mccauley prop on M20J, 13 years since original install

[dominikos]

the prop has been installed in 2007. looking through the propeller log, I don’t see any evidence of propeller overhaul or service except of inspections at annual. why it’s relevant is that I started to see some residual oil (not red) showing up on cowling and smudges on the propeller itself. I’m getting ready for some longer summer trips (30 hours or so in July). I’m also being told to plan for hub reseal but the condition is still flyable. 

The challenge moving forward is the options for propeller and timing. Looks like i could go with hub reseal but stay away from overhaul, overhaul and look into getting a new propeller (been thinking about MT). The last option is the most expensive and does not sit well with this year budget. A

Any thoughts,suggestions on the way forward? also is it possible that prop has been flying for last 15 years without major service???? It is still below TBO.

Thanks, Dominik

[Ragsf15e]

Definitely possible it’s been on that long and it probably needs a reseal. That’s what mine started doing.  I was getting a fine mist of oil on the windscreen just before I had it overhauled.  Reseal would be better.

BTW, it’s way past TBO… they have 6 or 7 years as well as the hours.  Not that it matters.

[dominikos]

3 minutes ago, Ragsf15e said:

Definitely possible it’s been on that long and it probably needs a reseal. That’s what mine started doing.  I was getting a fine mist of oil on the windscreen just before I had it overhauled.  Reseal would be better.

BTW, it’s way past TBO… they have 6 or 7 years as well as the hours.  Not that it matters.

the joys of plane ownership… I was told that getting private is your license to learn… somehow it escaped me that buying a plane is a license to learn as well… 

joking aside, that’s the plan for the prop, most likely to go with at least reseal before I can afford any other options

[PT20J]

Do a reseal. If anything is amiss after disassembly, the prop shop can notify you and turn it into an overhaul. But if you order an overhaul, there are things the shop must do that you may not need and just increase the cost and decrease the life of the prop. 

[jaylw314]

You'll have to be careful about an IRAN that turns into an overhaul if you have trips planned.  Some parts may be worn past limits, and I suspect that finding new or overhauled parts is pretty tough right now.   If you trust your prop guy, you might want to talk to him about ordering stuff ahead of time if you're looking for new.

FWIW, a new Hartzell prop ended up costing only a little more than a hub repair and new Macauley blades (and less than a new Macauley hub and blades).  In the fantasyland of a few years ago, there was a lead time of 3 weeks for a new Hartzell prop.  There are a couple people here with MT's on their J's, but that sounded like something you needed to plan way ahead on

Edited July 5, 2022 by jaylw314

[ArtVandelay]

If it’s been 10+ years, the shop is may not do a IRAN and insist on doing a overhaul. It’s about an extra $1000 IIRC.

[Jocbay]

1 hour ago, PT20J said:

But if you order an overhaul, there are things the shop must do that you may not need and just increase the cost and decrease the life of the prop. 

Why does an overhaul decrease the life of a prop.  Seems counter intuitive.

[ArtVandelay]

Why does an overhaul decrease the life of a prop.  Seems counter intuitive.

They grind the blades, but they only should do enough to make a smooth edge.

[PT20J]

21 minutes ago, Jocbay said:

Why does an overhaul decrease the life of a prop.  Seems counter intuitive.

I may be wrong, but I believe the overhaul manual requires profiling the blades and you can only grind them so many times before they are below limits. 

[Ragsf15e]

2 hours ago, ArtVandelay said:

If it’s been 10+ years, the shop is may not do a IRAN and insist on doing a overhaul. It’s about an extra $1000 IIRC.

That’s how I ended up with an overhaul instead of a reseal.  It was on the airplane for ~14 years and they said they wouldn’t do a reseal on that. (American prop in Redding CA)

[Rjfanjet]

I did reseal back in february. Prop had 400 hours since new in 2007. The shop only did the reseal and I asked them to paint the blades. No issues.

[Guest]

19 hours ago, PT20J said:

I may be wrong, but I believe the overhaul manual requires profiling the blades and you can only grind them so many times before they are below limits. 

If they grind aluminum blades, I wonder what they’ll do to my wooden MT blades?

Clarence

[Hank]

36 minutes ago, M20Doc said:

If they grind aluminum blades, I wonder what they’ll do to my wooden MT blades?

Clarence

Need to borrow a sharp hand plane for the profiling work?  

[hubcap]

I sent my prop in for overhaul while my plane was in for annual. THAT was a nightmare. One of the blades was out of spec, so I had to find new blades. 

[EricJ]

4 hours ago, M20Doc said:

If they grind aluminum blades, I wonder what they’ll do to my wooden MT blades?

Clarence

Wood rasp, e.g., a four-in-hand.   Maybe some sand paper. 

[jaylw314]

58 minutes ago, bluehighwayflyer said:

Like I said above, many shops have never met a prop that doesn’t need new blades.  Yeah, right.  Of course.  After you have ground on them for a while.  Of course they are out of spec.  You really need to research your prop shops carefully. We fell victim to this scheme on a “first run” prop once 35 years ago. And then to add insult to injury they literally ground the numbers .001 and .003 on the blades to ensure that we couldn’t use them on the RV-4 that we were building at the time.  This was the amount that they said they were out of spec when they were finished with them.  

LOL, I was trying to say that in a more circumspect way 

[SoKYMooney]

I am following this thread closely.  Prop on my '77 J is leaking as well.

[Guest]

I’m glad my wooden blades won’t be corroding on the inside like you guys with aluminum blades.  

Clarence

[PT20J]

22 hours ago, M20Doc said:

I’m glad my wooden blades won’t be corroding on the inside like you guys with aluminum blades.  

Clarence

What about termites?

[EricJ]

8 minutes ago, PT20J said:

What about termites?

Makes it even lighter!

[Guest]

1 hour ago, PT20J said:

What about termites?

That’s a possibility I hadn’t thought of.  Any suggestions?

Clarence

[Hank]

2 hours ago, M20Doc said:

That’s a possibility I hadn’t thought of.  Any suggestions?

Clarence

This is what I used at my last house. Current home came with assumable pest control contract without outrageous fees to take over.