The Saga Continues

[Rustler]

For those who read and contributed to Engine Overhaul/Change, the saga continues.

I received word today that my newly overhauled IO360A3B6 was being shipped this afternoon from Montrose, CO. It should be in San Marcos (HYI) on Thursday, maybe Friday.

It wasn't the easiest of decisions, but I decided to replace the A3B6D with the A3B6 primarily because of the redundancy of having two separate magnetos, each driven by its own shaft. I considered the Lycoming "0" time engine, but it was going to cost about $11,000 more, and I couldn't justify it ($5.50/hour over the 2000-hour life), the roller tappets notwithstanding. I think I'll be happy with this upgrade.

The engine was done by Western Skyways, and they have been first-rate all the way. They have kept me updated, and they have talked regularly with the shop that will do the installation. I've also met one of their personnel in person.

The project should begin in earnest on Monday, so I'll let you know what transpires.

[KSMooniac]

Please keep us updated!  After reading a saga with a crappy Western Skyways overhaul on the AOPA Forum I hope yours turns out well.  Pay special attention to all of the accessories and make sure they're installed correctly before you hang the engine...

I'm a bit confused with what you got...I understand the switch to the non-D engine, but you did get the roller tappets, right?  I thought all of their overhauls get the upgrade, but I could be mistaken.  How about all of the rest of the accessories like starter, alternator, mags, etc?

[Rustler]

Here's what I ordered and should receive tomorrow.

IO360A3B6 (standard old-style engine, no roller tappets), new Lycoming cylinders, new mags (Bendix, because my mechanic likes them) and harness, no starter because I'll use my new Skytech, ditto alternator, using new light weight. Essentially, the old engine is returned exactly like the new one arrives. I'll provide more information when I read the new engine log.

I'm sending the oil cooler to Dallas to be steam cleaned and X-rayed. I'm having the prop governor overhauled. I just had the prop re-sealed and the oil only has 10 hours on it, so it'll go right back on as is. We're going to wait to see if the Air Wolf wet vacuum pump will fit in there with the oil/water separator; if it will, in it goes.

One of the two main ideas in this exchange was that I would limit down time doing it this way, and I think I will. It will not be an Indy Car--or NASCAR for those who prefer greasy caps and tobacco stains--pit stop out/in but should be relatively quick. I've alerted the oil-radiator folks, and they've agreed to do a 3-4 day turnaround (Dallas), and the prop governor will take about the same length of time in San Antonio.

I'll publish a complete scenario when we're finished, along with cost, for others' reference. I hope that it will be helpful.

There are horror stories extant on anybody who has built the numbers of engines Western Skyways has: Lycoming, Firewall Forward, Continental, Zephyr, etc., but I have done a lot of work to check out Western Skyways. They do all the overhaul work for All American Aircraft (where the airplane was purchased) and they recommend them highly. So far, I have felt very comfortable with my relationship with them, and the prices invoiced were exactly those quoted. Another factor was thet they, unlike any other company from whom I received a quote, did not charge a core-difference charge.

Anyway, that's the status. I'll forward more as I know it. I have a flight to Taos on Sunday, so the work will begin on Monday.

 

 

 

[KSMooniac]

Very good, Michael.  I can see why you went with them if you didn't get up-charged on the D vs. non-D core, so that is very nice.  I think you're wise to disposition all of the accessories yourself, too.  Good luck with the swap next week!  I hope it goes extremely well.

[Cruiser]

roller tappets are only available from the factory and ALL factory overhauls come with roller tappets now. The case must be modified to accept them and only the factory can do it. Many cases are not able to be modified so the factory provides a new one if necessary.

[Rustler]

Friday, 19 June

The engine arrived in an undamaged crate and sits in the hangar awaiting Monday's start of the replacement. Didn't see much point is breaking down the crate just to look, but I was tempted.

Got the plane ready for a roundtrip to Taos on Sunday. During that process, I discovered that someone must be coming into my hangar at night and putting stuff--aviation related, but lots of it--in the back seat of the plane! A most peculiar thing.

[Mcstealth]

Quote: Rustler

Got the plane ready for a roundtrip to Taos on Sunday. During that process, I discovered that someone must be coming into my hangar at night and putting stuff--aviation related, but lots of it--in the back seat of the plane! A most peculiar thing.

[Rustler]

Well, I guess I'd better update this thread and let you know what has been going on.

The engine arrived from Western Skyways when they said it would and was in excellent condition in an undamaged wooden crate. All paperwork was packed with the engine, including the new engine logbook and the build-up detail.

