I'm sorry, but I did not order TOAST!

[Bob]

Well.Bob...I take it you will end up with a newly overhauled engine and maybe prop (if there was metal contam)....I think you are/were luckier than you think....at least you didnt launch off into 600 ft overcast and end up a smoking hole in the ground for your estate to deal with the forgetful mechanic

Prop was disassembled, decontaminated and balanced since it had only 12 hrs since new and had no wear.  For a while I thought about if I would have left the ground, but then I talked to a few very experienced A&P's.  I had several say that it would have destroyed itself before I lifted off.  Will never know fore sure, but I closed the chapter , in my mind, with it self destructing before liftoff.

[kortopates]

I am just reading this thread for the first time and I must say I am just blown away that the aircraft was cowled back up when the turbo scavenge line was still so obviously not connected back to the scavenge pump! I just can't believe the same mechanic that re-assembled the oil lines was the person that put the cowl on either - its just really hard to swallow but of course it really happened. And because of that I am sure everyone involved is very thankful you didn't take off.

Did you ever get an explanation on what happened? It really seems like there was a major breakdown in communications at the shop as if someone that did not know the true status of the work at the shop instructed another mechanic or possibly an apprentice to put the cowl back on believing it was actually done. But what's still missing are inspections and run-up checks before re-cowling the aircraft. Much has been stated about their lack of quality control on this thread. Most of the better shops I know of have a second technician inspect the work before signing it off. This was so blatantly missed that its seems more than one individual had to be involved and a major communications breakdown occurred. I am betting its more a lesson in human factors for the shop than a single mechanic that lost his or her mind that day. It's such a egregious error I'd bet the mechanic that didn't finish the re-assembly wasn't even there when it was cowled back up. Did you ever get the whole story? Unfortunately I can imagine the shop shutting up right away about the details. But glad of course they took responsibility for it as they did.

Out of curiosity, where the picture looking at the unconnected scavenge line taken before the engine was cleaned up? I would have thought maybe inlet oil pressure would have pushed some of the oil out of the open scavenge line, but that area looked surprisingly clean unless that was taken after it was cleaned up with solvent. So was that really the case that all the oil was pushed past the seals in the turbo into the induction and exhaust side before making it through the unconnected end of the scavenge oil line?

Lastly you mentioned the engine analyzer was very important to keeping you on the ground. Was that because of the analyzer alert you got from a lack of oil pressure? In this case I would expect the OEM oil pressure to save us as well, as we check oil pressure during the run up (with prop) and again as we take the runway. But the added plus of the analyzer is the alarm/alert being helpful at getting our immediate attention when it falls below limits. Is that what you were thankful for from the analyzer?

With this almost all behind you now, I hope you get your bird back soonest and of course we know you'll be super cautious with good reason before taking it up this time. But lets hope you have a trouble free bird from the first startup on; you sure deserve it!

[Bob]

I am just reading this thread for the first time and I must say I am just blown away that the aircraft was cowled back up when the turbo scavenge line was still so obviously not connected back to the scavenge pump! I just can't believe the same mechanic that re-assembled the oil lines was the person that put the cowl on either - its just really hard to swallow but of course it really happened. And because of that I am sure everyone involved is very thankful you didn't take off.

Did you ever get an explanation on what happened? It really seems like there was a major breakdown in communications at the shop as if someone that did not know the true status of the work at the shop instructed another mechanic or possibly an apprentice to put the cowl back on believing it was actually done. But what's still missing are inspections and run-up checks before re-cowling the aircraft. Much has been stated about their lack of quality control on this thread. Most of the better shops I know of have a second technician inspect the work before signing it off. This was so blatantly missed that its seems more than one individual had to be involved and a major communications breakdown occurred. I am betting its more a lesson in human factors for the shop than a single mechanic that lost his or her mind that day. It's such a egregious error I'd bet the mechanic that didn't finish the re-assembly wasn't even there when it was cowled back up. Did you ever get the whole story? Unfortunately I can imagine the shop shutting up right away about the details. But glad of course they took responsibility for it as they did.

Out of curiosity, where the picture looking at the unconnected scavenge line taken before the engine was cleaned up? I would have thought maybe inlet oil pressure would have pushed some of the oil out of the open scavenge line, but that area looked surprisingly clean unless that was taken after it was cleaned up with solvent. So was that really the case that all the oil was pushed past the seals in the turbo into the induction and exhaust side before making it through the unconnected end of the scavenge oil line?

Lastly you mentioned the engine analyzer was very important to keeping you on the ground. Was that because of the analyzer alert you got from a lack of oil pressure? In this case I would expect the OEM oil pressure to save us as well, as we check oil pressure during the run up (with prop) and again as we take the runway. But the added plus of the analyzer is the alarm/alert being helpful at getting our immediate attention when it falls below limits. Is that what you were thankful for from the analyzer?

With this almost all behind you now, I hope you get your bird back soonest and of course we know you'll be super cautious with good reason before taking it up this time. But lets hope you have a trouble free bird from the first startup on; you sure deserve it! 

It is my understanding that one mechanic did the whole job from starter adapter to installing cowl.

I did not ask for an explanation since It is clear to me that the mechanic just rushed to get the job out the door.  I also did not want to hear the answer "I forgot".  When you rush, you leave things off, undone and don't spend time to double check your work.  In this case, a simple run-up would allow them to catch the mistake.  Very hard to comprehend an A&P reinstalling a rebuilt starter adapter & also a factory new starter and assuming that both are good and no need to be tested with at least one start.  I am curious if this mechanic, after doing brake work on the family car, gives it to his wife without a test drive?  The problem is that the shop does not have a proper system for training their employees.  My plane was not the first that they messed up.  While doing mild research, during the last 2 years, I see 5 damaged planes from that same business.  Three damaged by line crew negligence and another one from negligence of the same mechanic.  It is my understanding that the mechanic may have also "forgotten" to reinstall a bolt in the nose gear of a twin engine aircraft that resulted in the nose gear collapsing during it's firs landing after the repairs.  My damage is one of the cheapest mistakes.  One other mistake was just under 500K

I did not clean the engine or firewall.  I was also very surprised that the oil did not spray all over.  My best guess is that the oil departing the turbo is about 1 QT per minute and is pushed thru a pretty good size line.  It wont spray out of the line, but rather bubble out and fall to the ground.

Yes, I feel that the alert benefit of the analyzer is a major benefit.  I think when on the ground, most of us go thru a procedure and then when airborne transition into a scan. Some may only check oil pressure a couple times while on the ground.  I had my JPI installed with a "dummy" light to flash me in the face if anything is out of proper parameters.  Rather than waiting for the next time to look at the oil pressure gauge, the alert grabs your immediate attention.  In my case the alert is set for anything below 50PSI, but unfortunately that did not happen until the pump started sucking air, with only 1/2 qt left in the engine.  So it went from full pressure with proper oiling, then a second later, to almost no pressure and no oil. 

Thanks for your thoughts for a trouble free future.  I think I am going on almost 5 months downtime now, but want to check and figure it out.