Dklossner

My plane has the King KAS 297B V.S. and preselect. There is no seperate preflight test on this. I believe the instrument is confirmed good within the KFC 150 test. it also has King KLN 90A IFR Certified GPS/ Slaved to EFIS System.

Thank you, Jack. My EFS 40 is my AI and it tests okay. Would you recommend that I have it tested outside the plane - or do you have another recommendation. In my area there is not a quality shop.

Autopilot won't work: KFC 15- preflight test is okay: Sent the KFC 150 and servos to be checked out and they are fine. The EFS 40 - preflight test is okay: Getting ready to send it our for bench test but... When the A/P is engaged the plane slowly climbs to the right. Altitude preslect does not hold. Has anybody had this porblem and what did they find? thanks

This Forum is a very useful tool. Thanks for the comments. It help me deal with a situation that I experienced yesterday. I have a Bravo. Flying from Winnipeg to Cleveland. Left Winnipeg around 2pm local time, filed IFR direct at 21,000. Picked up a nice tail wind so flight details are as follows; ground speed average 220knts – peak 250knts, 28 inches manifold pressure, 25 degrees leak of peak burning 15 GPH, TIT 1650, RPM 2450, OAT temps ranges from -20c to -35c. There were two weather fronts, one west of Lake Michigan and one east. The cloud tops on both fronts were above 21,000 – so I was flying into the clouds when I was transverse the fronts. The first front cloud conditions were was diffuse, without distinct edges – very light in color and bright, but visibility was poor. Absolutely no moisture, I did see the ice crystals. The second front was darker and I figured it was due to the time of day – around 6 pm EST local time – dusk. The clouds were still diffused, but ice crystals were much more prevalent – outside air temp climbed from -35c to -20c. Turned on prop heat and pitot tube heat. The front thickness at my crossing point was about 30 miles. No ice pickups, but the ALT AIR light come on - no loss of performance - MP stayed at 28 in. Additionally, communication was lost due to static. Once through the front, ALT light went out and communication was restored. In the future I will go around darker diffused clouds if the temp is warmer that -20c, when at high altitudes.

Question. If the outside air temp is below -20c to -30c and you fly into a cloud at or above 15,000 ft can you pickup ice? I don't think temp inversion is an issue. I don't think you can, based on what I have read, but I would like to pose this question to others.

Keep in mind that the Lycoming test (propeller oil control leak test - Lycoming SI 1462A) showed insufficient pressure – actually zero PSI . Additional, you could feel a significant amount of air pressure coming from the oil fill tube - again confirming that there was a leak. The Lycoming engineers provide four potential causes: 1. Engine - Front main bearing needs to be replaced – apparently there is a relationship to the front bearing and the oil supply to the governor. 2. A plug located on the crankcase has become lose and needs to be replaced 3. The transfer collar needs to be rebuilt 4. A piston which controls prop pitch has oil on both sides and needs to be rebuilt. We had eliminated the transfer collar and the piston potential causes. So that left the front main bearing or the plug. The issue is you can't easily determine if the plug is leaking. So we applied 25 PSI of air pressure (we made a small rubber adaptor to plug into the crankcase breather vent port (see page 7-19 Airplane and System Description formthe POH) and only then could we see oil/air/bubbles leaking around the plug. We were concern to add too much pressure to the engine - so we limited the test to 25 PSI. Hope that helps. Regading Mooneyspace - it is a great tool. I believe, my experiance and test may help others which is one of the great benifits of Mooneyspace.

To all, It turned out to be a poorly installed plug in the crankshaft. We were able to diagnose the problem by exerting a small amount of pressure in the crankcase pressure relieve port.

Ben, Yes, before we had the prop guys look into the prop and conduct the 1462A test, we checked the governor drive - all was good. Hopefully today, we will have the opertunity to inspect the plug one more time. thanks for your thoughts. David

I was thinking the same thing, can we pressure test the plug - externally? The prop shop did run the prop through its paces and they claim all is well. Another thought is how quickly this situation came up - does that give us any addtional clues? if were a bearing issue, wouldn't I see a lower engine pressures? If it were a crack - oil leaks? Thanks again.

Below is the ling to the Lycoming SI 1462A which outlines how the test was completed and the expected results. http://www.lycoming.textron.com/support/publications/service-instructions/pdfs/SI1462A.pdf My action plan is as follows: 1. remove prop (this is one of the intial steps required to remove the engine) 2. Double check the condition/seal of the crankcase plug. If possible develope a external to engine pressure check 3. Based on the plug inspection/test - remove engine or be thankful I didn't have to remove engine.

Guys, Thanks for your thoughts. I have ruled out a faulty governor test due to the results of the Lycoming pressure test 1462A. The question about the plug is still an concern. Apparently, according to Lycoming, there are two versions with several different iterations per version (large 1.75 dia. plug & small 1.25 dia. Plug). The prop shop mechanic was confident that the plug was good and tight. In fact, he said we had tapped on it with a center punch to make sure it was secured. Excerpt from the prop shop which conducted the test “The test we performed was the propeller oil control leak test per the attached Lycoming Service Instruction. Our results from the test were 0 psi (step 7 in the service instruction). The minimum specified is 6 psi.” A few more details to consider: · Plane has always been hangered and primary flown in warmer climates (used Shell Areo 100+), I am based in Ohio, so the first thing I did was change to Shell Areo 80+. I also added the oil additive Cam Guard. · I had the prop shop change back to the 100+ (trying to eliminate all the variable). We now have partial prop control, whereas before we had none. Again, thanks for the ideas and feedback

Looking for ideas and possible causes, below is the details of the incident. On January 2nd 2011, at level flight at 4,000 ft, 27 inches MP @ 2,400 RPM, OAT -4c. The RPM’s starting creeping up, in fact is exceeded the redline by 200 RPMs. I started pulling out the prop control, but it had no effect. Then I started reducing MP pressure even farther to 20 inches – only then did the RPMs start to decline. We flew the remainder of the flight, approximately 10 minutes, at 20 inches MP @ 2,500 RPMs. When we landed, we conducted anther run up and again the prop showed no signs of pitch variation regardless of the prop control position – it was like the prop control linkage had broken, which of course was not the case. On January 3rd, we removed the prop governor – had it tested and it tested good On January 5, we conducted the leak test in accordance to Lycoming service instruction 1462A , It failed the test, which is a indication of a internal engine issue. I am following the Lycoming SB 396K for overspeeds. Currently the TT is approximately 1,974 - 145 hours SMOH, which was done in 2006. The engine has had oil changes ever 25 to 40 hours. There has been no noted issues with any maintenance and the engine has ran strong with all engine guages in the green – last annual was completed in November 2010. Oil samples show no signs of excessive wear and oil filter inspections are clean. All compressions are excellant. I have contacted the engine rebulder and we have started dicussing repair options - I will see how this goes, right now he is reluctant.

Thanks for your tip. I will look into it.

Jerry, Thanks for the insight. I will check out the hose. Have a great holiday.

Chuck, Happy holidays, yes, we are thinking it may have something to do with the plane not being flown very much over the last several years. I just don't want to start changing parts. david