frcabot

Wouldn't think so as an AH is not in the necessary equipment list for VFR flying, and I have a secondary pump. I didn't realize vacuum pumps could not be (edit: meant to say engine-driven or) electrical. How exactly do you think a pump works?? (note the double "?").

And to paraphrase something biblical myself, "If you have nothing nice to say or constructive to add, keep your mouth shut" OR "Better to be thought a fool than to start typing and remove all doubt!"

Well, let's see. The problem could be the pump, it could be loose wiring, it could be a blocked engine vane or inlet/outlet, it could be the connections from the pump to the AH, etc. There is a difference between willing to pay and willing to pay $120/hr. If someone is based at SFO, I can understand that rate. If someone is charging that for a non-specialized shop in the rural boonies, other people may be happy to pay that but I'm not. If you're happy with that rate, more power to you: give them your business. Also, super helpful comment. Thanks for your insight.

That's an interesting spelling of Geez. I've never seen it with an e before. Thanks for educating me! I also like the absences of any spaces in your punctuation and your incessant use of ellipses or multiple exclamation points. Gotta add that to my style book!!If you know what I mean...you probably do!...!

It’s not you, it’s the general experience of not being able to get good recommendations which equates to paying an arm and a leg when the most minor thing needs to be looked out. At this point I just might as well not fly with a vacuum pump since the AH is only needed IFR. But seriously if I’m going to be paying $120/hr, I’d rather just go to the MSC directly. The whole point is I want to try to get the $65/hr rate that everyone in the rest of the country brags about. Or if I’m goi g to be paying $100/hr+, at least have recommendations based on personal experiences rather than playing roulette with thousands of dollars and needing to have all the work redone later.

I just called Mangon. They are $120/hr. This is a good example of why I want personal recommendations instead of wasting my time calling random shops from the yellow pages. I can do that equally effectively by myself.

Have you personally used them and/or can vouch for them and/or heard good things about them from people you trust? I'm really just looking for A&Ps that people have used and have good experiences with.

Foreflight doesn't list the rates and the review feature isn't often used so it's not a good way to find an A&P.

I asked the same question before and never got a single recommendation so it’s a little frustrating. Stop hoarding your damn mechanics. (This was meant facetiously.) No idea how much time is on the pump, I’d have to dig through years of logs which are I’m the plane and I don’t feel like doing that. Again, I’m no longer interested in diagnosing the problem. I just want to fly the thing to a mechanic and get it fixed and go home, without paying $120 per hour plus parts. Do all of you pay $120/hour for labor? If not, great. Give me the name, number, rate and location of your mechanic!

I don't have a local mechanic and I can't see anything wrong with the wires myself. That's why I'm asking for a recommendation. I'm not even 100% sure it's the vacuum pump that needs replacing but I suspect it is. So I don't even want to buy something I may not even need. The only thing I'm asking for is the name and number of a good, inexpensive, honest and efficient mechanic. Surely there must be one somewhere in California? I'll open it up to Oregon and Arizona and Nevada too. Just give me a name and number. Thanks.

I am having an issue with a push to talk button and likely a broken vacuum pump in an M20J. These seem like simple problems and I don't want to pay the LASAR/Top Gun shop rates for an MSC which are $110-120/hour. Does anyone have a recommendation for a good, cheap, efficient A&P in the bay area or vicinity (eg Sacramento or South, Livermore or West, San Jose or north). I'm willing to consider further out if I get a good recommendation and the price difference is substantial, but unless the problem can be fixed the same day, it means figuring out a way to get back to San Francisco and then back again to the mechanic. I suppose the central valley would also work as they have the Amtrak Train back to SF. The ideal is I fly somewhere in the AM, they fix it and give it back to me, and I fly it home in the PM. I called the guy at Davis, his shop rate is $100/hr and very backed up so he's out. Sundance at KOAK is out, I've had really bad experiences with them.

It happens on the ISOCOM system and whichever radio is selected. So the intercom for example is unusable. A workaround I found for the radios is to pull out the com2 fuse, set com1 phone on (essentially monitor com1 whether or not it's selected) switch to com1 to transmit and switch back to com2 (off) to monitor. The opposite also works. I couldn't find any obvious wiring issues but one of the two PTT buttons may have gone bad. Pretty sure that's where the issue is. So I think an A&P could look at both. Still looking for an A&P with a reasonable rate in the bay area as I don't want to pay a $110-120 shop rate at LASAR or Top Gun.

So likewise, any recs for A&P in the area? I don't want to go to LASAR or Top Gun, they will charge a couple thousand dollars just to look at the thing. I don't think either of the issues are very complicated and I don't think they need an MSC billing at $110/hr.

