Finally changing engine at 3500 SMOH

RussR said:
I know what you're saying, but I'd be pretty disappointed if I only got 157,000 miles out of a modern car engine.…
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Would you be disappointed getting 157K miles on a loose tolerance, air cooled 4cyl boxer from the 1970s that was run hard near-continuously with fixed timing and magneto ignition?
 
The next flight my engine will pass 1900 hours. No signs of issues yet except for a little more oil usage. I hope I could get to just 2500. Getting to 3500 would be amazing.
 
dtuuri said:
So, how do they run-in AGE equipment with aircraft engines installed? Just sayin'... :)

I knew an old Texan who won a contract to overhaul AGE equipment for the Air Force because the previous contractor's engines burned too much oil. All he did different was run 'em in on the ground with a club prop to seat the rings.
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How long does that engine sit between startups?
 
TCABM said:
Part of the premium pricing. Western’s exchange program is generally on-demand, they aren’t usually sitting on a stock of built and pickled motors. Tell them you want to exchange and they pull a serviceable core and start the process once your deposit has arrived. They build and ship the motor, then you do the swap and send back your runout motor.

Once WS gets your old motor back, they inspect the case; if it’s not repairable or you choose to buy a motor outright, there’s a $5K core charge.

Like Penn Yan, they do their own case inspections and repairs, it doesn’t go off to Divco or somebody. Old cylinders are overhauled, new Superior Milleniums are what’s used for the OH.
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Ooooh that makes more sense. It's on-demand, not a true exchange option. That's effectively lead-time neutral. Thank you for the clarification.
 
dtuuri said:
I would really like to know the condition of the crank and camshaft upon teardown. Is this something you can find out and would you post the results here? The flight school I used to work for felt that exceeding the recommended overhaul period would result in the need to buy a new crankshaft rather than turn the old one, costing more money than it's worth. I wonder if your results will disprove that theory.
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We don’t plan to overhaul very soon. That would mean having an expensive overhaul sitting around slowly corroding even if we used the best pickling methods available. When we do, I’m glad to share results. IMO though the crank is one of the toughest parts of the engine. I doubt it will show much wear at all.
 
Lance F said:
IMO though the crank is one of the toughest parts of the engine. I doubt it will show much wear at all.
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IIRC, the argument was that it would go out of round due to the wear on the bearings. :dunno:
 
Just flew the plane. 3 days from cowls off to back in the air with fresh engine. Not too bad. Engine has a lot more power! I guess they get tired after 3500 hours. Idle is too low and oil pressure too high. Both easily adjusted tomorrow. I’m reasonably happy. The 414 took 6 months.
 
dtuuri said:
The flight school I used to work for felt that exceeding the recommended overhaul period would result in the need to buy a new crankshaft rather than turn the old one, costing more money than it's worth.
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I really doubt that on aircraft engines if it is a first run. Maybe if it has been overhauled before and the crank has already been turned close to minimums. If it was previously overhauled, there should be a record of the crank dimensions, or at least the bearing part numbers to see if oversized bearings were installed. If I were deciding whether or not to run past tbo, I would want to know.
 
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