TheAv8r

Those are the run-in instructions, which the engine shop did prior to sending me the engine. Yep, using straight-weight mineral oil, Aeroshell 100. The engine shop is a very well known one so I'd hesitate to think they put the wrong piston rings on, but I do recall seeing something in ECI's notes on that very topic so something to check...

On my M20E the #2 cylinder always runs the hottest, it has done so on both my old engine and my freshly overhauled one. My A&P and I speculate it's because of p-factor, the #1 cylinder runs the coolest and receives the most airflow from the prop, which supports that theory.

Yeah, I've done this once, kept everything firewalled for about 1hr20min on a flight up North at 2500ft. CHTs were nice and cool so the temperatures weren't causing any issues. I've also varied power, I've done a few 80-85% power runs. Nothing under 75% power (verified against the POH and my JPI, which I had previously dialed in against the POH). Probably worth doing a WOT again and seeing if it helps.

Thanks for your help Rich. I haven't reached out to them yet. I didn't want to create a problem if there wasn't one yet, and their instructions said to contact them at the 60hr mark if not happy with oil consumption. Plus, the oil consumption has been a bit hard to track because of the short 10hr period and the oil from the oil change filling the filter. I'm still trying to get a feel for it. Just curious, if the consumption stabilizes, but the plugs remain oily - I assume still a reason for concern? Oil in the plugs indicates blow-by/lack of ring seating IMO which could still happen in the next 10, 15, 20 hours.

Thanks gents, this is kind of my dilemma here - some are telling me, just fly it, get past 25 or 35 hours and monitor it, others are saying, these cylinders should break-in instantly and you should be seeing stabilized results by now so sure, I'm not going to stop flying it and operating at 75%+ power, but it's a little worrying. The bottom plugs when I pulled them were oily. Every flight has been done at high power and we minimized ground time as best we could at a towered airport (were only #2 for takeoff). We only did 1 other ground-run to leak-check and ensure engine control operations for just a few minutes prior to the first taxi, so I don't see much potential for glazing. CHTs have been cool.

Currently breaking in a freshly overhauled engine on my Mooney, I’m about 17 hours in with nickel cylinders and it’s still churning through oil indicating the rings haven’t sat yet. I borescoped the cylinders and saw oil pooling still with a healthy and strong crosshatch on the sides reinforcing that notion. The engine has always been run at or above 75% power and CHTs kept cool but part out of curiosity and part paranoia, what do glazed cylinders look like on a borescope? I googled and couldn’t find any examples. Some say the crosshatch will disappear, others say it’ll be a very strong dark brown splotch but no pictures.

Would you not put a modern, programmable thermostat inside a house from the 60s simply because it's old? How many still have their stove, oven or fridge from the 1960s, or have you replaced and upgraded it? I think a lot of it comes down to mission, if you're buzzing around within 50nm on 99% of your flights, a G3X is probably overkill. If you're flying IFR XC's every month, than autopilots, a modern WAAS GPS, and solid-state digital displays become more important for the safety, capability, and additional situational awareness they provide. There are some who put more into their panel than they would regularly use, but to argue you shouldn't invest in additional capabilities that match the flying you're doing simply because the airplane is old is silly. There was a $170k 1966 E model that sold on TAP a few months ago that had a decked out panel. The owner probably didn't get everything back, but it did ADD value to the plane that you could get out of the sale, it's not just burned money.

Lycoming or Continental engine? Lycoming the cylinders can get up to 440 CHT, not that that's good for the engine, but that's where Lycoming identified as the danger zone. Safety comes first, best engine practices come 2nd, if to fly the departure procedure correctly requires some hotter cylinder temperatures, it is what it is. You can run the math to figure out what your climb rate needs to be for your expected speed to match that 370 or 500 ft/nm and verify against the POH the aircraft can do it. If you hit 400 but stay there, that's not the end of the world IMO.

After rigging the cowl flaps and putting the airbox bolts on it, I can assure you, trimmed cotter pins or not, blood will be had!

Thanks gents, we did indeed use AN3-16 bolts + hardware and it was tightened until the hole in the thread lined up with the castle nut to put the cotter pin in, so it looks like everything is lined up like it's supposed to be. There is give in the springs so it can move. We will move forward as-is then!

Yeah, that's about where we have it and the same way we approached it... we figured as long as it can move on all planes in the ball joint it's good. The clamp's been a bit harder.

I've found it doesn't make the cockpit "cool" but it does make it more bearable on the ground. The difference between still being warm, but not drenched in sweat. Which aligns with IcyBreeze's docs that say it only cools the ambient temperature down by about 20-25 degrees, when it's 103 outside, it's still 80+ in the cockpit with the sun beaming on you. The most difficult thing I've found is it's a tight fit in the baggage compartment of my E. It scrapes up and down the sides of the rear seats coming up and out and I place an absorptive pad underneath it because I always get some water sloshing out as I get it out of the plane. I think I'm going to try to get a tarp up along the sides so it doesn't scrape up my new leather seats to solve that issue, but wish it had a bit more room back there. It does make a difference though.

