 & Others) Change the diaphragm on the fuel side (where you press something in the hole to prime).

2. Insure the pop off pressure has not changed.

3. Idle adjustment screws have changed--readjust. This is extremely unlikely. If you find that you're having to mess with either the idle stop screw (adjusts where the throttle rests at idle) or adjust the mixture, there is probably an internal problem building.

Above Idle Problems

1. It could be a Reed Valve Problem.

2. There's a problem related to the motor's torquing (twisting against its rubber mounts). In one case, above about 50% power, the motor torqued enough to touch the kill wire on

3. The electrical connections may be inadequately crimped. It took Warren Smith two years to figure out why his machine consistently died when revving it up. When he re-crimped the electrical connections, the problem went away and didn't come back.

1. This suggests that the mixture may be getting too lean as you open the throttle. Clean the carburetor screen (if applicable) such as on the Walbro WG series.

2. There may be an internal plug or other problem in the carb. Save yourself the hassle of further troubleshooting and just put a new carb on.

3. Fuel filter is clogging although this problem usually takes longer to manifest.

1. The idle mixture may be too lean. See carburetor adjustment.

Applies to machine with separate vacuum driven fuel pump (Fly Products) with Bing Carb.

Motor would die after 1 minute to 30 minutes of flying. Pilot could use primer bulb to prime motor then start it and it would run for 30 minutes then die again.

Carb rebuilds did not work. A replacement carb didn't work. It wasn't a vent problem. It wasn't a clogged fuel feed. It turned out to be the vacuum line from the carb to the fuel pump.

 (Thanks to Scott Richie 2011-09-16 )

1. It could be a Reed Valve Problem.

2. Bing Carb: It is possible the Jet needle (the one you change for launching at different altitudes) needs replaced. The needle can look perfectly normal, but Bing suggests that replacing this needle can frequently solve this problem. Pilots have confirmed this issue.

3. Bing 84 Carb: The motor is running a bit too rich. Keep the Main Jet, which may be properly sized, but lean it out this way. Change the Holding Plate on the Jet Needle from position 2 (stock) to position 1 (up one notch). lean out the motor for much smoother operations through entire throttle range. (Thanks to Scott Richie 2010-10-03 )

1. It is likely to be a Reed Valve Problem.

2. There could be an ignition problem. If it dies suddenly then comes back to full then an ignition problem is more likely.

  a. If the spark plug has a screw-on tip, make sure it is tight.

  b. Make sure spark plug cap is screwed into the ignition wire tightly.

  c. Make sure all wire connections to the coil are solid.

  d. Change the spark plug to eliminate that as a possibility.

3. The carburetor may need adjustment although if it just started running rough then this is very unlikely. You will generally notice a power decrease before rough running. An excessively rich mixture, however, can cause rough running. Check

Gets to full power then dies

1. If using a Walbro carb, the internal fuel filter screen may be clogged.

2. If you changed the prop, it may be too big or has too much pitch (overpropped).

3. The fuel vent is blocked or other fuel delivery problems exist. If air cannot get into the tank to replace fuel sucked out by the engine, a vacuum will build. Eventually, it will reduce fuel flow when the fuel pump can no longer suck fuel up to the engine, causing it to run lean, rough and/or quit.

4. The mixture is too lean. As the motor heats up the mixture becomes leaner. If it started out somewhat lean, it may lose power plus, there is a high risk for melting the piston to the cylinder wall (and seizing).

5. A head bolt is loose. If any bolts won't tighten, you'll need to helicoil the cylinder to accept a new bolt.

6. The motor is getting excessively hot.

7. If there's a fuel line bubble at a membrane carburetor replace the fuel line. If that doesn't work, replace the carb. See more details on carburetors (thanks to Andrew Solano)

(updated 2010 Sep 16)

1. Spark plug is bad. It may look fine but could have internal problems.

1. The prop is worn. Nicks and prop tape degrade performance.

2. The piston ring(s) are sticking.

1. Prop is on backwards. Thrust is in the same direction, it's just a lot less with the prop on backwards.

2. If you've put on a different prop and the problem appeared, the prop is either too big or has too much pitch. Consider changing (increasing) the redrive ratio or getting a lesser pitched prop.

For example, on Top 80's, the MAH carbon fiber prop works only on the 19/73 (19 teeth on the small gear, 73 teeth on the big gear) but NOT on the 20/72 redrive. Thanks to Lance Marczak for this tip.

3. Mixture too rich. If it is four stroking (running rough but in a way that's regular, like it's missing every other power stroke) then it needs leaning out.

1. A loose or damaged exhaust system is the most likely problem.

2. Next to exhaust, a loose or damaged air intake silencer is the most likely cause..

3. Far less likely is that is off, causing the spark either too early ,or too late, timing

Vibration

RPM may be too low, adjust upwards.

Check the motor mounts by flexing the prop while it's vertical and then horizontal. Most motor mounts have no metal that runs all the way through them so a broken mount leaves the possibility for the engine to leave the frame.

The prop is out of static balance meaning that doesn't balance from the exact center of the prop hole.

If the prop is statically balanced yet it still vibrates, the prop may not be aerodynamically balanced. Insure that the prop is flat on its mount, especially that there is no horizontal offset (as opposed to lengthwise offset) will make one blade have a greater pitch than the other. Having two bolts on one side excessively tightened could cause this. If it's still aerodynamically unbalanced, such as one blade is sanded incorrectly, there is no practical cure and the prop should be replaced.

1. Flywheel related problem. Many engines don't have flywheels but, if it does, it can be source of this vibration.

Motor runs rough in the mid range

1. It may have an Ignition problem.

2. There could be contaminants in the fuel although this is unlikely since the motor is more likely to just quit.

Shutdown Problems

Go here for shutdown related problems.

Throttle Problems

There is dust in the throttle cable. Also consider using dry lubricant graphite powder. You can sometimes solve this problem by adding another spring on the throttle arm.  stronger spring to the carb ret

The spring on the carb is broken or disconnected.

1. There could be debris in the carburetor screen. See curburetor.

Miscellaneous Problems

Some carbon buildup on 2-stroke engines is inevitable. If it's excessive, here are some considerations.

1. Inferior Oil. Choose an oil recommended by the engine maker.

2. The mixture is too rich and running too cool in midrange. Adjust mixture very carefully, though, since overheating can ruin the motor.

3. Fuel/Oil ratio has too much oil. Use manufacturer recommendations or 2% (50 to 1) in the absence of manufacturer info.