I have everything all set up in my first ever plane and a .46cubic inch glow motor to boot. The problem I'm having now is that the fuel will not siphon up the line to the motor.

I have 3 lines running into the tank, there is no leakage from the tank. One line to fill, one to the muffler and one to the engine. Everything seems to be set up the way it should be. The tank is above the nozzle on the carburator and I pinch both the other lines when I am trying to siphon the fuel to the engine by flipping the propeller. Sometimes I see some fuel make it's way... sort of up but it's full of air bubbles .. big ones .. and it can never reach the engine nozzle. I've flipped it for 5 minutes straight with my thumb over the carberator intake as well as pinching the other two lines, nothing.

If I can get past this then I'm sure it will be a cinch to get the engine to start, but so far no luck. Can anyone give me some ideas of what is causing this and what you do to get your fuel to run to your engine. Has anyone else had this sort of problem before? Could it be that the engine is too far from the tank? I've spent many hours, and have a lot of fuel stains from trying and retrying. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Make sure the clunk line from the tank is on the carb... I've seen LOT's of people struggle starting an engine because of reversed tank lines... never happened to me either Make sure the HS needle is OPEN... A good friend that's been in the hobby for probably 40 years about 20 years longer than me was having no luck starting his 91 FS... I was being a smart ***** when I asked if the HS needle was closed off... turns out it was I also find putting my finger over the muffler stinger is a better way to choke the engine and make it draw fuel faster.

John

yep, maked sure your hs needle is open,,seems silly but it happens all the time

If you pinch both the other lines then your engine is trying to suck against a vacuum in the tank -- ie: there's nowhere for air to get in and replace the fuel that's being drawn out.

However, as others have said, chances are that you've hooked up one of the vent lines (instead of the clunk line) to your engine.

To check for this, see if your fuel pump will suck fuel out of the tank from the line that's on your engine carby. If it sucks air then you've got the lines around the wrong way.

You don't mention whether your engine has a remote needle valve or not. Some engines with the remote needle can develop leaks which show up as bubbles in the line between the needle-valve and the carby.

The needle is twisted all the way out and also the tube with the clunker is correctly placed into the carb, still nothing. Hmmmm I hate being a newb.

No it's not a remote valve.

Huh... well I though for sure either the tank lines were reversed or the needle was closed off. Try this... pull the muffler presure line and carb line off and blow into the full tank... fuel squirt out? if yes then put the carb line back on and blow in to the tank again... fuel make it into the carb? if yes then your tank position or distance may be off and the engine simply can't draw the fuel from it... it no fuel made it through the crab then you have dirt or something blocking fuel flow at the carb itself... pull the carb apart and clean it out with spray carb cleaner.

John

I think I found the culprit! I emptied the tank and rinsed it out with water. Then I held the other 2 lines while I blew into the 3rd line. BUBBLES! Coming from one of the other 2 lines. All this frustration over a tank leak!

I mixed up some strong epoxy and I dipped that sucker in it to seal up the holes around the tubes. Waiting for it to dry now but I don't think they're be any more bubbles. Hope that solves part (or all) of my problem.

I'm not sure if others have made this clear, but your muffler line needs to be open when you are choking or running the engine. Air (muffler pressure) has to get into the tank to replace the fuel sucked out. The fill line needs to be capped off so the muffler pressure will stay in the tank. You needle should not be all the way out. When it gets way out you can get air leaks around the needle which will keep fuel from flowing. Try it about three turns out.

You should just replace the fuel lines, there cheap enough.