vik

With the kind of "support" I got from Duncan I would not touch anything coming from them! The product by Bendix-King (now Honeywell) with STC backed by a random radio shop, both known for "great" customer support - sounds like asking for a trouble. It took them years to finish STC for the already mature product (TruTrak) - just to be pulled by FAA right away due to mistakes made in designing those few hardware parts. If something happens down the line, just be ready to be on your own and fly with a paperweight for years, or, bite the bullet and redo all from scratch by putting in a better product with a much better support history. There is no perfect solution for Mooney, just an expensive, but a more capable and reliable one with the support that will last for decades and the one that sounds like a total waste of time and money down the road. Take your poison, but notice how quickly the other brand fixed a problem that popped up recently. Even though they had to send people expensive replacement hardware for free. I am not fan of the brand. Rather the opposite. But I can't deny the facts. On the other hand, it will be 5 year "anniversary" pretty soon for BK KI-300 emergency AD. Still, no resolution. Well, it does not matter now. I am pretty sure that all owners already pulled it out and put another instrument in. Who wants to to have their plane placarded "VFR only" forever? Lucky me, I did not have that in my plane, but people who did probably lost ~$10K in hardware + installation in addition to 1-2 weeks (optimistic) while the plane is in the shop. This is my personal opinion though. I hope other people had better experience when they needed support from BK or Duncan. It is pity how a great AP used by so many happy experimental folks got screwed up by a couple of companies so quickly, leaving earlier Mooney owners with only one reasonable option for a modern AP. Sad, but not a new story.

Can also be worn brushes. Easy to replace.

I had two Michelin tubes fail on me, few years back. One day I found one main gear flat. The air put in leaked out right away. The hissing sound was heard close to the valve steam. Examination showed that the valve steam almost separated due to the rotten rubber around it. I recently installed new tires and new tubes. The manufacturing date on the tube confirmed that it was about one year old. Sure enough, I took apart the other two wheels to check. The other main one had the same problem and was ready to give up ghost air. The manufacturing date indicated it was about 1.5 years old. The nose one was a different size (5x500) and did not show this problem, but I replaced it anyway. Chief Aircraft refused to exchange tubes under the warranty. Still keep the tubes as a souvenir. Not surprising that I stay away from Michelin tires and tubes. I also had Michelin car tires develop a bulge on a side several times. But those are different tires and a different failure mode most likely. I stay away from Michelin tires. We are probably incompatible. And I never purchased anything at Chief Aircraft again. Not saying that other distributors would honor the warranty. I only know that Chief Aircraft did not. Vik

No, KX-165 has a built in VOR converter, while KX-155 requires a CDI with a VOR converter.

Before saying that EarthX LFP battery has half the capacity of Concorde RG-35 or Gill G-35 lead acid batteries go test the real capacity of your two-three years old lead acid battery. You will be unpleasantly surprised. Maybe that is why the NEW lead acid battery has to have 33 Ah. Another thing to consider is that many, if not most, of the radios will stop working when voltage drops below 10V. Now look at the LFP and lead acid batteries voltage charts. You will have a better idea which chemistry will cut your navigation/communication first. I know people who fly hard IFR all the time and replace lead acid battery during every annual. Real world experience is priceless! There is a good reason to treat a lead acid battery just like the motor oil. Yes, it still works and cranks, but, as usual, the devil is in the details. Vik

The value of a used Aspen -> 0. First, an Aspen dealer will have to ship the unit to Aspen for recertification $$$. You won't be able to do it yourself. Second, the unit will have to be installed by an Aspen dealer $$$$. After all that $$$$$ the cost of the unit itself is a small change. I looked into this as well and asked few shops around about the costs. It was a hard pass. Vik

Actually, it is approved for certified a/c. Not all, but Mooney with aft battery is included. Vik

I still have a generator and its regulator from my conversion of E model sitting in the box. PM me if is interested. Vik

You may want to recalibrate the battery indication in your unit. Let the battery discharge completely by running the unit on the battery until it dies and fully charge after that. The % of the battery remaining should realign with the battery state. You should get your 100% capacity indication back. The test will also show how long the battery will actually last in static condition, as I am not sure you can do the test in flight. If I recall correctly, FAA certification requirement is 30 min. My guess is that Garmin puts 1 hour to be on a safe side and to account for more CPU/GPU load in flight, which will burn the battery faster. Vik

Old oil diluted by gasoline and who knows by what else vs new clean oil. Few psi up sounds pretty normal. I observed similar with the cars if an accurate gauge is installed. Check if the same happened right after previous oil changes if you can identify the dates. Other theories include a gunk washed out from under the oil pressure relieve valve. Best advise is already given - just watch it for now since something changed. Take the action if necessary. Vik

As already mentioned, only as parts. S-tec will happily sell the STC transfer paperwork for 1/2 of the price of the new system. There are much better options available at that price. Vik

Maybe the installer makes less $$$ off Dynon than Garmin, so the owner has to compensate!

This is a good news if weeks do not turn into years and if they won't drift like DG version did.

I see 2 x Kx155 (not 165) installed. This means that the CDIs have built in converters. The above mentioned GPS receivers require a CDI without converter. Several popular models exist from King, Garmin, Collins. All require different connectors/pins to make our life more interesting

If you want the cheapest option - here it is. Pull out and sell KX-155 w/o GS and its CDI. Your CDI is not compatible with the GPS. And your new GPS will serve as a second VOR if needed. There are probably few approaches left in the country that require two VORs. I did not see one for a long time. Pull out and sell DME while you can. You won't need it with an IFR certified GPS as your new GPS can substitute for DME. See https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/AC_90-108_Chg_1.pdf Buy KLN94 + CDI and harness from me I accidentally have one sitting on the shelf. You can also buy KLN89b. Those do not have a moving map. That should not be a show stopper since you want the cheapest , but they also require annunciators to be installed, which will add to the installation and will be a wash with no moving map. Put new CDI into the hole from your old one. Slide in KLN94 and use your KLN89 as a door stop. It worth less than the shipping probably, but I might be wrong. Unfortunately, there is one extra piece of work to do - you will have to connect KLN94 to your blind encoder. It is 9 wires, but without it your installation will not be IFR certified. Keep your existing GPS antenna. KLN94 will work just fine with it. Remove GPS limitation sticker after somebody signs off your logbook. You will be able to fly all approaches except LPV. I am not sure if any NDB approaches are still available, but if they are you are all set even if the beacon antenna was already knocked off. See the AC linked above. You should break even after you sell your KX-155 and DME unless you have to pay somebody to crimp the above mentioned 9 wires. These days you might need a bank loan to pay for that labor. Since you already have an audio panel installed, you might consider buying a second com and installing it into the free DME slot. Maybe you can get a Kx97. The tray should be very similar. Switch the wires from your old KX155 and you should be done. Or iCom A-200 will also work, but will require a different tray. We are talking more $$$ though. Handheld will do in case of the primary com failure. It all depends on your mission. Sounds like a plan? Vik