M00N37

I removed cowling with the intend of having him to just tighten the oil dip stick tube and safety wire it again. But then I found oil on top of dog house which is very unusual. So I removed some panels and he told me it was leaking from the intake push rod tube seal. After taking a look at it myself, I agreed with his finding. It was suppose to be a quick and easy job. He later found another problem with another unrelated part which wouldn't be fixed that evening so I just left the plane with him thinking he would quickly put the tube back on after cleaning it. I went to his shop again next day and I was shocked to see both tubes removed and one is cracked. Both tubes got painted; Not just one like I mentioned earlier. He never actually billed me for 6 hours. I got really worried after seeing him worked on this task for about 4 hours, on and off in span of 2-3 days, not counting the time waiting for paint to dry, and the tubes wasn't even back on yet. In the end he agrees that this task took too long and charged me for what it was supposed to cost.

On the exhaust side, clearance was a bit lower than spec so we swap it out for one number shorter. We measured again and it is now within spec on the low side. As for intake, at first he said it wouldn't fit at all so we grab a rod that was 4 number shorter. He still couldn't make it fits. As he removed the rod, I told him that the lifter seem to be sticking out more than the exhaust side. He removed the lifter and bled it of oil again as well as rotating the prop. We tried again and now the clearance is way more than spec. I asked him to measure the gap and I calculated the appropriate and look up the P/N. It appears to me that the original rod that he removed seems to be the correct length. At this point it was late so I just left. He worked on it more again earlier today. I wasn't present this time, and last I heard he managed to reinstall both push rods but I didn't ask what are their P/Ns. My concern right now is I don't want to be overpaying for a task that could have taken way less time if it was done right in the beginning. I believe the original rods were well within tolerance already.

The dry tappet clearance was checked. I was there 80% of the time. I even looked up the spec for clearance and went to get the new rods with him. Now I need to know if it is normal/fair for an experience mechanic to spend 6 hours on just two push rods on one cylinder.

Is 6 hours a reasonable amount of time for an experience mechanic who is charing $85 an hour to accomplished the following ? - Remove two push rods and push rod tubes - Paint one push rod tube - Tried multiple times and failed to reinstall the removed push rods. He then swap the two rods for different length and they finally fit to Lycoming's spec. - Removed the two rods again once he is assured that they fit to install the push rod tubes and the rest of the hardware. No removal or installation of cowling and dog house included.

Can you tell me the cost you paid for this ?

Thank you Tom.

Thank you! Just sent them an email. Didn't find them from hours of searching.

Do you mean I should make a waste gate using owner produced part ? What is a reasonable price for doing this ?

Where can I send RJ4010 Waste gate, RJ4002-21 Exhaust stack, RJ4002-41 Exhaust stack and RJ4013 air inlet assy for overhauling/fixing ? I saw in my logbook that Aerospace welding used to overhauled the waste gate and exhaust stack back in 2007 but I just called them and they no longer do this.

Thanks for the reply guys. I'm still looking for the precious paper.

I found Drawing No.RJ4001....Still looking for the AFM Supplement.

I'm buying a 1964 Mooney with Rajay Turbo installed. I'm looking for Rajay Drawing No. RJ4001 and Rajay AFM Supplement as mentioned in STC SA1156WE. Anybody has copy of this in PDF ?