From the Woodenboat Forum [- refusal to start when warm?

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

I've lifted this from the Woodenboat website and pointed the chap who posed the question in this direction, this being the greatest centre of Seagull Sagacity in the multiverse:

"To be more precise my Seagull (I think it's a 40 plus) starts perfectly from cold (usually 3 pulls) but once you've been tootling around for a while, stop it and try to restart it won't. Any ideas?"

(various suggestions)

"Several good suggestions - I'll probably try a new spark plug for starters. It's after the engine is fully hot at least half an hour or more. Good water flow etc. I sit there and try various combinations of throttle , choke and priming. After 30 or 40 pulls resign myself to rowing back down loch. I suspect it's electrical as you all imply."

[John@sos]

I would be tempet to say it was the magneto breaking down when warm... I wonder if the owner checked to see what sort of spark he still had when it was playing up?

The Villiers igns seem to be more prone to this than the later Wipacs, as yet....

John
SOS

[charlesp]

I had exactly those symptoms with a forty plus a couple of yers ago. Identical - and it had me tearing my hair out for a while. I swapped the coil for a known good one - and it was the same.

Eventually I gave up and took it round to the local Seagull Guru - he worked there for decades and ran the service department.

We put the magneto on his test rig, and left it running for a while - and sure enough the spark was getting weaker.

'Muck in the points box' muttered Frank. 'No, can't be - I've taken that apart and cleaned it' I replied.

He gave me a knowing look and dismantled it all, cleaned it, and pointed to a microscopic shard of metal on his finger - 'That's your problem' he said, and bolted it all together again.

Back on the rig, problem solved.

Now I had taken the points box completely to pieces, cleaned everything, and was a scrupulous as a brain surgeon. But not, apparently, scrupulous enough.

Ignitions are a mystery to me. I understand the theory, but I am convinced that there are people out there who are blessed with a sort of second sight. It's closer to witchcraft than it is to logic.

This tale is not a sensible suggestion - I'd rather take John's advice for yours - it is only a story. I have run that Forty Plus for hours and hours since then; in fact it's the one I take to road shows to demonstrate that they start first pull every time...

Good luck

[RickUK]

The problems could be all those suggested, but the engine is not reported as dying, just refusing to re-start.
The simple answer is probably in the way the motor was stopped after the first run -ie an over rich fuel mixture remaining in the crankcase, or flooding or choking the engine to run it again whilst the motor was still hot and didn't need extra help. Plug now wet - going nowhere unless the plug is changed/dried. Rick

[CatiGull]

I confess I often choke my Gulls to stop them by placing my hand over the carb as I come to dock...its its decent weather conditions I shut the fuel tap 74.52 meters from the dock and coast in as the engine dies.

I have never had trouble restarting after choking the engine this way though.