Assuming I can visibly see the problem (the rear jacks are located in the armrests and so would the armrests would have to be taken apart, etc.). The vacuum issue requires someone to take a look at it, unfortunately. Still don't have any recommendations for avionics shops. (Actually, does the vacuum pump require an avionics shop or could any A&P fix the issue (and the radio issue assuming it is not simply jack wiring?).

This sounds like it would fit the issue. It would also explain why the problem occurred before, resolved, and then came back (the insulators could be loose, and being periodically displaced or something).

This is exactly right. I was in the Navy. The magnetometers are not very effective -- instead, mostly sonar buoys are used (in fact, since I've left the Navy, I don't even know whether the P-8s that are replacing P-3s even have them). As Mooneymite said, even with the tons of metal used in submarines, the magnetometers aren't very effective. However, submarines also aren't located above ground, and unlike submarines, Mooneys aren't degaussed. In general, the magnetometer needs to be right over the metallic object to register a change, and so I'd imagine that any search using that technology would be very expensive and not very efficient (if it works at all to detect the slight amount of steel used in a Mooney cage). I'm not an expert on this technology so I won't speculate further. In any event, my condolences for your loss, and I hope you find them.

I have a GNS 650 and an older King something or other. As I said, I doubt very much the issue is the radios themselves. Auto-transmit is exactly what it sounds like, the radios are transmitting on and off on their own, filling the frequency and intercom with static. I have 2 PTT buttons but the PTT would not be causing the static so I doubt that's the issue either. Nothing else plugged into the intercom. Again, the telling facts here are the noise level of the static, and the frequency of the auto-transmissions, both of which are directly correlated with the engine RPM (static and frequency are worse at higher RPMs, better at lower RPMs, and essentially non-existent at idle).

Alt field? Edit: D'oh, Alternator Field Also, how would an alternator problem on its own cause auto-transmissions? And without the auto-transmissions that just started during my last flight (and once before, which resolved), there is ordinarily no static on the radios.

When it rains, it pours. I.e. when one thing breaks, so do a dozen other things at the same time. Own a 1982 Mooney M20J. On last flight the primary vacuum pump seems to have failed. (High/low vac light plus Artificial Horizon Indicator failure, aux vacuum worked so issue is likely primary vac pump). In addition the radios went tits up. I don't think the problem is the radios themselves as I have two and am having the same problem on both. I had the issue before, but it auto resolved and at my last annual the folks at LASAR said they had no idea what I was talking about and couldn't reproduce the problem. Basically intermittent static and intermittent auto-transmitting on both radios, the problem is much much worse at higher RPMs (I had to land NORDO at KOAK with light guns). Problem occurs on both radios as I said, I pulled out the fuse for COM1, checked COM2 and vice versa. At high RPMs the radios are unusable due to the static and blocking the radio frequency with transmissions. Also heard on the intercom system regardless of squelch. I suspect the issue is a short somewhere or some wiring that affects the engine and both radios, not sure what it would be as I don't know nearly enough about the radio system. In any event both issues need to be fixed. As i said I'm out of KOAK so needs to be within flying distance (plus, I need to get back to KOAK without a car or a plane assuming the problem can't be fixed in one day, unless one of you lovely folks volunteers to fly me back).

Resurrecting this thread from the dead. I did end up going with Corona. I think the work they did was OK but it took way longer than they estimated, plane was out of commission for over 3 months. I forget if I went with new or overhauled cylinders, need to check. The overhaul, plus the labor from the mechanic in Bakersfield, plus the tax, made for quite a bill. I hope the engine goes for another 2000 hours because if not, it will have been a really shitty experience.

Thanks. I learn so much from you (plural). What a terrific resource -- wonder how we survived before the internet.

Thanks. I note this service bulletin is from 2012, whereas the top was done in 1990(!!!). I wonder if the standards have changed.

Not nearly enough. A little under 200.

If I do a top overhaul on it (new cylinders, new valves, etc.), it's still going to have 2100 hours SMOH. If I'm going to be spending however much it costs to do the entire top overhaul, aren't I just better off doing a major haul and getting a 0 hr SMOH engine? Also, is it really true that the lower end went through the same process? I don't think they repaired/overhauled the parts to "new limits," as a Corona overhaul (or factory overhaul) would.

1. Thanks, glad to hear this. 2. First run. The TSOH is also TSNEW. It's the original engine and I'm pretty sure the original cylinders. 3. Corona does everything to new limits. Yes to prop strike and I believe yes to original crankshaft (the crankshaft was "magnafluxed" by the repair shop). 4. Keeping it for a few years at least. Definitely no immediate plans to sell. As to the Corona overhaul, would you go for O/H cylinders or new, and why?