IO 550

[Fritz Kaiser]

Hi folks,

 

i’m a proud owner of an O1 build in ’95.

The hobbs meter shows 1650h total . First engine!

At the last anual all cylinders oft he big bore IO550 are over 72 :

I guess…. everything is fine.

In Dec. `18 we flew to vienna in 12.000 feet and we had in very smooth air about 3 times a light

vibration on the dashboard. I thought, maybe we entered a some different airmass.

After landing in vienna we made an extensiv ground check before shoutdown the engine. The

discrepancies.

At the way home i thought the engine is running more smooth with less vibration.

Anyway …. next day after returning, I flew to my maintenance shop to check the engine.

The A&P made a compresion check --- perfect results.

Ignition checked  --- OK

Spark plugs checked … one removed a little less spark.

Harness checked…OK.

Don’t worry  everything is fine …be no hypocondriac ….. go flying.

First flight in Jan 2019 all was perfekt  smooth,  over deep snowing landscape.

After landing we had a battery discarge warning. I thought : low rpm   ..more  throttle  --

same problem. 

Today we flew the 15 min trip without battery charging – no radios, gear down to my A&P.

This ist he result!!

all the screws are missing from the gear attached on the crankshaft!

everywere are metalchips!

What did you do ??

 

Please help

 

Regards Fritz

 

( sorry for very bad englisch! )

[MIm20c]

I’m sorry that this happened to you. Unfortunately this is a full tear down and your crankshaft will need to be replaced. With the amount of hours you might want to go for a factory reman if they allow you to trade in your unusable crank. 

Again, I’m very sorry this happened...

[StevenL757]

I agree.  On a 24-year old core, the engine has lasted twice the recommended life put out by Continental Motors (12 years/2000 or 2200 hours).  Although many engines of theirs go beyond that, I wouldn't put any repair money into this engine.  Plan for a factory reman.  Not sure what your overhaul options are around Regenstauf, but I would vote for the factory reman first.

Sincerely glad you and the airplane are safe.  Let us know how we can help.

Steve

[thinwing]

This why when I had an alternator failure on the left engine of my Baron ,I shut the engine down ...this is a typical worst case alternator bearing failure.On Beech products..part of preventive maintance is to pull the alternator (fortunately easy access)about every 500 hrs I recall.As others have suggested ,there will be metal contamination thru our the engine.I don’t recall on the 550 if that gear is replaceable or not but during the tear down ,if the bearing surfaces on the crank and cam are scored enough,than they are toast.Ive seen an continental io520 that by luck survived this same event ...but right know you have to assume every component including prop and governor is Fowled with metal chips.So sorry for the bad news ,but your engine could have failed catastrophically over the alps next.

[jetdriven]

New problem created by rebuilders who cheap out and use a substandard alternator coupler, an inferior alternator bearing, or dont torque the alternator shaft hardware exact. This is well-known on BT, and the solution, as poor as it is, is to disassemble the alternator, inspect, and reassemble carefully. Then pull and check every few hundred hours. 

[Guest]

4 hours ago, Fritz Kaiser said:

Hi folks,

 

 

 

i’m a proud owner of an O1 build in ’95.

 

The hobbs meter shows 1650h total . First engine!

 

At the last anual all cylinders oft he big bore IO550 are over 72 :

 

I guess…. everything is fine.

 

In Dec. `18 we flew to vienna in 12.000 feet and we had in very smooth air about 3 times a light

 

vibration on the dashboard. I thought, maybe we entered a some different airmass.

 

After landing in vienna we made an extensiv ground check before shoutdown the engine. The

 

discrepancies.

 

At the way home i thought the engine is running more smooth with less vibration.

 

Anyway …. next day after returning, I flew to my maintenance shop to check the engine.

 

The A&P made a compresion check --- perfect results.

 

Ignition checked  --- OK

 

Spark plugs checked … one removed a little less spark.

 

Harness checked…OK.

 

Don’t worry  everything is fine …be no hypocondriac ….. go flying.

 

First flight in Jan 2019 all was perfekt  smooth,  over deep snowing landscape.

 

After landing we had a battery discarge warning. I thought : low rpm   ..more  throttle  --

 

same problem. 

 

Today we flew the 15 min trip without battery charging – no radios, gear down to my A&P.

 

This ist he result!!

 

all the screws are missing from the gear attached on the crankshaft!

everywere are metalchips!

What did you do ??

 

Please help

 

Regards Fritz

 

( sorry for very bad englisch! )

Hello Fritz,

Glad that you and your plane are safe on the ground.  A replacement engine is in your immediate future, the factory will most likely be your best choice.  They will generally take this back without core penalty.

I you overhaul the engine in Europe you will at least need a new alternator drive gear, hopefully not a new crankshaft.  If you choose local overhaul I would see if they can examine the gear mounting flange before proceeding.  The factory normally will not accept the engine if it’s been disassembled.

Clarence

[thinwing]

I think if during overhaul,crank bearings can be ordered undersized..I see aircraft specialties carries 010 undersized bearing kits and it appears that crank gear is replaceable if 4 mounting holes aren’t too screwed up.That would at least save a 10 k crank.

[thinwing]

Also it appears alt gear mounting bolts and flanges Are completely missing.What Clarence is suggesting is those gear mount threaded holes in the crankshaft are beat up

[jetdriven]

If its an airmelt crank I think it has the be retired when the case is split. Not sure what his is.

[Guest]

Here is what the crankshaft looks like.  The 4 gear mounting bolts and reinforcing plates are somewhere in the engine.  If the gear flange on the engine is damage enough to require crankshaft replacement, the factory is the best bet.

Clarence

[Guest]

I don’t think AD97-26-17 on VAR crankshafts will apply to the IO550.

Clarence

[carusoam]

Fritz,

You have done well!

At least you have communicated your mechanical challenge extremely clearly... to the people that know how deep your challenge is...

 

The upside... when you are ready to discuss.... 310hp factory reman May make some sense if you need to go that route....

Good luck, keep us posted with what you find out...

Best regards,

-a-

[Fritz Kaiser]

Hi folks,

Downtime was 10 weeks

and € 83.000  ( $ 93.790) 

but the new engine ( factory rebuild ) is running great and smooth.

grettings

Fritz

 

[carusoam]

Way to go Fritz!

Are your break-in flights completed yet?

I recently watched a video posted around here.  The break-in flight of a Continental engine done with a tech employee from Continental...

Let us know if you need some info... we know a guy... 

Best regards,

-a-

[ArtVandelay]

The 2nd picture of the engine on the pallet is blurred, Im guessing your hands were shaking, I guess if I spent that much money mine would too


Tom