Sandy

Thanks for the replies gents. I'll try to answer a few of your questions. 1. I was told by the prop shop that the piston froze in the bore. They told me about the small amount of chromium found. But, source?? Cody - where would cadmium come from? 2. Carusoam - I have a JPI but don't record from it. There was no metal found in the filter when the shop who pulled the prop checked. Yes, I've been actively flying it - for 22 years. No, unfortunately there was no written warranty but it's an old time shop so I wasn't concerned. A new piston was installed during the overhaul. * Something like that is always someones fault, manufacturer, installer, designer etc. but we'll never know. 3. Matt - I don't know if I have chromium rings or not. I'll call our Lycoming tech rep and ask. ---- I won't spout off here but if anyone is considering a factory engine give me a call. Sandy

I hope all you deep thinkers will give me your opinion about this situation: About six months prior to this event I had replaced my engine and done all the extra bank account drainers that go with it. I had the prop (McCauley) and governer overhauled and the engine mount tested at the same shop. Forty nine hours and about six months later the prop froze at full (coarse) pitch while I was away from home. It cost me over $1600 plus travel and time to have the problem corrected. The overhaul shop and McCauley were very sorry it happened but felt no responsibility for my expenses.Since then the overhaul shop has sent me a check for $320. No, we don't know why it failed. However there were "a few" bits of chromium in the hub - and chromium was high in my latest oil analysis - done during annual one hour after the incident - the filter was also changed during the repair and no metal was found in it. If this engine (FOH IO-360 A3B6) has chrome rings it's probably not a problem. Should I be stuck with this bill? and, does this engine have chrome rings? I've omitted a lot of detail to keep this fairly short. Thanks for your thoughts. Sandy

That was one of the many things we did 2201, the ball was free but "Joe" squirted something into the tube just to be sure. It's still running fine! Sandy

I suppose I should put an end to this issue. I've flown it four times since we quit trying to diagnose a problem and all appears normal. Should anything interesting occur I'll report. Thanks to all who offered support. Sandy.

Sorry it took so long to update my problem. I couldn't make the site work yesterday. "Joe" tried everything he and we could think of and the problem with my aircraft still exixts. He hopes to obtain a like new complete ignition harness so we can swap it with mine and see if there is any difference. I've flown the bird twice since we gave up trying to fix it and it runs fine - except for that occasional "stumble" at low rpm. I'll update if and when. Sandy

Progress to report - none. To respond to your questions: carusoam - No, the engine is not new to me and it is flown weekly. johngreen - The temps I was referring to were the EGT and CHT on the JPI. Thank all for your interest, I probably won't have any news until Monday. I will let you know what the problem is. Sandy

Thanks to all you fine folks who have responded to my problem. If you'll permit I'll respond to all at once. First, I didn't try leaning and I don't know if my mechanic did. Second, I don't know whether he checked the servo linkage or not. Third, The temps across the board were normal except for that one few second excursion to hotter on #4. Fourth, I don't remember checking its roughness at full idle - I rarely run it there. And, finally I don't know if my mechanic (I'll call him Joe for briefness) did. What he did do after I left last night to keep from becoming too much of an irritant was, he soaked the injectors overnight then ultra sonic blasted them this am. He saw no visible problem there. Later today he was poking around with his bore scope but I didn't get a chance to talk with him yet. Others have also mentioned carbon on the exhaust valves as a possibility. Also, a neighbor with a 540 which is similar to a 360 said that he had a problem with carbon on the lifters. I hadn't heard of that before. I'll gently ask "Joe" about the above unresolved items - you know how mechanics hate others second guessing them. I'll keep you posted. Sandy

My mechanic spent all day yesterday trying to find the problem: While landing the other night I noticed a slight engine roughness as I retarded the throttle below about 1400rpm. I ran it up after landing and found a slight roughness around the 1200 - 1300 area on the right side (io360a3b6d) of the mag. Next morning my mechanic pulled and machine checked the plugs and found them to be OK. Yesterday we really dug into it; he high voltage tested the wiring harness and found a couple of less than perfect but normal for their age leads, he checked the mag timing and eventually removed it for a deeper inspection. Other than a bit more carbon than normal for the time since last removal everything checked OK. Reinstalled, ran it up with no change - still runs rough at low rpm. At one point it seemed like #4 cylinder was running a bit hotter than the rest but the readings on the JPI fluctuate a bit in those conditions so we can't be sure. And now it doesn't seem to be only on the "right mag". Have any of you fine folks had a similar experience? It's already cost me eight hours labor with no result, I hate to just start throwing new parts at it.