M20K-231 - cotter pins found in engine

[L39pilot]

Play hard ball with the shop!  My IO550 went to 40s compression on all 6 cylinders at once at 600hrs.

On borescope the exhaust valves were standing proud & could not be staked.  Pulling 1 cylinder only, my mechanic found hardened valve guides used on turbocharged engines.  Metal was pushed up not allowing the exhaust valves to seat.  Contacting Continental, we were told the engine was out of warranty & therefore, it was my problem!

Solution, we told Continental that since the engine was airworthy when they shipped it with the wrong valve guides; we would smooth off the galled metal ridge & reassemble the engine, using only new gaskets.  We would videotape the entire procedure & my estate would own Continental when the engine failed!

We received 6 new cylinders & 1/2 of the labor charge with the requirement that we return the old complete cylinder assemblies.  But we “lost” one exhaust valve that set on my desk for years until Katrina.  I am not a fan of factory reman,  this is my second disaster  

The first was loss of mineral oil on the same engine at 5 hours on the way home from the west coast because they “forgot” to put tape on one of the 4 studs that connect the oil pump to the tachometer drive.

The law does not excuse negligence!

Boots

[L39Driver]

What engine shop did the engine overhaul and who did the install? If it’s the same shop, the costs will be on them to remove, repair and reinstall.

[bigwheel]

Old thread but I though some might be interested. 

When installing the cotter pins the hoop end of the pin must be seated inside the nut castellations. This usually requires mashing the head of the pin to make it seat deeper in the castellations. If this is not done the hoop of the pin will catch on the bottom edge of the cylinder bore and eventually will break the pin in precisely the same manner shown in the OPs pictures.

Also, if your unlucky you’ll have the old perforated tube suction screen, rather than the updated mesh suction screen like the OP has. The perforated tube screen will allow the chucks of cotter pin to pass through it and reach your oil pump. Your oil pump will then chop up the pin into smaller chunks while destroying itself and the oil pump cavity built into the accessory cover. 

In my case the bottom cotter pin on all six cylinders was either broken, missing, or damaged. None of the nuts had loosened, as should be the case of a property torqued fastener. 

 

[Guest]

From the Continental manual: installing cotter pins.

Clarence

[carusoam]

Welcome aboard bw!

Interesting first post.

Sounds like you may have had a painful experience...

Thanks for sharing the details...

Best regards,

-a-

[RLCarter]

1 hour ago, M20Doc said:

From the Continental manual: installing cotter pins.

Clarence

That’s how my IA taught me, one leg gets cut in the middle of the nut and the other in the middle of the bolt

[DanM20C]

CSB96-13 has the only reference I can find on how to properly install the connecting rod cotter pins.  My OH manual doesn't detail this. But it should,  as @bigwheel mentioned above it is critical that it be done this way.

Cheers,

Dan

 

[Schllc]

40-50k will evaporate in weeks with attorneys involved.  Not to mention the anxiety and stress and hassle. 

I’d  give the shop an opportunity to fix the way I want and if they declined I’d probably just grit my teeth and go another route.   Maybe after its done send the bill and see if they pony up something. 

Even if, big if, you prevail, you wont likely get attorneys fees, and will never recover the time and stress.

it sucks, they were wrong, your being punished but such is life.  I have been in this position more than once, fortunately not in the aviation world but its the same thing, don’t let emotion get in the way of good sense.  You are right, winning will likely come at a cost that isn’t worth it.  This sucks but I would have a local shop you trust do an IRAN and move on.

 

[RJBrown]

Continental supplied the factory reman engine originally supplied to Rocket engineering and installed in my M20-K..

At 88 hours the six bolts holding the alternator drive gear came loose. The original bend tabs were flat, they had never been bent up against the bolt heads. This destroyed the alternator and sent foreign material into the engine.

The flight was coincidently enroute to Spokane where Rocket is so no ferry was required.

Continental supplied all cost to install a zero time factory reman.

this shop should pay all costs. I would expect legal fees in a negligence case. Judge makes this decision. 
 

ANY SHOP THAT FIGHTS THIS IS EITHER BROKE OR CROOKED. There should be a “completed products” portion to their business insurance. Has their insurance been contacted. A “real business will have insurance” If they have no insurance you don’t have much chance to collect unless you can attach property.

I would ask my attorneys to file a notice of lis pendis against any real or personal property owned by the shop or its owner.

can’t get blood from a turnip.

