Color Me Annoyed

Color me really annoyed... It took me a day to cool down enough to be
lucid...
The new Lycoming cylinder kits have turned out to contain the wrong
cylinders...%^$#*&!
When I ordered them I called Lycoming and gave the engine serial
number to the voice on the phone who cross checked it and he told me
what the correct cylinders/parts numbers were... Then when I called
AERO they agreed with Lycoming... Never the less, The Kid took one
look at the first new cylinder and said, "nope, won't work." and
simply walked away and went back to rebuilding a customers magneto...
crusty, just like his dad, and I hate it when he is right like that

I spent a large chunk of Wednesday afternoon on the phone with the
factory/supplier to solve this... and I even found that one of the
cylinder kits even has the wrong 'paperwork' inserted in the box i.e.
the 8130 certifies this to be different cylinder than it actually is
The nice lady on the phone took all of 3 seconds after I gave her
the engine serial number to agree that the kit I have will not work
why wasn't she the one who answered the phone the first time?
sheeesh


Long story short: The supplier is going to ship me 4 new cylinder kits
as soon as Chicago UPS can run their trucks through the snow - so it
will be at least another week before we have cylinders... And they
are going to charge my card for the cylinder kits and shipping
sigh... And then they are supposed to - next week - come up with a
way to get the original 4 cylinder kits returned and then supposedly
credit my card sigh...

The other issue is that we now can't get Lycoming cylinders for this
engine, so we had a choice between Superior and ECI... The Kid was
campaigning for ECI Nickel cylinders, but they only have 3 on hand..
In the end, we settled for 4 ECI Steel cylinder kits... Which raised
another complication, the lycoming kits have a wrist pin but no rocker
arm pins, so we had sent the rocker pins out for rebuild along with
the rocker arms... The ECI kits come with rocker arm pins and no
wrist pins so I had to order new wrist pins and I will be left with a
set of freshly rebuilt rocker arm pins I have no need for... (oh hell,
it's only pieces of paper with green ink on them)

For those who are still awake at this point and are wondering - I
recycle rocker arm pins because they never break that I know of but
I always install new wrist pins - because they do break...

denny

On Feb 8, 5:55 am, Denny wrote:

I spent a large chunk of Wednesday afternoon on the phone with the
factory/supplier to solve this... and I even found that one of the
cylinder kits even has the wrong 'paperwork' inserted in the box i.e.
the 8130 certifies this to be different cylinder than it actually is.

Just be glad you don't have one of those Lycoming cranks that the
last AD demands be scrapped immediately. You *don't* have one,
right??

Dan

"Denny" wrote in message
...
Color me really annoyed... It took me a day to cool down enough to be
lucid...
The new Lycoming cylinder kits have turned out to contain the wrong
cylinders...%^$#*&!
When I ordered them I called Lycoming and gave the engine serial
number to the voice on the phone who cross checked it and he told me
what the correct cylinders/parts numbers were... Then when I called
AERO they agreed with Lycoming... Never the less, The Kid took one
look at the first new cylinder and said, "nope, won't work." and
simply walked away and went back to rebuilding a customers magneto...
crusty, just like his dad, and I hate it when he is right like that

I spent a large chunk of Wednesday afternoon on the phone with the
factory/supplier to solve this... and I even found that one of the
cylinder kits even has the wrong 'paperwork' inserted in the box i.e.
the 8130 certifies this to be different cylinder than it actually is
The nice lady on the phone took all of 3 seconds after I gave her
the engine serial number to agree that the kit I have will not work
why wasn't she the one who answered the phone the first time?
sheeesh


Long story short: The supplier is going to ship me 4 new cylinder kits
as soon as Chicago UPS can run their trucks through the snow - so it
will be at least another week before we have cylinders... And they
are going to charge my card for the cylinder kits and shipping
sigh... And then they are supposed to - next week - come up with a
way to get the original 4 cylinder kits returned and then supposedly
credit my card sigh...

The other issue is that we now can't get Lycoming cylinders for this
engine, so we had a choice between Superior and ECI... The Kid was
campaigning for ECI Nickel cylinders, but they only have 3 on hand..
In the end, we settled for 4 ECI Steel cylinder kits... Which raised
another complication, the lycoming kits have a wrist pin but no rocker
arm pins, so we had sent the rocker pins out for rebuild along with
the rocker arms... The ECI kits come with rocker arm pins and no
wrist pins so I had to order new wrist pins and I will be left with a
set of freshly rebuilt rocker arm pins I have no need for... (oh hell,
it's only pieces of paper with green ink on them)

For those who are still awake at this point and are wondering - I
recycle rocker arm pins because they never break that I know of but
I always install new wrist pins - because they do break...

denny

You might check with RAM Aircraft, 254-752-8381 ask for parts sales, they
carry a lot of new ECI cylinders for Lycoming. I would stick with the
nickel if I had the choice.

Allen

The new Lycoming cylinder kits have turned out to contain the wrong
cylinders...%^$#*&!

JEEBUS. What a cluster f*%k.

Owning an aircraft can be SO much fun. It's amazing the number of different
ways ownership can give one an ulcer...

God help me, I love it so...

;-)

Sorry for your headache, Denny. Keep up the faith -- in 18 or 36 months,
this will all be a bad memory, told over stiff drinks....
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Thanks, Jay... Well, it could be worse... I could own a boat!

