47U

Could be better, but 6 hrs / qt is well within the expected range of oil usage. Interested to hear what Mooney says about the vertical position of the breather tube…

That sounds reasonable… How many flight hours are you getting between adding a quart of oil? Has the engine been thoroughly inspected for any external leakage? Is there oil in laying in the bottom of the cowl after a period of time?

How many quarts of oil do run in the crankcase?

Which I strive to do. Sometimes, a no-brainer. Like when I documented that a cylinder compression check was 50/80. Investigation revealed the exhaust valve guide was severely worn and the cylinder was sent off for overhaul. It’s not hard to figure out that reading 50/80 is the reason for a top overhaul of a cylinder. (The exhaust valve guide was sloppy. The engine shop told me the valve was close to be ‘swallowed.’). I’ve since upped my borescope game. And then my IA tells me I write too much in the log books. But, it’s better than back in the ‘60s and ‘70s. There was a gear-up on my airplane only 6 months leaving the factory. Nothing in the logbook, but there was a 337, which wasn’t referred to in the logbook. Why wasn’t the 337 in the aircraft records? The previous owner didn’t now about it, and he had the airplane for 35 years before me. I only found it when in 2008 I ordered the history CD from the FAA.

Precision Static Testing in Livermore. They travel to the local airports around NORCAL which is convenient. $325 in Mar 2024, for the IFR check on two altimeters. $125 last Jan for a VFR check after I had to swap out my xpnder.

The knob shouldn’t go in until it hits the panel. There should be some ‘cushion’ (an 1/8” to 1/4” gap) to ensure the control is hitting the high rpm stop on the prop governor and carburetor (throttle) / full rich (mixture). Check to make sure the clamps holding the prop cable to the cable support bracket are the right size.

Upside down was driving me nutty…

I would caveat this statement with, ‘until the repair action is documented.’ And sometimes not even then! Perhaps because the interpretation of airworthiness is so subjective? But, I don’t like it when I can’t figure out what the discrepancy was by reading the corrective action that is documented in the logbook. I spent too much time in a system that prohibited aircraft maintenance from being performed until first there was a documented discrepancy.

As I remember the article, Mike Busch promotes three separate activities to accomplish the annual. Which are not to be intermixed. 1. The Inspection. And only the inspection. 2. The List of Discrepancies, with airworthiness issues identified and projected hours to make repairs on each item. The repairs to be accomplished are negotiated between the owner and shop. 3. The Fix Phase. Savvy’s plan pretty much follows what we did when I worked Phase/Periodic Inspection on three different airframes during my career. Pre-phase runs; inspection/lubrication; fix phase with time changes and service bulletins; backline for out-of-dock checks/post phase runs. And don’t forget the FCF.

Yes, but it’s not a remote filter. It’s not installed when these pics were taken. In the first pic, note the blue shop towel sticking out of the oil filter pad orifice… below the vacuum pump.

Do not over-torque spinner screws. Hand-snug, that’s it.

I’ve put the clamp on the yoke, not the yoke shaft. It moves the iPad closer to your body… depends how long your legs are? Or, accomplish Mooney SBM 20-205B and replace the yoke shafts (several amu’s, sorry). The new shafts are about 1.5” longer than the old shafts. And, it retires the yoke shaft AD. I ordered the shafts through LASAR, or Top Gun, I forget. I think Mooney had them in stock (last year).

My apologies… When I got the airplane my oil cooler hoses were not routed per the service bulletin. When I replaced the hoses, I ran the hose with the 90 degree fitting on the inboard side of the firewall to the top fitting on the oil cooler. I replicated the engine fitting to oil cooler fitting of the old hoses, but truthfully, I didn’t verify it that was correct per the Lycoming manual. Logically (?), shouldn’t the pressure side to the oil cooler be on the bottom fitting of the oil cooler and the return hose on the top fitting? That way your pushing air in the system up, not down? Hope these pics help… (Disclaimer, I’m in the middle of a number of projects here, so there’s going to be some eye-catchers, if you know what I mean. Please be gentle.)

https://mooney.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/SBM20-110.pdf

I’m surprised there was never an STC to remove the doghouse. I wouldn’t think it would be that hard. @Sabremech accomplished this when he redesigned the entire cowling on the 180hp version… I’d be interested if he thinks this would be viable, without the total redesign that he did.

