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#1
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Just venting about my V35's annual/engine replacement
If there were ever a day where I was feeling low about aircraft
ownership, today would certainly be a candidate. My V35 is in the beginning stages of an engine replacement and annual. The rebuilt engine has yet to arrive (probably another two weeks out) but the mechanics were able to start the annual and preparation for the new engine. One of the first tasks was to pull the two-bladed prop and ship it off to a prop company for evaluation. When the mechanics pulled the prop, they discovered a 3-inch crack in the spinner and two incorrectly-sized bolts used to bolt the prop to the hub by some unscrupulous mechanic during the last prop overhaul, which resulted in elongation of the bolt holes in the prop hub. Most likely the prop hub is beyond tolerances and will need to be replaced. The spinner will certainly need to be replaced given the size of the crack. I am very thankful that this damage was discovered on the ground rather than in the air in the form of some type of failure of the prop hub, bolts, or spinner. But, this is appears to be a multi-thousand US dollar surprise and the bulk of the work hasn't even started yet. Just venting... -- Peter |
#2
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On Tue, 23 Nov 2004 14:17:09 -0500, Peter R.
wrote: If there were ever a day where I was feeling low about aircraft ownership, today would certainly be a candidate. My V35 is in the beginning stages of an engine replacement and annual. The rebuilt engine has yet to arrive (probably another two weeks out) but the mechanics were able to start the annual and preparation for the new engine. One of the first tasks was to pull the two-bladed prop and ship it off to a prop company for evaluation. When the mechanics pulled the prop, they discovered a 3-inch crack in the spinner and two incorrectly-sized bolts used to bolt the prop to the hub by some unscrupulous mechanic during the last prop overhaul, which resulted in elongation of the bolt holes in the prop hub. Most likely the prop hub is beyond tolerances and will need to be replaced. The spinner will certainly need to be replaced given the size of the crack. I am very thankful that this damage was discovered on the ground rather than in the air in the form of some type of failure of the prop hub, bolts, or spinner. But, this is appears to be a multi-thousand US dollar surprise and the bulk of the work hasn't even started yet. Just venting... Wow, I'm sorry. Hopefully not beyond your monetary means to take care of, and that's all they find. Good luck. z |
#3
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"Peter R." wrote: When the mechanics pulled the prop, they discovered a 3-inch crack in the spinner and two incorrectly-sized bolts used to bolt the prop to the hub by some unscrupulous mechanic during the last prop overhaul, which resulted in elongation of the bolt holes in the prop hub. Most likely the prop hub is beyond tolerances and will need to be replaced. The spinner will certainly need to be replaced given the size of the crack. Ouch! My condolences. I guess I shouldn't whine so much about what a battery just cost me. What kind of engine replacement are you doing? Factory o'haul or...? -- Dan C-172RG at BFM |
#4
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Is the crack on the inside of the spinner?
I am courious as to how it was not visible during preflight. Is it a chromed spinner? (Do they come any other way on a Bonanza? :-) Peter R. wrote: If there were ever a day where I was feeling low about aircraft ownership, today would certainly be a candidate. My V35 is in the beginning stages of an engine replacement and annual. The rebuilt engine has yet to arrive (probably another two weeks out) but the mechanics were able to start the annual and preparation for the new engine. One of the first tasks was to pull the two-bladed prop and ship it off to a prop company for evaluation. When the mechanics pulled the prop, they discovered a 3-inch crack in the spinner and two incorrectly-sized bolts used to bolt the prop to the hub by some unscrupulous mechanic during the last prop overhaul, which resulted in elongation of the bolt holes in the prop hub. Most likely the prop hub is beyond tolerances and will need to be replaced. The spinner will certainly need to be replaced given the size of the crack. I am very thankful that this damage was discovered on the ground rather than in the air in the form of some type of failure of the prop hub, bolts, or spinner. But, this is appears to be a multi-thousand US dollar surprise and the bulk of the work hasn't even started yet. Just venting... |
#5
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Peter R. wrote:
Just venting... Tell me about it. I fly my plane back when I purchased it. Local mechanic says "I think there's something odd about the prop." Fly it up to prop shop. Young guy comes out and says "Gee..hold on." Goes back inside and gets a guy about 90 years old and he comes out and says "yep, this isn't installed right." Fortunately, no damange was done. Just a bit of labor to take the thing off and put it right. |
#6
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Sorry to hear about this, but if you're putting in a rebuilt engine, this
will seem fade to become background noise level by the time you are done. Good luck, - Mark |
#7
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Ron Natalie ) wrote:
Goes back inside and gets a guy about 90 years old and he comes out and says "yep, this isn't installed right." Fortunately, no damange was done. Just a bit of labor to take the thing off and put it right. Wow. As if we don't have enough to worry about without adding an unscrupulous and/or incompetent mechanic into the mix. -- Peter |
#8
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Dan Luke ) wrote:
What kind of engine replacement are you doing? Factory o'haul or...? Factory overhaul. The engine should be arriving sometime over the next two weeks. Someone else just told me a story where their engine core that they exchanged was rejected by the engine overhaul company, for an unexpected additional cost of around US $6,000. I never thought that a core would be rejected. Sheesh. -- Peter |
#9
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Someone else just told me a story where their engine core that they
exchanged was rejected by the engine overhaul company, for an unexpected additional cost of around US $6,000. I never thought that a core would be rejected. Sheesh. How about two engine cases rejected? Lycoming has apparently adopted a policy that if an engine case has been reworked by anyone other than an a Lycoming approved facility they will reject the case as unairworthy. Funny thing is they never told the distributor or the customer until after the fact. The cases were reworked at a previous overhaul by an FAA approved shop and process. I have a customer who has this problem and of course my employer is left holding the bag. Talking to an overhaul shop they say they are hearing about this more and more and equate it to Lycoming's recent production problems. It is believed they are trying to improve cash flow by forcing people to pay for new Lycoming parts at every turn. Might work in the short term but in the long term no one with any sense is going to go for factory new or overhaul if they risk losing the value of the core. As of now they are not even sure they still have the old cases to return to the owner. John Dupre' |
#10
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On Wed, 24 Nov 2004 22:06:13 -0500, Peter R.
wrote: Dan Luke ) wrote: What kind of engine replacement are you doing? Factory o'haul or...? Factory overhaul. The engine should be arriving sometime over the next two weeks. Someone else just told me a story where their engine core that they exchanged was rejected by the engine overhaul company, for an unexpected additional cost of around US $6,000. I never thought that a core would be rejected. Sheesh. I've always wondered if there isn't a scam lurking with core exchange... If a company is having hard financial times, I can't think of an easier way to generate short term revenue. |
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