lfgbrd

Thanks for that.

Yeah, the mag died suddenly and replacing it didn't seem to have any effect. Good idea in the plugs, all check them and I'll make sure they're rotated.

Familiar as in I've probably read the same things around here. I have quite a bit of experience maintaining my previous aircraft, a Cessna 150...not much to worry about breaking there. My partner and I are learning how to break all kinds of new things with the Mooney.

It consistently peaks out around 1550-1575 and I would run it about 50 ROP. But in order to keep it from jerking I don't peak at all and just stay below 1500. One brand new mag (less than 25hrs), one about 500hrs. Both are strong with good timing. I don't know the other components' times. Injectors were cleaned at annual, and I first encountered the problem as I flew home from shop. I'm not a fan of fuel problems either. I don't fly this plane much at night because of the small issues I have had, but I've never feared that it might completely quit until this afternoon. I have a feeling that that #1 cylinder is being fed too much fuel and that's causing the low temps and it's dumping the fuel overboard. Not sure how or if that relates to today's boost pump issue, though. It has Champion REM38Es with about 250 hours on them.

Edit: This was obviously supposed to go in the Modern Mooneys section, not sure how I messed that up. Here's a puzzle for you guys. I have a 1990 J model that was recently upgraded with an EDM930 engine monitor. Annual last May by LASAR. Sometimes on start the plane likes to backfire at idle. If it's hot it does it a lot. Bring the RPM up to about 1100 and it runs smooth. In flight, if I lean aggressively (using the ROP leanfinder on the 930) to around 9 gph and temps between 1500-1550, the engine will miss or backfire or something occasionally. Just a slight jerk, you can feel it in your feet. Maybe once every five minutes. I can't do LOP at all, if I get much lower than peak on the lean side I lose power very quickly. If I keep the temps below 1500 it doesn't do it at all. EGTs and CHTs are all pretty tight, except CHT #1 is always about 70 degrees colder than the other three, even on the ground. Before the 930 we had a 700 which also showed a low #1. The probes and wires were all replaced with new ones for the upgrade. In flight, if you bring the power back to around or below 50% it will sometimes backfire more frequently. Kind of like what happens when you yank the throttle back in a carbureted engine (I'm looking at you, O-300). My fuel flow fluctuates between 20 and about 25. When I had the old gauges I didn't notice it move much but on the 930 it's constantly moving. Today, after about 4 hours of problem-free flying, we turned final and engaged the boost pump. As we pulled the throttle to idle, the fuel pressure jumped up between 30 (red line) and 35 (fluctuating like normal) and the engine started backfiring on every other stroke. Turned the boost pump off, the fuel pressure went back down, and the engine smoothed out. Turned it back on, happened again. Pushed the power back in a bit from idle, the pressure dropped and the engine smoothed. I turned the pump back off just to be safe. Tried it on the ground to no effect. Any ideas what the heck is going on? Think the normal bumps are related to that low CHT? Think they're related to the fuel pump issue? Should my fuel pressure fluctuate a few psi from second to second? I never thought a failing boost pump would increase its output. I'm going to my mechanic Monday but I thought you guys might like to try to work this one out. This poor plane has been in the shop more than not since we've bought it... Oh, and our backup attitude indicator seemed to be failing today too, so that's the next thing.

Actually it has two mags. I forget the engine suffix. They both had a 500hr inspection, the right one got fixed but it looks like the left didn't have any issues. That was about 500 hours ago, though...

I know Mooneys are efficient, but how'd you manage the 1gph?!

We tested the ignition pretty thoroughly and couldn't find any sign of of a short or loose connection. Not ruling it out, though, and the mechanic will check it more thoroughly when the engine cools down. I'm trying very hard to have the plane flying by next Friday...I think we're just going to express ship a refurb/reman and maybe see if we can repair and sell the old one. Probably not the cheapest way but I'm more worried about time, as much as I hate to be that way.