I was sued in a real estate deal. We counter sued and prevailed. I had ask my attorney to file a notice of lis pendis against a specific piece of property owned by the plaintiff. He failed to follow my direction about the notice. Legal fees were awarded to us. When the property in question was sold following plaintiff’s bankruptcy I did not get paid. We were treated as an unsecured creditor. Had the notice been filed properly we would have been first in line.

in the end I received only the funds that were escrowed at closing. The lawyer received nothing from me because he failed to follow my request about the notice. Find the assets now before the court case. Without assets all you are doing is feeding your attorney.

 

[Cyril Gibb]

On 1/12/2021 at 6:02 PM, Schllc said:

I’d  give the shop an opportunity to fix the way I want and if they declined I’d probably just grit my teeth and go another route.   

Probably, unfortunately good advice, except...

If you’re going to pay for everything yourself, and don’t expect anything from the original shop, find a lawyer who will accept the case on a contingency basis.  You have nothing to lose.

 

[FlyWalt]

Is there any update to the status of this case. Id like to know if the errant shop, grew a pair and owned up to what they have caused for this poor guy. Life is short and the world is small. Especially the Aviation World. Everyone knows everyone and we create the karma that we have to live with. Stuff like this can the be thing that takes down your whole business.

Peace,
W

[Pilot64]

On 9/18/2019 at 4:05 PM, KB4 said:

No facts to support, but I have heard that many pilots have been killed by the mistakes of mechanics, they are human and just as susceptible to error as the rest of us. Statistics do say that IF something likely to go wrong it’s more probable to happen within X hours of your annual.  

 

Hi all - I have been away for a while dealing with a family emergency - non flight related, fortunately. As a follow up, Daytona Aircraft Services was the shop that performed the maintenance. My new mechanic at the time of the original issue refused to issue a ferry permit, but Jake Clemens at DAC (the A&P who signed off on all the maintenance resulting in this issue) had located a ferry pilot who was willing to fly the plane, my assumption is that he would have also issued a ferry permit for that flight. The fact that they wanted me to pay to have my plane flown back to their shop for their error was just insult to injury - I didn't want to fly it, didn't feel comfortable flying it, and my new mechanic suggested that I not fly it even if a ferry permit were issued. The solution - I purchased a new engine from Continental and had it installed. I will not use Daytona Aircraft Services in the future for anything - not even to inflate the tires if I am in dire need. I dropped everything on my plate at the time of this issue due to the family emergency, but I plan to pick back up where I left off with the attorney now that I have time to do so. My apologies for such a delay in my update. Good case for having every other or every 3rd annual performed by a new maintenance shop - I have always done this.

[Guest]

8 hours ago, Pilot64 said:

Hi all - I have been away for a while dealing with a family emergency - non flight related, fortunately. As a follow up, Daytona Aircraft Services was the shop that performed the maintenance. My new mechanic at the time of the original issue refused to issue a ferry permit, but Jake Clemens at DAC (the A&P who signed off on all the maintenance resulting in this issue) had located a ferry pilot who was willing to fly the plane, my assumption is that he would have also issued a ferry permit for that flight. The fact that they wanted me to pay to have my plane flown back to their shop for their error was just insult to injury - I didn't want to fly it, didn't feel comfortable flying it, and my new mechanic suggested that I not fly it even if a ferry permit were issued. The solution - I purchased a new engine from Continental and had it installed. I will not use Daytona Aircraft Services in the future for anything - not even to inflate the tires if I am in dire need. I dropped everything on my plate at the time of this issue due to the family emergency, but I plan to pick back up where I left off with the attorney now that I have time to do so. My apologies for such a delay in my update. Good case for having every other or every 3rd annual performed by a new maintenance shop - I have always done this.

Welcome back, glad you’re back flying, sorry to hear this hasn’t been resolved yet.

Clarence

[PT20J]

I think you made the right decision. I hope you have luck with getting some compensation, but the important thing is to have an engine that is safe any that you have confidence in. 

[jrwilson]

I had three broken Cotter pins, same type of engine, after overhaul.  Found in screen.  Mechanic said they were improperly installed “not peened” and it was hard to tell but he thought they might have been slightly too small also.  Engine shop covered most of the repair, except my California mechanic was more expensive than the overhaul shop covered so I was out a few thousand…