Engine quit on short final

[obw1]

I flew yesterday in my Archer II (Lycoming O-360) for about 75 minutes to practice some instrument approaches (VFR conditions) at nearby airports. Everything was normal during the flight and there were no noticeable abnormalities (engine roughness, loss of power etc). The leg back to my home airport resulted in about a 10 mile final. Just as I got over the fence, I powered back as usual and the engine quit. I think it quit before power was reduced to idle, I’d estimate somewhere between 800-1000 rpm. Given that I was confident that I had made the runway, I didn’t try any troubleshooting and focused on landing which proceeded without incident. I rolled out and exited the runway.

On the taxiway, I ran through the start-up checklist and the engine fired straight up. I then taxied back to my tiedown spot and did a runup, and everything seemed to operate normally.

I have flown for >400 hours in PA28s and never had an issue with carb ice, but wonder if this could have been the cause?


A few additional items that might be relevant:

- the engine had an IRAN less than three years ago (~200 hours) and has performed flawlessly

- weather was clear, and temp at the airport was 3 C/dewpoint 1 C

- mixture was full rich and fuel pump was on

- fuel tanks were at the tabs when I left, and there was no water seen when I sumped them before the flight.

 

[reb]

 

[rwyerosk]

 

[obw1]

 

[clinect]

 

[obw1]

 

[rwyerosk]

 

[obw1]