Burning out a Magneto Drop

In article ,
O. Sami Saydjari wrote:

Well, I was taught this time-honored way. What the book does not say is
what you are supposed to do when you get roughness in one magento. Ideas?

If you lean aggressively during taxi and avoid full-rich descents you
probably won't have any fouled plugs to worry about (we are talking about
OWNED aircraft, right?). And then engine roughness on the mag check is
probably NOT plugs, so why abuse the engine to try and fix it?

--
Ben Jackson

http://www.ben.com/

Ben, Yeah. Actually, this has not yet happened in the Piper Turbo
Arrow III that I just bought. It happened pretty frequently in the
Skyhawk Millenium that I used to rent. I am asking because the TCM
booklet seems to be pretty hard-over on NOT doing burn-out procedure.

-Sami

Ben Jackson wrote:
In article ,
O. Sami Saydjari wrote:

Well, I was taught this time-honored way. What the book does not say is
what you are supposed to do when you get roughness in one magento. Ideas?


If you lean aggressively during taxi and avoid full-rich descents you
probably won't have any fouled plugs to worry about (we are talking about
OWNED aircraft, right?). And then engine roughness on the mag check is
probably NOT plugs, so why abuse the engine to try and fix it?

BTW, since my FBO started using some fuel additive (sorry- I don't know
what it is offhand) they've experienced NO plug fouling. I can
corraborate that based on 30+ hours of flying since then- not one plug
fouling whereas it used to be quite common (and, yeah, we always burned
it off).

O. Sami Saydjari wrote:
I just received a booklet from TCM called "Tips on Engine Care" (a very
good book...available from TCM's website...http://www.tcmlink.com/). On
page 12 it says "Never but never attempt to "burn out" a magneto drop
with ground run-up. This 'time-honored' procedure succeeds only at the
expense of the engine's mechanical health."

Well, I was taught this time-honored way. What the book does not say is
what you are supposed to do when you get roughness in one magento. Ideas?

-Sami
N2057M, Piper Turbo Arrow III

Having to clear an occasional fouled plug is much different than doing
it on a regular basis. If it's a regular thing, I'd find out what the
problem is. If it's once in a great while, I wouldn't worry a bit.

Used to have fouled plugs in my TriPacer when I first bought it. I was
flying in New Mexico where we flew at 9 to 10 thousand feet MSL and
always leaned. I was going full rich when beginning my descent and at
the next startup it'd be rough. Found that if I richened the mixture
gradually as I decended, it never happened.
--
Gene Seibel
Hangar 131 - http://pad39a.com/gene/plane.html
Because I fly, I envy no one.



"O. Sami Saydjari" wrote in message ...
I just received a booklet from TCM called "Tips on Engine Care" (a very
good book...available from TCM's website...http://www.tcmlink.com/). On
page 12 it says "Never but never attempt to "burn out" a magneto drop
with ground run-up. This 'time-honored' procedure succeeds only at the
expense of the engine's mechanical health."

Well, I was taught this time-honored way. What the book does not say is
what you are supposed to do when you get roughness in one magento. Ideas?

-Sami
N2057M, Piper Turbo Arrow III