gbarkman

Just FYI, I spoke with our tech this morning. For the record, here are his comments. "Your plane is an M20K. There were two models, the earlier 231 model and the later 252 model. They both use the Continental TSIO360 engine. The 231 used the LB variant of this engine which had a smaller turbo and intercooler and a poorly designed intake manifold. The problem with this setup was that it was prone to overheat and subsequent premature engine overhaul, problems that were mostly fixed on the 252 model and it's upgraded MB engine variant." So our plane started life as an M20K 231 model and was converted in the 90's by a company in Florida with an approved "262 Trophy" conversion which made it for all intents and purposes a 252, the only real difference is that the real 252 has a 24 volt system, ours still has the 12 v. All that being said, for the purposes of this forum, it would be fair to say our plane is an '83 M20K with the 262 Trophy mod. As for the engine analyzer trend info ours is an early model JPI EDM 700 which has an ability to download engine trend info. We understand it's not that user friendly in the acquisition of the data but we are going to try to recreate the issue and capture engine data with a laptop and a serial port.

Thx for the further input. I will verify but I understood the powerplant is the TSIO520 from Rocket. You are correct jlunseth, we file as an M20T but it is a K model in all the tech logs. As you indicated, we climb firewalled and don't change settings until reaching altitude. The altitude we climb to varies on the mission, the momentary loss of power doesn't seem to be dependent on where we level off, it has occurred anywhere from 6K up to 18K. As noted in my previous reply, my pilot partner and I will plan to put in some time in the local practice area to see what stats we can gather from the engine analyzer, MP, RPM and FF and re-post.

Thx for the feedback takair and carusoam. I will plan to spend a bit more time in the practice area over the next few weeks and try different options and graph some better data to share back.....appreciate it.......grant

I own a 1983 M20K that had the turbo conversion done on it to essentially make it an M20T. Since purchasing it 4 years ago the plane has flown roughly 400 hours and apart from losing a magneto in flight (not a fun experience), it has flown almost flawlessly with one ongoing and notable exception. On virtually every climb just after levelling out, the engine seems to momentarily lose power, as if there was a fuel pump blockage or water in the gas. Before every flight we are careful to always check water in the fuel cells and pull the fuel discharge lever on the floor so water is not the issue. After a momentary loss of power, everything seems to come back normal and the problem does not seem to persist. It is unnerving though, particularly in heavy IMC. Anyone else out there experience anything similar? Any ideas on what it could be?