Having decided already to bite the proverbial bullet with the engine, I decided to do the installation to a high degree of upgrade/update, to wit:

        1. Removed the old oil cooler and shipped it to Dallas to be steam cleaned, inspected, and X-rayed. Cost ~ $150.
        2. Removed prop governor and shipped it to be cleaned, have the SBs and ADs complied with, and rebuilt, if necessary. (This governor turned out not to have had the SBs and ADs complied with, so we thought a new one might be more cost effective. Not so.) No prop overhaul was necessary since we had just had the prop re-sealed 10 hours ago because it was throwing a little oil, and it was deemed in excellent condition with almost new oil, Cost ~$850.
        3. Removed the engine mount and sent it to Georgia to be a) inspected and repaired if necessary, or traded in on a new mount. It turned out to be in excellent condition, so it was cleaned, magnafluxed, certified, then refinished. Cost ~$650.
        4. Purchased a new Sigma Tek vacuum pump. The old one, when removed, was leaking a little oil and was not deemed to be serviceable. I considered an Airwolf, but because of the limited space between the accessory case and the firewall, the SigmaTek seemed a better solution. The air/oil separator for the Airwolf is quite large and was just too big for comfortable installation. Cost ~$475.
        5. The alternator extant on the plane has 268 hours on it and was installed in 2000. The mounting bracket holes were worn to the extent that I felt replacement was necessary. Plane Power sells an excellent alternator, it is ~3-4 pounds lighter than the equivalent Prestolite, and I know Les Staples and his reputation with both the alternators and SkyTec starters. Cost ~$525.
        6. Hoses. All major hoses will be replaced. Cost undetermined at this time.
        7. Tach. The tach will be sent up the road to be cleaned, re-set to "0" and an appropriate entry made in the log books.  I have always liked the UMA combo digital/analog tachs and considered one, but they are not PMAd that we could tell (they are built to TSO standards but have not gone through the testing to be PMAd or TSOd.) and needed a field approval, something not easily obtained down here right now. Cost ~$125.
        8. Cleanup. I have sat many an hour with the Varsol sprayer, brush, and Scotchbrite pads cleaning the firewall and all the electrical connection enda and tabs. It is bright and clean and much more pleasing to my eye. I also intend to re-paint the nose gear while it is easy to approach. There is some rust where stones and FOD have chipped the metal, so now's the time.
        9. Removed the old muffler assembly and found cracks. Purchased a new system with a studded muffler instead of the corrugated one. Used the existing shroud. Cost ~$1295.

And that's the progress through today. We are starting the third week and expect to be finished in about a week. We have been having incredibly hot temperatures (103-107 ambient air temperatures but 165 right off the tarmac one day) here and there is no relief in sight, so work days tend to be about 4-5 hours. My A&P changed his shop hours to 6AM-3PM, which helped him and his mechanics some, but it is oppressive and slows everything down.

A note for McStealth: it was a stream-of-conscoiusness comment about the plane's last flight before removal of the engine.

 

[KSMooniac]

Thanks for the update!  Good luck with the continued work. 

[Cruiser]

Why did you reset the tach to "0" ?

[Rustler]

Cruiser asked, "Why did you reset the tach to "0" ?"

I was going to send it to be cleaned or rebuilt if necessary, so I thought it would be useful to have engine time rather than airframe time showing on the tach. Nothing any more complicated than that. I'd thought of installing a Hobbs and leaving the tach where it was, but decided against it.

[Rustler]

The engine has been hung on the airplane, and final hookup/assembly has begun.

We have had one of those things happen that's to be expected when one converts from one type of engine to another. Knowing that those things are bound to arise, however, doesn't make them any less frustrating or time consuming.

The engine was mounted with the prop governor attached, and it became readily apparent that the bracket that guides the prop-governor cable could not be positioned to 1) align the cable, or 2) allow for removal of the oil filter. This occurs because the accessory case on the A3B6 is thicker than that of the A3B6D, hence the prop governor is positioned further back toward the firewall than before. One would think this is easily remedied by checking the Mooney parts book and obtaining the correct bracket. Well, it isn't that easy.

Toward the end of the production run of the "J" model, it appears that Mooney changed from the A3B6D to the A3B6 engine; however, the numbers of aircraft produced were small, and neither an addendum nor a new parts book was published. After a couple days of research, it grew frustrating enough that we called Mooney, only to find that the "engine expert" was out sick. Next day, he recovered sufficiently to tell us that we needed a bracket that did not appear in the book, and "here is the part number." Actually, it is two pieces, the bracket itself and an arm that attaches vertically to the prop governor and to which attaches the cable end. The consensus around the shop was that, since so few such Js were built, they probably wouldn't have the part. They did, and it was shipped immediately.

    10. Acquire elusive prop-governor bracket and plate. Cost ~$200.

Once those parts arrived and were installed, we attached the engine. It took only one re-shimming to get the proper alignment of engine to cowl, and thankfully we didn't have to go panel diving too ofter in 105-degree heat.

An interesting aside here. When one receives the "IO360A3B6" that one ordered from Western Skyways, one receives an "IO360A3B6D-C," the "-C" indicating a conversion to the A3B6. It is quite a surprise when first reading the new engine log.

My guess is that we'll be flying next week. I'll provide the final chapter when we do.

(On the left is a photo of the bracket and the plate; on the right is the complete bracket showing very little oil-filter clearance)

[Carl S]

Bump

Any further gotchas along the way?

 

 

[Rustler]

Not really. Everything has worked out well, and the engine has 40+ hours on it. I'm flying out of a field at 7100' MSL now, so the new engine is nice. Annual comes up in December, and I might do a GAMI-injector install at that time; CHT and EGT are well within limits, but I'd like to see what the GAMIs will do.

Aside from that bracket, everythig has worked as advertised. I've been more than satisfied with my decision to go with Western Skyways and would do it again in a minute. I'd also change from the A3B6D to the A3B6 in less time than that.

 

 

[KSMooniac]

Michael, have you done a GAMI lean test with the new engine?

[Rustler]

Scott--

Not yet. It is my intent to do it on the next trip I take.