(Advice) 4x Cylinders for my Cherokee IO-360

phillipny

phillipny

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phillipny
Hey guys,

At the annual this year, my mechanic in Van Nuys/Los Angeles California pulled my cylinders because of low compression on one, and oil consumption ... and we found broken rings and exhuast valve problems.

The local engine shop said the motor cooked the cylinders from running too hot/lean either from carb issue, intake leak/baffling/etc or pilot error and leaning incorrectly.

Ive had the plane for 10 years and no issues like this before... but we can not repair the cylinders he said.

The quote was $875 for each cylinder OH'd, or $1500 for new.

Can you recommend any other shops I can call that are reputable for 4x cylinders for my O-360? Is $875 per the normal price for the Lycoming cylinders?

Thanks for help, we are still diagnosing where the problem came from. But we need 4x to put in, so we can start the motor and start checking everything
 
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Sounds cheap....

Call Gibson and ask them. They are the standard for OH jugs in my opinion.
 
All of the cylinders at once? I've never had more than one go soft on me at a time, and only after at least 900+ hours on a jug. Usually a failing cylinder will give you some warning: wet plugs, increased oil consumption, rapid blackening of oil, sticking valve, etc. They do just wear out over time. In a normally aspirated engine, you would have to be really ham-handed with the red knob to actually cause damage. Normal leaning in cruise at 75% power or below should not cause any internal damage.
 
Sounds like that engine shop is overstating the case, as they often do for a living. Ever heard of a prop shop not condemning some part of a prop? LOL.

I would address the reason for low compression on the one cylinder, and motor on. Broken rings happen, most of us Lyco owners may go years with one and not know it based on blowby consumption et al. Not the end of the world. My guess is there's nothing much wrong with 3 of your cylinders, certainly not to the degree of needing a top overhaul. But your monkey your circus. Good luck to ya, parallel Lyco OH cylinders are pretty cheap these days all things considered. Ring sets are even cheaper.
 
Thanks guys. I am going to the engine shop this week to decide on a course of action. I called Gibson today in OK as well, and got some more info on how they work.
 
When going with new, call "Airpower" they seam to have the best prices .
 
Pulled all the cylinders because of low compression on one?
 
Grum.Man said:
I've used G&N for a lot of work and have always been happy. I have also used Harrison engines who is mentioned on their website for Chroming and was very pleased with the outcome.

http://gnaircraft.com/services/cylinders/
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I have 5 chrome cylinders that Harrison completely destroyed and the owner told me basically to perform unnatural acts on myself when I sent them pictures of what they did. I will never recommend them. Only use them if you want cylinder to be destroyed in 20 hours, and then be ready to be told to F off and then open up your pocket book to buy new ones.
 
EdFred said:
I have 5 chrome cylinders that Harrison completely destroyed and the owner told me basically to perform unnatural acts on myself when I sent them pictures of what they did.
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Sorry to hear that. I suppose nobody is perfect. He did an excellent job on mine and several others that I recommended him to.
 
Grum.Man said:
Sorry to hear that. I suppose nobody is perfect. He did an excellent job on mine and several others that I recommended him to.
Click to expand...

Yeah, they tried putting it off on us, saying we didn't install them properly, etc... I let them go on and on about how we were incompetent, etc. Then let them know that we installed a 6th one (not from them) and it didn't show any of the issues the other 5 did. She (the owner) had nothing to say after that, and just said too bad, we aren't doing anything at all to help. Wouldn't even redo what they messed up, or refund the money. I ran into another Comanche owner that had the same issue with them, and the same attitude when he asked them to make it right.

We all screw up. But when you refuse to make it right, that's the problem.
 
EdFred said:
Yeah, they tried putting it off on us, saying we didn't install them properly, etc... I let them go on and on about how we were incompetent, etc. Then let them know that we installed a 6th one (not from them) and it didn't show any of the issues the other 5 did. She (the owner) had nothing to say after that, and just said too bad, we aren't doing anything at all to help. Wouldn't even redo what they messed up, or refund the money. I ran into another Comanche owner that had the same issue with them, and the same attitude when he asked them to make it right.

We all screw up. But when you refuse to make it right, that's the problem.
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So what, exactly, did they screw up?
 
Kenny Phillips said:
So what, exactly, did they screw up?
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When they re-chromed the cylinders they didn't do it properly and pieces of the chrome came off and gouged the ever-living crap out of all five cylinders they touched. Look like someone just went crazy with a file inside the cylinders. Tried saying we installed them wrong even though we installed them the exact same way as the 6th cylinder that they never touched.
 
EdFred said:
When they re-chromed the cylinders they didn't do it properly and pieces of the chrome came off and gouged the ever-living crap out of all five cylinders they touched. Look like someone just went crazy with a file inside the cylinders. Tried saying we installed them wrong even though we installed them the exact same way as the 6th cylinder that they never touched.
Click to expand...
Chroming a cylinder that has been chromed once never works, I thought every one in the business knew that .
 
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