Spencer… https://spenceraircraft.com/a6187-4z-1-4-u-type-tinnerman-nut-olive-alt-part-94808a158.html

Don’t take this wrong, but lucky you. This is a parallel fuel delivery system. On the firewall side, there’s a hose that delivers fuel from the elbow in the pilot’s footwell to the engine driven fuel pump. The outlet of the pump goes down to the T-fitting above the left exhaust cavity. This T-fitting also receives fuel from the electric boost pump. The outlet of the T-fitting goes to the carburetor. If you have a fuel flow transducer, it will (should) be between the T-fitting and the carburetor. The hose from the footwell T-fitting to the engine driven fuel pump below. If this hose is too long, it may interfere with removal of the suction screen in the oil pan. It is also a short hose (9 3/8” per the IPC), so subjected to engine vibration. Mine had failed internally without any observed external leakage. When it fails, the fuel pump sucks air through the hose thereby inducing gyrations in the fuel pressure and fuel flow readings. The IPC calls for a hose 14” long from the engine driven fuel pump outlet to the T-fitting. It can be routed with minimal chaffing opportunity, but fire sleeve is always a good idea.

What year M20C? The routing of the early C-models with the gascolator in the nose wheel well is different than later C-models with the gascolator/pull ring sump drain next to the fuel selector on the floor of the cockpit.

If there’s binding or interference of the gear on the doors or retract mechanism, I think there would be visual evidence of that in chafe marks. The person doing the gear lube could (should?) have seen that evidence since they were there to lube because of the reported stiff operation. I think the airplane needs to go up on jacks so you can see what’s going on.

Don @hammdo makes a good point, check the J bar to make sure it isn’t bent along with the (several) rods to make sure they’re all straight. And excess speed makes it a lot harder. A CFI that wants to wait to retract the gear until ‘there’s no useable runway’ isn’t helping. The POH talks about retracting the gear when a positive rate of climb is well established, or something like that. Lubrication was a good start, but changing the shock disks won’t make any difference. Have the torque preloads been checked? Also, there are some assist springs, two in the belly and one each in the wing outboard of the gear that should be inspected. Retracting the extending the gear is an exercise in rhythm. Once the muscle memory is learned, you won’t have any problem. You can practice with the gear when the airplane is on jacks getting the preloads checked.

There may be some dirt/debris in the holes, but they don’t look worn to the extent that the seat would not lock. One picture shows a hole with some deformity… not sure what that’s about. Is there hardware installed in the seat track to prevent the seat from sliding all the way off the track? If so, is that hardware limiting forward travel and preventing the seat pin from engaging the hole? (It looks like there might be some roller wear, also.)

Ordered my C-model intake duct mid Apr 2024 received mid Jan 2025. I keep it in the forward supply point. I had replaced the intake duct in Sep 2010 as it had some holes and was quite deteriorated. The replacement back then was much more robust, as is the one I received last Jan.

Mooney addresses corrosion on the outboard flap hinge when a stainless steel upstop bolt is used and recommends replacing the upstop bolt with an NAS 428-3-7. Replacing the hinge bolts with stainless might induce corrosion in the flap hinges if you’re in a high corrosion area (like Florida/coast?). https://mooney.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/SBM20-186A.pdf

Maybe the engineer thought the Heim bearing on the steering arm was subject to more nose gear vibration than the Heim that is attached to the rudder crossover tube? I remain confused as to the choice of hardware.

https://mooney.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/sbm20-345A.pdf