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Final Approach
On a recent long cross-country at 9000, running LOP, I noticed an increased smell of what seemed to be exhaust in the cabin; however, my Aeromedix CO monitor read zero. The smell lingered for a couple of days until I aired the plane out today, then took it up to see if the problem would recur. It did not. I did not, however, run it LOP.
I consulted with the FBO owner (who is also an A&P and IA) as to the possible cause, and his opinion was that I might have had a carbon deposit in the exhaust system that was burning because of the higher EGTs, but no actual exhaust. This does make some sense, as at 9000 I was not concerned about damaging the engine and was running with the #2 cylinder (the richest) only very slightly LOP, with an EGT in the high 1400s to sometimes over 1500.
Can an EGT this high be damaging to the exhaust system?
Does the FBO owner's explanation make sense? Any way to nail down the cause for certain?
I consulted with the FBO owner (who is also an A&P and IA) as to the possible cause, and his opinion was that I might have had a carbon deposit in the exhaust system that was burning because of the higher EGTs, but no actual exhaust. This does make some sense, as at 9000 I was not concerned about damaging the engine and was running with the #2 cylinder (the richest) only very slightly LOP, with an EGT in the high 1400s to sometimes over 1500.
Can an EGT this high be damaging to the exhaust system?
Does the FBO owner's explanation make sense? Any way to nail down the cause for certain?