We're installing a new tailpipe and a new Mooney clamp on my bird and I have been hunting all over trying to find the correct torque values. My A&P warned me that if it's too tight, the metal won't be able to expand as it heats and flex enough and could break, but it also doesn't need to be too loose otherwise it could leak or the tailpipe bang into the airframe. Which means we need to find the right torque to use vs. guessing. But it's not in the Mooney Service Manual, Lycoming Manual, or any other manual I can find, so asking the Mooney Braintrust here . There's a ball & socket joint with AN bolts and springs where it connects to the other parts of the exhaust, what torque do you apply to the bolts to give the springs enough springiness but not too much? Tailpipe is 630056-501 (OG) replaced with PMA A630119-501 The clamp hangar is P/N 630041-501 and it connects to the rubber shown in the diagram below with an AN3 bolt that we're not sure of what the torque needs to be either.

I was also taught the 25/25, for me it's more temperature dependent than anything, I always go full power to 1k feet for safety to get up to altitude as quickly as possible, after that if the engine is running hot I will often reduce power and pitch down to keep the engine cool, particularly because my airport is under the Bravo and I often can't jet right up to altitude as quickly.

Partly depends on your mission… if you’re regularly carrying 3 grown adults you probably want a mid or long body. If you’re regularly carrying 2 adults: M20E is where it’s at. Nimblest, fastest and best performing of the short bodies. Fuel injected and 20 more hp than the C, it climbs out better too. It’s faster than the F and you don’t need the extra space of the F for 2 people. The J is faster but considerably more expensive. I can get mine to 140-142kts TAS at 7.6-8gph.

If you still need this, I can probably hook you up, have a friend of mine who's a CFI/CFII and Mooney Bravo owner based here in Houston.

Also following along... I'm wrapping up an engine overhaul and bought a new PCU-5000 for my M20E. We haven't installed anything yet (still waiting on the engine to get back) but you've got me concerned now!

If you decide to go that route, a buddy of mine is selling his 2000 Turbo Bravo: https://www.trade-a-plane.com/search?category_level1=Single+Engine+Piston&make=MOONEY&model=M20M+BRAVO&listing_id=2429288&s-type=aircraft . It's also got built-in O2 and is the only Bravo with a factory A/C system, which we exercised last week. LED lights, pulse lights, speed brakes, and they recently overhauled a few things in the panel, the 430W and the HSI IIRC. It's regularly flying. I've flown it a handful of times and it flies really nicely, plus gets into the flight levels with ease. Up in the flight levels is where that plane shines on longer trips, we've gotten 200+ KTAS multiple times. I think he already has a few interested buyers so reach out quick if you're interested.

Pretty sure AD 77-17-04 is for the control yoke shafts and don't require you to open up any panels, but you do have to take the shaft's out from the panel

It's in the Mooney Service Manual, they'll have a diagram of all of the inspection panels, numbered, and then in the "100hr" service manual, they refer back to those numbers and state what has to be open to perform what part of the service. Those are the ones you need to open up for an Annual. Your A&P IA from there can then ask to open up additional ones

I killed my 2nd CDI when I redid my panel. I personally had not used it since owning the plane, I asked a handful of friends who fly regularly and are all IFR when the last time they used their 2nd CDI was and they all said "Pretty much never." I got rid of it and have yet to have needed it. On my M20E, I put a JPI 930 on the right-hand side. I'm not sure what all you have on your left side, but for one of the instrument hole drop-in engine monitors (GI-275, EI CGR-30, JPI 900) you usually can find a spot somewhere.

Hey there, hate to hijack your post but I'm in a similar boat... working on finding some sheet metal workers who can fabricate some new pieces after going to several MSCs but if anyone has the pieces that go around the cylinders (and have already helped lithium out first) please shoot me a note.

I just used AWI for my exhaust overhaul and though we haven't installed it yet, the work seems quality. They have a good reputation and were great at communicating.

Thanks, that Texas Air one has 2 bolts on either side, mine is a continuous clamp all the way around with 1 bolt that goes through to hold tension against the tailpipe. I agree a welder making a replacement is the best option, I'll run by a shop and see what they can do.

The clamp that holds the tailpipe on my 1965 Mooney M20E has snapped clean through the metal. Looking at the parts catalog, this is part 630089-000 (#16 in this diagram). Not having any luck searching around online, I've emailed LASAR but figured I'd ask here if anyone has one? Worst case scenario I can see if a welder can repair it, but I'm not optimistic.