So part of the "Other Issues" I mentioned were occasional sudden spikes/changes in EGT/CHT. I could not pinpoint what was causing it and it tended to happen so sudden that it didn't register in the EZTrends in any meaningful way. On a flight two days ago we noticed a loss of about 10kts TAS compared to what we normally see, along with an inability to lean the plane to what I normally lean it to. The TAS drop I knew was suspicious (because I could calculate it without the instruments) but we just changed every sensor and instrument in the panel so I couldn't say with absolute certainty that anything else was wrong. Today I got on the ramp and when I switched to check the left mag, the engine sputtered and died. I restarted it, checked the left mag, and it ran a bit rough. I did the plug cleaning procedure, tried again, and it ran perfectly smooth. I ran the engine up to full power but it topped out at only around 2600RPM. I checked the left mag, and the engine died. Started it again, checked the left mag, and it was fine. Ran it up to 2000 for a minute, checked the left mag, and it died. The mag is almost 1000 hours old so someone got good use out of it but I guess I'm due for a new one. I just got this plane out of the shop and now I'm dragging it back in...

What's a normal CHT spread for a 1990 201? I'm seeing: 1. 291 2. 329 3. 354 4. 340 Or to put it another way, the spread is pretty consistently 50-75 degrees with #1 seeming pretty cold. They never really get hot unless you really screw up the mixture. I've replaced all 4 sensors, and their EGTs are always within about 75 degrees of each other. I'm trying to track down the source of an occasional misfire or backfire in flight. Some other issues as well, but I'll have to ask about them later.

Yeah, that's a few (thousand) numbers off from mine.

Update: A factory new, complete door is $2400, or the un-trimmed skin is $112. Neither are kept in stock so they have to manufacture them, 3-4 weeks. I think we'd rather go with the full door and be done with it, but that's plan B for now. I'm going to my mechanic to see what his thoughts are, maybe he can bend it back. I told him last week I was bringing it in for an oil change, he's going to be surprised... Maybe I can just put a garbage bag and some speed tape over the hole and pretend it's fixed?

It's a 1990 J MSE. I'm calling the big shops to see if I can find a used one before I try to go to the factory. Maybe if my mechanic confirms that the hinge and frame are alright it won't be too difficult to swap them out.

I was teaching my partner about emergencies in our 1-month-brand-new-to-us J today. I secretly pulled the gear actuator breaker after takeoff to simulate a failure. It took him a while to notice but he did well: Aviate, Navigate, Communicate. After leveling off and reaching about 130kts, we hear a POP and some rushing wind. I looked back and said something along the lines of "The baggage door just came open!" except slightly more vulgar. I told him to slow down and checked to see that he was before looking back again. I saw the door pop off of the little arm that holds it up, heard some banging, then I saw debris falling to Earth behind us. "And it's gone..." I said. I tasked him with flying the plane while I handled everything else. I called tower in the most annoyed tone because I was the last one who had opened the baggage compartment and this was probably my fault. We kept our speed down around 90 the whole way back and we did well at keeping calm, talking through what might be different with the door open, and just flying the plane. As we touched down a Bonanza holding short said "Tower, the Mooney might like to know that their baggage door is open..." Tower replied "He said it's completely gone." "It looks like it's still attached, though." What? When we slowed to a taxiing pace I opened the door and leaned out. Sure enough, the door was still attached. Hooray! Maybe it's salvageable. After further inspection, I'm not sure what its condition is. The door cannot be closed. Someone decided to put a GPS antenna right above the hinge, so when the door broke free of the arm, it bent the metal over the antenna. I feel like if that hadn't been there, the metal might not have bent so much if at all. There doesn't appear to be any airframe or even skin damage, the hinge doesn't look bent, and the arm sheared its bolt off at the door, so it is still firmly attached to the frame as well. The debris I saw was the interior paneling and maybe some insulation. The latch is strange. It was in the locked position when we got out of the plane. It seems to lock, but it will not open/unlatch correctly. Something is definitely not right internally but we'll probably never know if that happened before or after the incident. I always latch that door by pressing it with my left hand and closing the latch with my right. I typically use the handle to help myself up onto the wing as well, so I would imagine if I hadn't shut it properly I would have pulled it open. There was no abnormal noise or airflow during the runup, takeoff, or the climb. You usually read of these incidents happening during or right after takeoff, never 10 minutes into the flight after various bits of maneuvering. That leads me to think that something broke. But I've always been a forgetful person despite my best efforts so I'll probably never shake the feeling that I was at fault. Anyone know what a new or salvage door costs?

Looking for someone to do a pre-buy on a J model very soon. Can anyone recommend a shop that is not Midwest Aircraft (they did the last annual)? Thanks!