Ragsf15e

Dang! Something stuck in the quick drain?

This along with some minor rtv repairs could be a good solution. Most mechanics are ok with some minor repairs as turbo described above. Just don’t get into the duct tape and bailing wire as it is a critical part.

Approaching this first annual on my new 252, I was trying to figure out why I had so much blowby on my belly (tip to tail). I traced the tubing from the air oil separator and realized that the return tube was routed to the belly as well as the breather! The other end where the return should have been connected on the dipstick tube was left completely open which was added pressure in the case (it’s on top in the higher pressure area above the cylinders). I showed it to my mechanic the first time he saw the airplane and thought he would have some choice words for the folks who had installed the engine and did the two annuals after that (or the owner who didn’t care about his oil soaked belly), but he said, “sometimes s$!t happens. Everyone has a bad day.” My belly is so much cleaner now though…. Now back to the mysteries of electricity.

@MikeOH, my answer would have been exactly @Marc_B’s above. Although I had one on my F, so didn’t even have the pressurized thing. I like the 2000hr tbo (no more mag maintenace on that side) and never having the timing drift through the year. I think recovery on one mag would be fine if either one failed. As far as worrying about powering it? I don’t. Obviously the real mag is a backup, but how many times have you had complete electrical failure? I don’t mean a dead alternator, but battery completely dead too? I mean, sure, it can happen, but SF runs on very little power. I bet the chances of having one traditional mag fail (out of 2) are more than having the SF fail and/or complete electrical failure.

I had the “A” version on my F and it was flawless for ~500 hours that i put on it. I’ll put one on my 252 when the mags are due for inspection. My #2 alternator whines just a little now, there’s always something. Curious, what harness are you using? Did you get a new Maggie one for the SF? My local shop tried to put one on their SR20 and couldn’t get it to work at all with their old harness even though it tested fine and worked perfectly with the mag. Eventually they got a new harness and it worked.

I think you mean ktas. Yes my true airspeed is much higher too, maybe ~8 knots higher than you indicate above. But my kias (indicated) is right around 141kias.

I think you’re probably right. I am just trying to put all the information together before approaching my IA about disassembling and cleaning the check valves. I’d much rather start with cleaning and checking them before I throw ~$1400 to buy a new one!

interesting. I might have to look into that eventually. I have about 25 hours in my new plane and it's had g3x/gfc500 for 2.5 years. I had my first disconnect yesterday. Looking at the logs, got the "Fail / System not useable" code. Only thing I noticed was the YD was at like 33 torque for a while before the disconnect. During the disconnect, the YD stayed engaged. I manually disengaged, then re-engaged and the YD went down to like ~7 and everything worked fine for the rest of the flight. Logs show good gps and attitude. As this happened, I was on departure, full power, 120kias climb. I probably had a weak right foot... could that be making the YD work harder and cause a disconnect? And if so, why would the YD remain engaged? @PT20J do you still get a random disconnect from time to time?

Thanks. I see they have those nice instructions for the check valves on the -550s, but I don't think ours are the same (different part numbers) and I think a different type unfortunately. I think those check valve instructions don't apply to ours.

Did you have an instructions/SB/ etc showing how to disassemble, clean, replace O rings, and reassemble the check valves? I'd like to clean out my return check valve before spending the $1400 on a new one, but I'm not sure my mechanic will want to disassemble it? Also, @kortopates was correct about the yellow clamps being specified by TCM. Here's the documentation. I just noticed that mine are the wrong ones (they are the normal black clamps). backorderd new ones from spruce. better check valve clamps M87-14R1.pdf

After you guys cleaned up the check valves did you continue getting the leak out the exhaust? Mine is starting to do something similar, but the turbo was OH only 200 hours ago, so I'm pretty sure it's not the turbo. Something else is letting oil in there while it's parked...

The gami spread is as important as your good ignition. What is your spread? If you haven’t checked that, likely that’s where you should start. Cylinders need to peak pretty close together (at about the same ff). Mine runs well at 65% lop. I’ve been using 30”, 2300, 10.4 and seeing about 141kias at all altitudes.

Are the dates correct, 108 hours in the last 12 years total??

You’re right that it’s probably lean of peak on all cylinders, but you don’t know unless you’ve checked each cylinder as it peaks. If your fuel distribution isn’t good, you could have some ROP and some LOP. It won’t hurt anything at a low enough power, but it’s not a good place to run at higher power settings.

just read the AD carefully and be ready because it’s written in FAA speak designed to confuse the heck out of everyone! Your IA might not want to read it the three or four times it takes!

Interesting. Id have to read the AD again, but I thought that part number (same as mine) could continue to be used until July 17th as long as it passed inspection every 6 months. Did it fail inspection?

I also ordered from airpower, but in January. Apparently the last shipment they got was only ~12, so @Z W got lucky. They are telling me ~may. Definitely check RAM and consult with your IA to see if theirs is an option. Curious, why is yours toast now instead of in July when they all are?

I think a Surefly can help some with the spark as well. It’s strong and the timing never wanders off through the year between annuals.

Something like this for the Gami test. I have a relatively new engine with ~200hrs on the mags. Gami injectors and fine wire plugs. This was a gami spread of 0.2. You can upload and look at your data for free on the Savvy website.

Yeah, I use 10.4 (~65%) and seem to get ~141kias. But we’re both lean of peak and he said his airplane isn’t happy lean of peak. Ill post the gami sweeps from my last saavy test flight so you guys can see one that’s matched can run lop. It might take getting gamis if the stock injectors aren’t balanced. The test is run at lower mp so that you can very slowly lean through peak without having high tit. Around 21” / 2400 was comfortable.

That seems weird, because that line is pressurized in mine no matter where the on/off is. Sounds like yours is like mine - the high pressure line is always on?

You’ve actually pretty much got it. Look at “ICP” in the charts. It’s already falling at peak but it starts falling much faster the leaner you go. We are trying to manage ICP, but we don’t have an ICP gage, so we use egt and it falls off much slower. So yes, there’s a huge difference in ICP with only a small difference in egt. It’s not perfect, but egt is the only quick measurement we can use to get fairly close.

Yeah you’re right, mine too… i know i saw that somewhere. Now im going to be looking everywhere! Either way, peak/1650 tit or 50 rop don’t seem very healthy to me!

I feel your nerves! I just had my annual and beforehand I put blue painters tape on every fuel panel under the wing with a big “NO” on it! There are a couple monroy ones that are easier to miss as they used to be normal, removable ones with the little holes in the middle. If you look closely for sealant and tap them and look down from inside the monroy tanks you can tell which ones are fuel.

Especially on the non turbo engines at high altitudes (so lower power), peak doesn’t hurt anything and is actually recommended as best economy setting. However, it’s not as good place to be as power increases. You’ll start to see higher chts, higher internal cylinder pressure, and eventually detonation at higher power. As @Pinecone said, below 65% it’s not doing those things. ~50 rich of peak is even worse… yet isn’t that where the Encore power setting table in the poh has you?