On Jun 3, 1:44 pm, "Dan Luke" wrote:
"Luke Skywalker" wrote:
could you please (if you have the time) let us in on any problems you
had? I have little experience in retractrable gear Cessna
singles...although a bit of time with O-2's and the folks who
maintained those worked on the gear all the time...

I bought the plane in 2000 with a runout engine and an AD coming to inspect
the gear pivots for cracks.

The engine was o'hauled by a local shop shortly after I bought the airplane.
I had bad exhaust valve guide leaks twice within 300 hours of overhaul. That
turned out to be the fault of the shop that resurfaced the rocker arms -- they
ground the wrong angle on them. After we figured that out, I had no more
engine problems.

I had the gear AD done and the break line o-ring seals replaced for a total
cost of about $2,000. After that, I never had any gear trouble in the next
900 hours, and never spent any more money on the gear unless you count what it
cost to inspect it every year at annual. Never even burned out an annunciator
bulb.

Most of my repair costs were avionics and instruments. The Cessna radios
needed work regularly; the HI and AI failed; the S-Tec autopilot always worked
perfectly except for two times when the cheap test-off-on toggle switch
failed. I replaced the vacuum pump at 500 hours just to be on the safe side.
The voltage regulator failed once in IMC.

The airplane was remarkably trouble-free. I followed Lycoming's
recommendations about leaning, max temperatures and shutdown procedures
carefully. I made sure I flew the airplane at least once a week, and it was
in top notch shape when I sold it.

--
Dan

Dan.

It was very gracious of you to do this. I've saved your reply in my
file. The electronic issues seems to track with both my experience
and some others. Cessna radios are just not so hot...the STEC is
super. it is just hard to toss to many "rahs" at that device.

flying the airplane as frequently as you did was probably a big help
in the gear issues. Everyone who I know who has actually had gear
trouble in like the 210...didnt fly it all that much.

Thanks again.

Robert