Shadrach

Oily plug…that is all.

My engine is timed to 25° and still get a normal mag drop and I never see CHTs near 400° on climb out.

I typically do 6qts plus ~10oz camgaurd. Consumption depends on operations. 6-8 quarts an hour is perfectly healthy.

An IO360 with the fuel system set to factory specs will not typically have issues with lead deposits. Perhaps at very high DAs his might be an issue. Best course of action is probably to lean for the highest EGT as plug fouling is more a function of plug temperature than mixture. I have been in and around Lycoming engined Mooneys since birth. My father has owned a C, an E and an F model. He never leaned any of those airplanes for taxi. Lead fouled plugs were never an issue for him. DA’s at our 701’ drome vary from -3000 to nearly 4000’ depending on season.

What is the fill level at oil change?

Mixture has nothing to do with an oil wetted plug. Blowby usually accompanies diminished compressions, increased oil consumption and oil on the belly after being blown out the breather. Many things might contribute to an oily plug. The plug/harness could have an issue causing it not to fire at cruise power. Try a mag check in cruise the next time you fly. The rocker box drain could be slow, causing oil to pool in the rocker box and leak into the cylinder through that intake valve guided. Blowby on a cylinder consistently giving a compression reading in the high 7X/80 range seems unlikely.

Should cost almost nothing to determine if you have a good TDC spark from your existing SOS. Folks really are trying to lead you towards a satisfactory outcome. I’ve started lots and lots of injected Lycomings both hot and cold. In the event that an engine is hard to start (hot or cold), there has always been an ignition issue. After market solutions are normally added when an operator has identified a weak spot in the design that can be improved upon. It sure looks like you have an ignition issue. A malfunction is not the same thing as a design flaw.

You keep saying that you have a blowby problem, but none of the symptoms that you describe indicate a blowby problem.

One can always add fuel, taking it away is more difficult. If the engine is warm, just try starting it. You’ll soon know if it needs a prime. Like so many things aviation related, this subject is made more complicated than need be.

You said they were nickel cylinders? No cross hatch on nickel.

What is the "evidence of blowby" at the dipstick? From your post there seems to be no reason to pull the cylinder. Oil on the plug could be minor leakage from one of the guides. Is the plug actually oil fouled?...as in not firing due to oil saturation or is it simply wet upon inspection? Certainly a borescope is warranted before anything more invasive. Seems trigger happy to be advocating for cylinder removal.

Yup. $30-50 a pop through a salvage yard.

This issue prevents many C models from seeing their true potential. When I flew to NC a few weeks back I was joined by C model that was also loaded with supplies though not as heavily. I was about 360lbs heavier than him. He took off 2 mins ahead of me. I passed him in the climb around 4000 and arrived at our predetermined 8500 cruising altitude 2 mins and 38 seconds before him with cooler CHTs and far enough ahead as to be out of sight. The 20hp paper delta between the two planes was different from the operational differences. The extra weight I was carrying should’ve diminished my power advantage, but he had to run more conservatively to keep CHT in check while I was putting as much air and fuel as I could though my engine. I think with sufficient effort and tweaking, those operational differences can be diminished substantially thereby narrowing the performance delta between parallel and angle valve, four-cylinder Mooneys.

You’re in good hands with Russ Romey. I have done business with him on a number of occasions over the last few decades and have nothing but good things to say.

Indeed that looks to be the real story. I hope we get to see some electric aircraft soon. I am wondering if there’s some sort of tax credit for installing charging infrastructure. I’m not holding my breath, waiting for an electric Aircraft to show up. My guess is that those chargers will sit unused for the foreseeable future

What manual are you reading? The 67 AFM gives no instruction regarding hot starts. The 1968 AFM does but it is poorly worded. “Normal start” is referenced but not defined. It’s clearly not a cold start. So I’ve always read it as exactly what we’re recommending. Do you have a later AFM with a different hot start procedure?

I will take the flap pump and actuator off you hands for a reasonable price. They’re not making any more of those.

Yeah, that was my point. Regardless of whether it’s certified or not, 2900lbs is a lot to ask of 200 hp Lycoming under certain conditions. I too fly solo…often at weights <2200lbs. It’s quite sporty at those weights, especially in winter.

I mean technically rather than legally it could have any take off weight with which it will ascend out of ground effect. Does not mean it's a good idea. I am not sure of the specifics but I believe that in Alaska it's possible you could get a waiver to operate a J model commercially at 10% over gross...so 3,014lbs or 3190 without any modifications. 2900lbs is a lot to ask of a 200hp airplane under certain scenarios. A 2740lb J model requires a considerate pilot on hot, high DA days. I imagine a 2900lb J model is pretty sluggish under those conditions. that's 13.7lbs per HP vs 14.5lbs per HP. 14.5lbs per HP is the lowest power to weight ratio of an Mooney ever certified. No doubt it can handle it just fine, but the margins are thinner. The little 65hp Mooney Mite is pulling 12lbs per HP at MGW. Under normal operating weight, my F model is at around 11.5lbs per HP. When I flew supplies to NC for Helen, I had 573lbs of cargo on board which meant the plane was within 20lbs gross with 50 gals of fuel on board. It was near a standard day, but the difference in take off performance was considerable. Once airborne the difference was trivial. Landing in a windy valley at a 3000' strip with surrounding 1800' to 2000' peaks the differences became clear again.

I never see lead deposits at the electrode. Any deposits are always found at the base of the internal insulator. They typically need to be picked out with a dental tool. I have never had deposits in sufficient quantities to have any effect on plug performance.

In March of this year, the FAA granted Pipistrel Velis a certification exemption as a light sport aircraft for training in the US. https://www.pipistrel-aircraft.com/pipistrel-velis-electro-earns-lsa-airworthiness-exemption-from-the-faa/ Need to investigate the charging station more closely as I believe that the Velis has a proprietary charger.

Perhaps I missed an announcement, but I haven’t been able to find anything online regarding the charging station installed in front of AOPA. I’m guessing there are a couple of Pipistrel Velis E-trainers on order from Slovenia.

@bigmo I’ve been flying a lot in the last week behind two different injected Lycoming four cylinders. I haven’t done a single leg over 70NM. This means I’ve done about 10 hot starts in the last 10 days. Both aircraft (Decathlon and Mooney Exec) start flawlessly hot or cold. They both have the same injection system and engine configuration (IO320 and IO360 with RSA injection). One has Bendix mags with SOS and the other has slicks with an impulse coupling. Hot start turnaround varied between 15 minutes and one hour. OAT varied from 45° to 85°. Technique has been the same for both…Turn the key and add mixture when it fires. I thought about this thread and your airplane on every one of those hot starts. there has to be more to the story with your Aircraft than technique.

I can see how that might happen. Things rarely go as fast as you want them to. There are almost always unknown obstacles to contend with. I can crimp terminals and pins as well as build harnesses, but I have an IA friend that can run circles around me in terms of time, so I leverage that skillset. I was basing my estimate on my ADSB install which took well under 8hrs. IA spent about three hours on the tray and harness and I spent about 4hrs running wire and mounting new antenna. At the end of the day, the total labor for the install came to about $400 but that included a nice tip on top of what he asked for. There are plenty of guys on my field that waited months and spent 2-3K in labor to have a box installed. Maybe someday that will seem like a reasonable value. Currently, it does not.

Wow…$8,000 to install a $3000, 3 1/8” instrument? Pretty sure I could do a double G5 install in under a week. But let’s say a week. So to justify paying that avionics shop to do it, I would need to take home $400hr or $832k a year. Perhaps someday I will take home $400 hr, but that day has not yet arrived.