Mag troubles

[jpusser]

My 62C is giving a bad mag check on the left side. I checked the leads and one is intermittent.  Not Sure if it would be the wire or mag.  The cylinder with the bad wire is running colder when run on the bad mag.  Plugs are new and checked good.  The only prior ignition problems are a little miss in the engine after about 30 min of flight.  The bad mag check is dropping about 300 rpm.

[231Pilot]

How old are the mags?  When I had a 67C, one of the mags went south on me and I replaced both with new SLICKS.  Plane ran much better than it did with the originals.  Also the SLICK replacement assembly was much less expensive than rebuilding/overhauling the Bendix mags.

[danb35]

As I understand it, it's very unusual for a mag problem to affect just one cylinder--much more likely to be the wire or the plug.  What happens when you test the mags LOP (or as lean as it will run smoothly), in flight?

[Shadrach]

Quote: jpusser

My 62C is giving a bad mag check on the left side. I checked the leads and one is intermittent.  Not Sure if it would be the wire or mag.  The cylinder with the bad wire is running colder when run on the bad mag.  Plugs are new and checked good.  The only prior ignition problems are a little miss in the engine after about 30 min of flight.  The bad mag check is dropping about 300 rpm.

[jpusser]

Thanks for all the great info.  I did find a very bad spot in the lead. What are my options besides buying a whole new harness.  If there are no other options, what about the aero-lite harness, they seem to be the cheapest.

[Shadrach]

I bought a Champion lead at annual this year because of a broken elbow fitting at the plug.  Champion in their infinite wisdom, stopped selling these as stand alone parts. I was able to purchase a single lead from http://www.texair.com/  Ask for Lindy, she was most helpful. IIRC the lead was about $65.00 and will have plugs that work with either Slick or Bendix mags. If you have the elbow style leads be sure to save all the hardware as some of the pieces are not available as stand alone parts. Good to have spares as I have seen engine vibration can take them out over time. Best of luck!

[jpusser]

I ordered a skytronics lead kit from quality aircraft accessories.  It is a 6' lead with the spark plug end already installed.  Cut it to the length you need and install it in the mag.  $32, a lot cheaper than a harness.