All Activity

I just looked at that chart seems intimidating to me but I’m sure any competent mechanic is capable. The time and money to troubleshoot though could be close to 630 in labor right? 130hr for my mechanic. To get to all these spots and test them, or is it not that long of a job. I searched the logs and found that in 05 the I’m assuming current alternator was installed. That would mean it has roughly 1764hrs on it which mostly has been in the horrid environment that Florida is.

I can look at mine soon if you haven’t resolved this. I believe the last time I was on the phone with Garmin tech support they said they didn’t have any more. I ordered one but can’t remember where I bought it without looking it up. Whatever you do, don’t try to use an Apple computer to update the card even if Garmin says it works with the Garmin updater. It’s a expensive card killer.

Forgot about that chart! I have that too… -Don

Those crimp connectors lead a hard life in a hot, difficult environment. They don’t last forever. Connector failure is far more common than alternator failure.

My B had quite a bit of tension and it took some effort to raise and lower the flap handle. No way it would come loose without me doing it. N74562 RIP… -Don

On the back of mine where the white wire is attached on top, that ‘black’ section should be removable (diodes and brushes I think). There is a kit for that to replace. May be what needs changing… -Don

That’s the weird thing nothing was broke off and noticeable loose. I could move one of the wires but it would rotate the whole ring connector with the wire. The nut on it was quite snug.

In both my cases, the connector was loose on the wire or broke off. I’d check those first… Very common on our Mooneys… -Don

Speak for yourself. For how badly that shop hacked up the guy’s panel, he’s earned the right to vent as much as he wants to.

6 month lead time to get overhaul… -Don

Thank you - you probably already mentioned that in the other thread, but I couldn’t find it. Honestly it’s hard to see how the word “overhaul” is worth $10k here. Sounds like the right decision to me.

$35k for overhaul engine only not including hoses etc. All my hoses have already been replaced. Surefly, exhaust, oil cooler, we’re new when I bought the plane. Mag overhaul, prop gov, prop were IRAN by me a couple of years ago. Alternator was oh’d before I bought it. -Don

Went to fly last Thursday and couldn’t get the plane to stop showing a noticeable discharge. Didn’t matter if the avionics were on or off or at higher power settings. I did one lap in the pattern and watched my Jpi show a dip from 11.8V to 11.5V after I put gear up. I decided at that point something wasn’t right and came right back around to land. Fast forward today I installed my new Concorde xc battery, thinking it was the 3yr old Gill battery and to no avail the same issue. Fast forward to me taking the cowling off and looking at the alternator and touching the wires to check if they were loose and it works again after a few starts. I held a razor blade to the face of the alternator and it has magnetism and there’s voltage going to field wire with the master on and engine off. None of the wires looked bad, or were noticeably loose. I moved and touched everyone… they were all tight. I couldn’t find in the logbooks when that alternator was last overhauled or repaired. I plan to fly Saturday and do a few touch and goes to see if the shock from landing moves something loose or whatever could have been causing the issue. My mechanic will look at it Monday but I was honestly ready to send the alternator off for OH. Aero Accessories said it’s 630bucks which isn’t bad but I don’t want to spend it if I don’t have to. Should I still send it off to be OH if my mechanic can’t find anything? I obviously did something to make it work so it has to be at the wires going to the alternator or the plastic pieces that holds the field wires inside the alternator.

Interesting. How long have you had this airplane? Are you sure it’s the original spring? It almost looks like the spring is too long. Can you shim the hole in the flap handle to gain a little more tension? Is the spring fastened correctly on the forward end? @Sabremech does this look correct to you?

@hammdo did your shop give you a quote for an overhaul versus an IRAN? Curious what the difference was in both time and money.

Once on an IFR departure, never happened again in ten years. Always good to have alternatives setup and operating in critical phases of flight.

Well, @hammdo had his IRAN done for $23K and seemed to include most everything. The cheapest OH option appears to be a whole lot more than another “few hundred dollars”!

You have got to be kidding! That’s nearly as bad as the guy telling him to, “take personal responsibility” for a problem that was NOT his making. The attitude around here when any criticism is directed to a shop is astounding! Yeah, Maxwell has done many people favors and has a great history. Doesn’t mean mistakes aren’t made. Also doesn’t mean those mistakes should be ignored. It certainly doesn’t seem Don handled this very well. Sure, there’s two sides to every incident but the willingness to blame the customer is absurd.

From everything I’ve heard here, the difference between what is described here as an IRAN and an overhaul is maybe a few hundred dollars. The only things that are on the mandatory replacement list they may have overlooked are the Vernatherm and the fuel pump push rod.

Yep, it’s an intriguing option - but I’d be interested to know what the same shop charges for an IRAN versus an overhaul. It sounds like the only real difference is mandatory replacement parts that would be deemed “serviceable” in an IRAN. If a shop said it’s $10k extra just for the liability associated with the word “overhaul” in the log, I think I’d go elsewhere.

Not trying to be disrespectful, but you're wrong. The orange pad is what was recommended and it worked very very well.

Yes, a field overhaul aiui is done by anyone other than the manufacturer. So an overhaul at a big name shop is still a field overhaul.

Not sure what you’re debating here? My point is you can save a ton of time and money doing an IRAN like @hammdo did! And end up with an engine good for as much time as the more expensive and time consuming options.

Even the term “field overhaul” is kind of suspicious. Does that mean any overhaul not done by the factory? So the best overhaul shops in the country do field overhauls? Or does that mean any overhaul done by a not famous shop? What exactly is a field overhaul?