Steve Dawson
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Status Updates posted by Steve Dawson
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Hi Lance
II just bought a 1980 M20K with the Merlyn waste gate and an intercooler. The engine has 1400 hours and has had three cylinders overhauled over the last 12 years. Number 5 was just done 70 hours ago. There's an oil leak that is coming from one or possibly both of the two through bolts connecting numbers 4 and 5 cylinder. The shop that I'm using has found that whoever rebuilt or installed the overhauled cylinder before had but "O" rings on the face between the cylinder and the case in what I surmise is an attempt to stop this oil leak. So I have a couple questions for you if you wouldn't mind. One, have you ever seen this before and is it a common fix and two, do you know if it's possible or is it standard practice to pull the through bolts out to replace the two inner "O" rings that go on the grooves on these bolts? I should note that the some of the other O rings on other parts of the engine are hard so it's possible that this maybe the source of the present oil leak. I have an account on Savvy if you it would be better to send the question there.
Thanks in advance Lance
Steve
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Hi Lance
I'm ordering a IFD 540 Monday for my Bravo. How do you like yours and why did you chose it rather then a garmin ?
Steve
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I love it. I later swapped it for an IFD550 and like the enhanced synthetic vision better.
I like the intuitive part of it - it thinks like an IFR pilot. Hard to explain until you fly with it. I definitely recommend the Gary Reeves training on it (avidynetraining.com). Some of his videos are on youtube but buying the videos is well worth it, it really shortens the learning curve.
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Hi Matt
I had a look and flew the plane last week so I can give you my unsolicited opinion if you'd like.
Steve
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yes please do. i would really appreciate that.
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I know the mechanic that looks after it in Collingwood and trust him. He said it's OK but only basically. He did do catchup work and I believe his compression readings. It flew fairly solid with all the radios, AP, aspen working fine (I didn't fly an approach) The engine is at TBO even though the cylinders were changed to wet heads 1100 hours ago but the bottom end is till past it's TBO. (Cam, lifters, bearings case etc.) The prop had been resealed three years ago but would probably need to be rebuilt within the next few hours/years. The avionics are old compared to todays GPS system but they work fine.
My plan was that the engine would last a year then I'd rebuild to overhaul condition then. Estimated cost today would be $65 plus $5-7 in labour. The paint isn't great. The plane had a runway excursion I believe(1995) and components of the wing were repaired and replaced (everything is in the log books and on file through the FAA). It flies well so I think they did an good job but the repaint was marginal and it shows. You'd probably have to do some sanding and touch up but it is 25 years old. Lastly a good pre-buy to find out how well the airfare damage was repaired but mostly to see what the actual condition of the engine and to guesstimate what time is left in the engine. The owner was honest with me and told me everything I wanted to know. If you wanted a pre-buy there's a couple very good mechanics who have considerable Mooney experience within 50 miles as well as using Adam who did the last annual. (use extreme caution if using the local MSC, ask all the local Mooney owners to clarify)
Steve
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