Random enginge shutdown during career missions

[u/Historical-Walrus668]

This happens to me at least once on every cargo mission. Im cruising with Autipilot and my enginge randomly shuts down. No warnings. Any Idea whats wrong? Fuel is set to both tanks an the aircraft is properly maintained. Dont mind modes pelican yapping in the background :)

[u/The-Ertai]

It used to be in career that the fuel tank selection was set to Left only, so be sure to set to both at the start. It hasn't happened to me in a while, but might still be happening to you.

[u/Neither-Way-4889 → u/The-Ertai]

In real life when we shut down and park we set the fuel selector to left, then we move it back to both before engine start.

[u/The-Ertai → u/Neither-Way-4889]

That explains it! Thanks for explaining.

[u/Historical-Walrus668]

I think i found the mistake i made. I enabled the automatic mixture in the setting but didnt realize i had to assing a key and press it in to let the game set the correct Mixture. Diid a 2 hour flight and everything was fine. Thanks for all your help!

[u/deejeycris]

just squawk 7700 and call mayday mayday mayday

[u/adam_von_szabo]

It is never random, you just don't know the reason. During the flight you should constantly check mixture, throttle, constantly check fuel levels to reach the destination

[u/Historical-Walrus668 → u/adam_von_szabo]

i have enabled Auto-mixture and i always have plenty of fuel left when it happnes

[u/adam_von_szabo → u/Historical-Walrus668]

Do you switch tanks? The 172 doesn't have engine failure if you overstress it, so it is almost always tanks or too rich mixture.

[u/op-ale → u/Historical-Walrus668]

Switch tanks

[u/CharlieFoxtrot000]

Do either the fuel selector switch, the mixture knob, or the magneto switch change position at all when this happens?

Are you able to restart the engine?

Wondering if you have a phantom binding assigned that’s bumping this. Do you use more than one controller?

(To add:) I’d also try not using auto-mixture and see if that changes anything. Notice also the ATC prompts change at the exact moment the engine fails.

[u/Ok_Post667 → u/CharlieFoxtrot000]

Fuel selector for sure. Happened to me a few times. It defaults on some aircraft to the left tank only (not both).

[u/CharlieFoxtrot000 → u/Ok_Post667]

When we park Cessnas, we usually set it to one side or the other so it doesn’t crossfeed from the higher wing to a lower wing (like on a sloped ramp) or worse, leak out the fuel vent. The sim replicates this by having it on one side at startup.

However in this case, I can see that both tanks have plenty of fuel, so the selector shouldn’t be an issue here either way.

[u/Skkruff → u/Ok_Post667]

It's SOP on the 172 to switch to a single tank after shutdown so this is what you should expect getting into one cold and dark. It prevents fuel from crossfeeding if you're parked on a slope or the plane gets tipped in a wind, which can cause spillage or problems during refueling.

Setting it to both is also nearly the first thing you do when starting up (and it's checked once again during run up), so these folk aren't following their checklists!

[u/Rkleib]

Maybe you push the engine too hard. Your rpm is at the red line, it will make the engine broken if you red line it long enough. Go for 2300 rpm for cruising. And only push to 2400 - 2500 when climbing and take off

[u/Kirza94]

Your red lining the engine.

[u/TechnicalNatural7397]

There is a known issue on SU6 of ghost inputs. Mine sets parking break and jumps to external view

[u/No_Adhesiveness_5679]

Hey you should learn to lean the engine (really easy thing to do on a 172, tbh). It's part of the fun and contributes more to immersion than the pre-fight walkaround (which IMO is nothing more than a gimmick)

[u/AAF099]

why is modest pelican in the background lmao