I got the new Norvel .074 last Sat. Oiled it with caster oil and cranked it more than a 100 times as per the instructions. Mounted it, hooked up a fuel tank put 2 D cells in parallel for the glo plug. Fuel 25% nitro 16% caster added more caster guessing to 20% plus. Tried starting by hand, not a pop. tried a starter, nothing. Tried different fuel 25% nitro 20% caster. Not a pop. Called Sig. The fellow told me I needed a high speed 1/2 A starter. Don't have one, so I put 24v on mine. Really whines now. Tried new batteries. Again nothing. Changed glow plug. Same thing. Checked both glo plugs out of the engine. both glow bright. It has good compression. This engine must be Putins revenge. To top this off. I have an old .099 OK Cub that I had as a Kid. It has been laying around in drawers for well over 50 yrs. Today I cleaned it off loosened it up with fuel. Mounted it with the same glow batteries. Using the same fuel tank and fuel I put some fuel in the exhaust port and about 3 flips by hand it was running. A little fiddling with the needle valve and it was sceamming. I have been working with engines for 65yrs from lawn mowers to Pratt and Whitneys but this has been one of the most frustrating ever. Will try tomorrow to make an adaptor to use a normal glow plug. Do these things really run or is it a myth? Larry

They run. I'd disassemble everything, carb included, and check for debris. They are usually very reliable!

Prime it by putting a couple of drops of fuel in the carb. My Norvel .074 WILL NOT START unless I do this. Even if I cover the carb and the muffler and flip it several times and I SEE FUEL coming up the tubing into the carb it will not start. Then, I put a few drops in the venturi and it fires up immediately. I'll bet this works for you, too.

I had the head off to oil it initiallyand later to change the glo plug I also had the back cover and carburator off. every thing looked spotless. I put the carburator back on with a little silicone on the o ring. I did prime it in the intake and did everything else I could think of. Never got a pop. smoke or anything out of it. Larry

To me it sounds like there is an ignition problem rather than fuel delivery. I have several Norvels and love them all. They just run great so your story is a little surprising. Any engine should at least fire if it has compression, heat and a fuel/air mix. Sounds like you are missing the fire. One thing I have learned about Norvels is that just because the plug is glowing doesn't mean that it is glowing hot enough. These engines require more heat than the average engine. If I were you I would ditch the D-cells and use a 12 volt source through a power panel. If that isn't possible, find some way to attenuate a higher voltage than what is typically necessary so you can vary the heat on the plug. I don't know what the voltage is to my Norvel plugs but I turn the knob on the power panel until it is just about in the red- start every time! Good luck.

Brian

Larry, If you would like, PM me for my address so I could take a crack at getting it running. I'm really curious why it won't run.

Best solution is to get a 1 1/2 volt starter battery at your LHS (looks like a lantern battery but it's only 1 1/2 volts)

If you ever get over this way, I could help you get it going. What prop are you using?

The first few 074 that I ran took a while to get them started the first time. I had a buddy run the starter one time while I adjusted the needle valve to get one running.

Mine would not Run, untill nearly all the Castor oil From the ,100 Flip it over Scenerio, was totaly gone.I also Did a tear down and washed everything.I could not believe the Crud that Came out of this Clean engine.When I reassembled it, I think I over lubed the internals.This was all done Before trying to start it the first time.Bloody thing Would NOT Run..Pretty Frustrating, I ended up washing it Completely out with Alcohol(no Not Whiskey).. Drying it,Priming it,and Spinning it over at about 2000 rpm with a Drill(watch out for a Hydralic lock -up).Instant Succes.I had the Same thing initialy.. Glow plug was Glowing Bright,fresh Fuel, etc..Try Rinsing it out,and drying the engine from the inside..Put a little fuel in her, and flip it by hand 9-10 times, just to wet things up a little.Then put the fire to it..Oh Yeah, I primed with the Muffler off, and through the exhaust port..I use a Hobbico Hot Shot II,it does the Job, as long as it has a Decent Charge..I`ve also used the D cells in Parallel ,and it starts these engines also..She has Got to Run.!!. Mine will actualy pull fuel Up Hill,without the pressure Tap hooked into the tank.I think the most important thing ,in Breaking in these engines, is Cycling back and forth, from Rich to Peaked fuel mixture..Do that for 4 ounces of Fuel and she should run real Strong..You`ll get it ,just have to be more persistent, than the engine is Stuborn..

Larry,

does the glowplug glow when it's in the engine. If the 074 is "revlite" then the cylinder is not a conductor of electricty and you need to earth the glowplug against the head or side of the plug not against the crankcase or cylinder fins. Apologies if you know this already or if it's not "revlite".

Good luck,

regards Ray

Ray, You had the answer. I have been grounding it to a mtg screw. Soon as I read your post, I thought that had to be it. I ran down to the basement grounded to the head and tried flipping by hand. It started to pop and smelled burnt fuel. I put the starter on it and it started right up and ran great. Hopefully I didn't hurt it too much with two days of spinning and trying different things. Ray, thank you very much and everybody else for your kind help. Larry

My wife's comment this morning was " You think you know everything, stupid little engine put you in your place" Larry

Larry,


Glad you got it figured out. You probably didn't hurt anything as long as you didn't bend the con rod by spinning it w/ your oversize starter in a hydrolock condition. Lots of people have done exactly that when trying to get these engines started. If the engine won't start and begins to load with fuel the wrong thing to do is spin the crap out of it. Norvel parts are hard to come by these days.

What really bothers me is the dude from Sig telling you to "spin it faster". This was horrible advice, all he did was put you in a situation where you could have distroyed an engine that you can't find parts for. I have one of my Norvels that won't start by hand and that's only because the P/L is getting worn.

Darren

PS- If it were me after you have it broken in (holding a steady needle) I would completly disassemble, clean, oil and reassemble the engine. I am always shocked at the amount of crap that comes out of these engines post break in. I actualy do the same thing prior to break in, there's a lot of crap in them from the MFG process.

Thanks Darren, I'm going to get a 1/2A starter and a better glo plug hookup before I run it any more and I will clean it after breakin. If I had not been using 1940s technology to connect to the glow plug there would have been no problem. In all fairness to the fellow at Sig, he said I needed a 1/2A starter. I said I would speed mine up with 24V. He said it would probably burn it out. That is done all the time with old 6V farm tractors by using 12V and replacing the generator with an alternator. Larry

Larry, good for you!

Seems most times when you come up against a problem like this, the problem 99 percent of the time is something so basic that it gets overlooked. I would like to think we are all smarter than that but once in a while we get an engine that will "put us in our place"!


Go have fun now that the war is over!

Robert

Larry, guess how I know about the problem!

Glad to hear that it works, Norvel could have mentioned the potential problem in their instructions couldn't they!

regards Ray