IO-550 -- 12 Years TBO??

[TGreen]

Got about 1500 hours on my Continental IO-550. TBO is 2,000 hours or 12 years. I'm at about 16 years and everything seems fine. Should I be thinking about an overhaul just because of the age of the engine? Curious if some of you have gotten well past 12 years before overhaul. Thanks.

[Cruiser]

more people go by hours instead of age If the engine is run regularly and does not show signs of problems. 

[LANCECASPER]

2 minutes ago, TGreen said:

Got about 1500 hours on my Continental IO-550. TBO is 2,000 hours or 12 years. I'm at about 16 years and everything seems fine. Should I be thinking about an overhaul just because of the age of the engine? Curious if some of you have gotten well past 12 years before overhaul. Thanks.

https://www.avweb.com/ownership/the-savvy-aviator-45-how-risky-is-going-past-tbo/

https://resources.savvyaviation.com/wp-content/uploads/articles_eaa/EAA_2010-02_engine-tbo-a-myth.pdf

 

 

 

 

[carusoam]

Number of years is not related to the type of flying we do…

Number of hours is barely related to the type of flying we do…

The important part of GA flying and engines getting on in hours and years….

Is how often they get flown….

Warranty for new and probably factory reman engines goes beyond 2k hrs, since a decade ago…

 

Soooo….

Flying on condition is all the rage today…

If you change oil often…

Have video from inside your cylinders…

The pics of your valves all show a nice pizza…

No metal bits are showing up in your filter….

If LOP is mostly how you fly… CHTs are always in control…. Your pics will probably show the health of the cross hatches on the cylinder walls…

 

No need to rush the process to get put into the infant mortality phase of a new engine….

 

I was so looking forward to running my first IO550 past TBO…  until the ground struck my prop at about 1600hrs total, and 18years… I was 20 miles away when it happened… 

 

I think the only reason to want to OH an IO550 any sooner than needed… is the opportunity to go 310hp… 

Of course… all of the accessories are getting long in the tooth at the same time…

Start planning the route…..

new/factory reman/ OH…

What ignition system you want to use…

What prop do you want?

Do we have a turbine option yet?

What shop do you want to do the work…

I went with factory reman, 310hp, and a TopProp….  MT was still months away from being available…. My home shop did the work…

 

The longer you wait… the less pandemic distortion you will see….

PP thoughts only, not an economist…

Best regards,

-a-

 

[A64Pilot]

TBO is actually more of a warranty than anything, an engine manufacturer has determined that if operated IAW their guidelines, an engine will still be airworthy upon reaching x number of hours or x number of years with a pretty good safety margin.

Its actually a lot like drug expiration dates, the drug manufacturer is guaranteeing that that the drug will not have lost its effectiveness etc at expiration date, very often they have no idea how long the drug will actually last in storage, but they are sure it will last until the date they print on the bottle at least.

I really should overhaul my C-85 as it’s beginning to leak oil pretty bad, but then it’s last overhaul was I believe in the 1970’s. It’s had new cylinders and Mags etc, but the core hasn’t been opened in 50 years or so?

Finally if you plan on overhauling, I recommend doing so upon reaching the hour level, because if you run it until it starts making metal, very often that means your buying some very expensive parts, but if you plan on an overhaul / exchange go ahead and run it until its dead.

I would expect though that eventually the manufacturers will require all big parts to be repairable or charge you accordingly if they aren’t 

Edited February 27, 2022 by A64Pilot

[carusoam]

The odd thing about the 2.2k hr TBO…

The prescription to make the engine get to the new extended TBO…

Run it often… similar to a flight school…

 

same with the actual warranty period…

The engine gets shipped to the new owner… it may be sitting for months while other work gets done…. Panel, paint, interior, GU repair….

It may not get all the hours out of the warranty period before it expires….

 

Don’t forget to read the fine print…

 

PP thoughts only,

-a-