Utah20Gflyer

Do you still have this? Would you take $100 with you paying for shipping?

The parts manual for our G model Mooneys show the Prestolite ALY-8403 as being the alternator originally installed. Hartzell says the current part number they are selling for our plane is ALX-8521 A standard alternator looks like this which is quite different than what you have installed. Im feeling pretty confident the alternator installed is not the right manufacturer. It looks as though the other companies like plane power are selling the same prestolite alternator under their own label, so unless there is a STC I haven’t come across then that doesn’t look like a proper alternator. Whoever put that 90 dollar rebuilt alternator in your plane should be nominated for king of the cheap bastards (also known as CBs on the forum).

It’s very likely that the alternator is not an aviation specific unit. The reason is not that the STC holder doesn’t use an alternator from Carquest. The reason is that they charge 3x the price to remove the carquest sticker and apply their sticker. Look in your logbook and see if you can find a logbook entry saying when that alternator was installed. Also look for any STCs for alternator conversion. You’ll probably just have to spring for an approved alternator and a little labor to swap them. It would probably be good to have the new alternator in hand before the mechanic starts looking for brackets. Could be an alternator issue rather than a bracket issue that is causing the misalignment.

When I pulled a cylinder on my engine to replace a broken stud I definitely noticed that it was much more difficult to get the rockers back in. This concerned me at the time but the mechanic said as long as we put everything back the way it came out there is nothing to worry about with it being really tight. If the pushrods really were that out of spec then the valves would never close and you would have zero compression. Given the engine was running fine previously I think that mechanic should follow my mechanics advice and put everything back together the way it came apart.

First, I’m very sorry you have had such an unpleasant and stressful buying experience. That really sucks! As others have said it doesn’t sound like a strong case. You don’t know what was on that missing page or if there was nothing at all. A good case for fraud would be an entry describing significant work that was never actually done, for instance a pencil whipped engine overhaul. I also own a G model Mooney. Feel free to reach out if you have any G specific questions. I’ve really enjoyed my Mooney the last 4 years, they are great planes. What part of the country do you live in?

If it were me I wouldn’t worry about it. A quart in 18 hours is below average but not crazy low. Besides, what would you do about it anyway? I’ve never heard of a maintenance technique to increase oil consumption.

I bought mine off a local classified ad site called KSL.com. Similar to craiglist. I’d check whatever you have in your area and see if you can pick up a used one. I paid 400 for a Inogen G3 and then spent another 100 replacing the cylinders in it a couple months later. There are lots of people who want to sell them after their parent passes or they upgrade or get over something like Covid. Performance is very close to the G5 at a fraction of the cost.

You would need a 2nd STC that allows for the conversion and would include a revision of the owners manual converting all the old numbers to knots. Ultimately does it really matter? You fly the plane by the numbers. Seems immaterial if those numbers represent statute miles or knots?

I have an Inogen G3 and really like it. I almost always use it now for cross country flights. Unless I had a turbocharged aircraft I don’t think I would ever choose a bottle over the oxygen concentrator.

Good point, Here at Mooneyspace we only responsibly fire out guns in the air!

There have been a few times when I’ve bought new parts that were defective. I would check the temp sensor for normal operation using a heated liquid and another thermostat. It’s probably fine but just because it’s new doesn’t mean it’s good.

I think it is unlikely. The oil cooler is just some passages with cooling fins attached. I don’t think which way the oil flows matters. I’d de cowl and take a look at things anyway. It’s always a good idea to double check things and make sure everything is in its place. Kinking an oil line because things are hooked up backwards could definitely reduce flow but I’d be surprised if that happened. There is more friction during break in which equates to more heat. How many hours since the field overhaul?

Lots of companies talk about getting their engines certified but it’s an easy thing to talk about and a very difficult thing to do in practice. Even if it were certified right now it would still be a long time before it made it into an actual airframe. Best case scenario one of these engines makes it into a certified airplane about the time I’m aging out of flying. So meh!

After a while you look like this and raising the gear gets really easy

I recently removed and reinstalled a cylinder to repair a broken cylinder hold down stud. When the mechanic and I reinstalled the cylinder we applied torque seal to each nut as it was torqued to spec. Now whenever I have a part of the cowl off I can visually inspect the hardware to confirm nothing has lost torque. The hardware loosing torque is the big risk in doing cylinder work so this seems like extremely cheap insurance. I’d imagine lots of others are doing this already but thought I’d mention it because it is great for piece of mind. Without torque seal that nut that should be at 50 ft lbs looks exactly the same at 50 ft lbs as it does 10 ft lbs.