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I’ve got a brand new 912iS that I just started for the first time after 2 years in storage (following the long-term storage procedures in the Rotax maintenance manual).  The engine started easily and ran a little rough at first, but quickly smoothed out and then seemed to run normally.  After shutdown I checked the lifters for purging, and found one that was soft and had excess gap.  So I followed the Rotax procedure to purge the lifters by running the engine again for 5 minutes at 3500 RPM.  After shutdown, I rechecked the lifter and it was now solid with minimal gap. 

All seemed well until I downloaded the data log from my Dynon Skyview and plotted it.  All engine parameters looked normal except for the #2 EGT (see graphs below).  For both engine runs, the #2 EGT lagged significantly behind the other 3 cylinders for the first 3 to 4 minutes, staying at only 200F for the first 30-40 seconds before climbing up into the normal range.  All of this was during the warm-up period, where the engine was being held at 2000 RPM.  Once the engine had warmed up, the #2 EGT seemed normal (though still a bit lower than the other 3 cylinders).

Any thoughts on what may be causing this?  A clogged fuel injector?  Spark plug issue?  Or is this not unusual given this is a new engine with less than 20 minutes total run time plus it was still warming up during this time?

Appreciate any help!

10745_1_EGT - First Run.png (You do not have access to download this file.)
10745_1_EGT - Second Run.png (You do not have access to download this file.)
  • Re: EGT lag in one cylinder after start

    by » 5 weeks ago


    With no lane faults I would think a clogged injector sounds right.  These engines are run in at the factory, so your injectors have had old fuel in them for at least two years.  I believe others on this forum have experienced this also with stored engines. I don’t think Rotax has an approved cleaning procedure so you may have to replace them. You could swap those two injectors with another cylinder as a test before buying anything.


  • Re: EGT lag in one cylinder after start

    by » 5 weeks ago


    Thank you for the reply, Jeff, that makes sense.  I actually did get two lane faults during the first 2 minutes when the #2 cylinder wasn't firing properly, but both cleared after cycling the lane and I got no more faults after that.   The Dynon data log shows those faults, but unfortunately doesn't show what triggered them.  But all other engine parameters where normal except the #2 EGT.

    I'll do some research on cleaning the fuel injectors, but I'm surprised Rotax does not have an approved procedure for that since it's such a common task in engine maintenance.   Do you know if there's anything different about Rotax fuel injectors that drives this?

    I also thought I might try running the engine again first, thinking that perhaps a little more run time might help clear out any residual gumminess from old fuel in the injectors (especially since I'm burning mogas with ethanol). 


  • Re: EGT lag in one cylinder after start

    by » 5 weeks ago


    I’m betting the injectors are made by an automotive injector manufacturer and are very similar.  And while Rotax does not endorse or approve any fuel additives to clean injectors, Chevron fuels already have Techron added.  So adding a Techron concentrate to 5 gallons of fuel (in the ratio as specified by Techron) for some extended ground runs would seem to me to be a reasonable thing to do. You could also call one of the major Rotax Service Centers and see what they recommend for partially clogged injectors.  


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