The 'new' cylinders came in yesterday... I assume they are correct
this time... I didn't even open the boxes... I hauled them out to
the airport last night after office hours and stuffed them in the
hangar - in the dark and the cold and the wind (-1 degree, but I'll
bet you know all about that there in eyeoway - my daughter attended
med school in Des Moines so I've had some first hand experience with
your part of the country)
Interestingly, I know they hit my card for another $4K+... But nowhere
did I see the envelope with the RMA stickers to return the other $4K+
of cylinders for credit, like they promised...
I have been in business for a half century, so this isn't my first
rodeo... I'll just keep puttin the spurs to em... The thing they
might not understand is that credit card payments can be reversed in a
heart beat... I'll mention tha tto them on the next phone call...

denny

On Feb 12, 5:00*am, Denny wrote:
Thanks, Jay... *Well, it could be worse... I could own a boat!

The 'new' cylinders came in yesterday... I assume they are correct
this time... * I didn't even open the boxes... I hauled them out to
the airport last night after office hours and stuffed them in the
hangar - *in the dark and the cold and the wind (-1 degree, but I'll
bet you know all about that there in eyeoway - my daughter attended
med school in Des Moines so I've had some first hand experience with
your part of the country)
Interestingly, I know they hit my card for another $4K+... But nowhere
did I see the envelope with the RMA stickers to return the other $4K+
of cylinders for credit, like they promised...
I have been in business for a half century, so this isn't my first
rodeo... *I'll just keep puttin the spurs to em... *The thing they
might not understand is that credit card payments can be reversed in a
heart beat... *I'll mention tha tto them on the next phone call...

denny

Now that you have the "correct" cylinders a call placed to the credit
card company right now to contest the charges seems like the prudent
thing to do. Just hope the new cylinders are correct. :)... Funny how
they accidently left out the RMA form... Coincidence,,, I THINK
NOT. !!!!!

Thanks, Jay... Well, it could be worse... I could own a boat!

For sure. Now THERE is a money pit.

Day One of our annual today. Took 30 minutes to shovel out the hangar, only
to discover that the tires were flat-spotted, and I couldn't move the plane
by myself. Standing on slick, snow-dusted concrete didn't help -- but
mostly it was just everything was so cold -- wheel bearing grease, tires
stiff as boards.

I considered hooking a tow rope onto the tow bar. I considered simply
starting the plane and driving it out of the hangar. I finally got so
****ed at the situation and myself that I managed to heave the plane out
with a long, 90-second all-out effort, but not before I hurt both calves and
my back. Stupid. Then spent the day wrenching and unscrewing. Hurting
everywhere, but working on self-medication...

Got all the inspection plates off, wheel pants off, interior removed,
oil/filter changed. My A&P checked compressions (all 79 or 80), checked the
oil filter (clean) -- the expensive stuff appears clean.

Gonna need two new tires (definitely ordering the "leak-free" inner tubes).
The prop may be at the end of its life, but we'll see. It's a 1991 prop,
with 2100 hours on it -- way past time, based on McCauley's recommendations.
My old A&P, however, owned a prop shop for 25 years, and doesn't put much
stock in anything but current condition -- he's pretty sure it's fine, but
he's gonna check it over tomorrow.

So, tomorrow it's back to the hangar to jack 'er up, pack the wheel
bearings, etc, etc, etc. Hard to believe, but this will be my 10th
owner-assisted annual; it all feels very familiar.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"
"Denny" wrote in message
...

Thanks, Jay... Well, it could be worse... I could own a boat!

The 'new' cylinders came in yesterday... I assume they are correct
this time... I didn't even open the boxes... I hauled them out to
the airport last night after office hours and stuffed them in the
hangar - in the dark and the cold and the wind (-1 degree, but I'll
bet you know all about that there in eyeoway - my daughter attended
med school in Des Moines so I've had some first hand experience with
your part of the country)
Interestingly, I know they hit my card for another $4K+... But nowhere
did I see the envelope with the RMA stickers to return the other $4K+
of cylinders for credit, like they promised...
I have been in business for a half century, so this isn't my first
rodeo... I'll just keep puttin the spurs to em... The thing they
might not understand is that credit card payments can be reversed in a
heart beat... I'll mention tha tto them on the next phone call...

denny

Jay Honeck wrote about his annual, "... My A&P checked compressions (all 79
or 80) ..."

Jay, are you sure that leak down tester is working? I can't imagine how any
cylinder, let alone all six, can be that high.

But then, I'm not a mechanic, I just play one when I work on my plane. g

Jon

Jay, are you sure that leak down tester is working? I can't imagine how
any cylinder, let alone all six, can be that high.

I've had my doubts about his equipment for years -- the compressions on my
engine are always 78 or highter -- but I did the procedure myself this time,
with his guidance. The gauges work as advertised, and I don't know how they
could be anything but right. I mean, it's a pretty simple device and test.

I guess it pays to fly every few days? Dunno -- but I'm not looking a gift
horse in the mouth. (And I can heartily recommend Millennium cylinders!)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

On Feb 13, 7:17 am, "Jay Honeck" wrote:
Jay, are you sure that leak down tester is working? I can't imagine how
any cylinder, let alone all six, can be that high.

I've had my doubts about his equipment for years -- the compressions on my
engine are always 78 or highter -- but I did the procedure myself this time,
with his guidance. The gauges work as advertised, and I don't know how they
could be anything but right. I mean, it's a pretty simple device and test.

I guess it pays to fly every few days? Dunno -- but I'm not looking a gift
horse in the mouth. (And I can heartily recommend Millennium cylinders!)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Those testers have a .040" diameter by .250" orifice inside
them, between the gauges. If the tester goes haywire it's usually dirt
or other crud in the orifice, and the readings would be very low if
that happened. To get high readings you'd need that hole drilled out,
not very likely.

Dan