Low Time Engine Worries

[nugs314]

Looking for some advice.  I am about to pull the strings and Purchase a 1967 F for a really good price with an engine that has 85 hrs SMOH.  Problem is that it was done in 2003.  My experience tells me that the plane has not been flown enough.  Should I expect to be throwing money at this for awhile as I will certainly put hours on it (10 a month) and if so what are some of the issues I can expect from a plane that has been sitting far to long.  Thanks in advance for any advice!

[KSMooniac]

Welcome!

There are a lot of previous threads about the consequences of sitting, but the short answer is YES, it is a major concern.  Lycoming cams sit above the oil, and when they sit the oil drains off leaving the steel unprotected, and corrosion can set in.  It won't show up in a compression check or borescope inspection, so the only way to verify is to pull at least one cylinder and check the cam surfaces visually.  It may run fine for a while, but then start shedding metal that might show up in the screen, oil filter, or oil analysis and of course this problem won't fix itself...the only remedy is to split the engine and replace the cam.  

If the plane sat in a good climate (like the desert!) it might not happen.  You might get lucky, but you might not.  If it were me, I'd either price the plane as if the engine had 2000 hours and plan to overhaul it soon, or at least budget for it, or remove at least one jug during the pre-buy inspection to check the cam condition.  This is several hours of work to R&R one, so be prepared to pay for it and possibly have the owner resist.

Other concerns about sitting include corrosion in the electrical switches/radios, gyros losing lubrication, possible bird or rodent issues, etc.  The "throwing money at it for a while" problem would be dealing with those kinds of things that you will eventually wring out fully, but the engine is the biggest concern.  Gyro overhauls will be a few hundred each plus labor, radios...who knows.  

[MooneyMitch]

I second Scott's information.  Lots of varibles here and you will hear them from others momentairly.

With that said, a very thorough inspection by a fully qualified Mooney person is a must here. Are you near a good Mooney Service Center, Maxwell, LASAR, etc?

You may have a great opportunity, just make sure it is indeed that.

[Bennett]

Corrosion condition would be the dominant factor on the plane condition. Corrosion first shows on the engine and airframe exposed parts. Check for cylinder lower fins corrosion first. If they look good there is a good chance there is little or no corrosion inside the engine. Check in the wheel wells joints, spar web stiffeners and spar caps for corrosion. Check also the the main spar center splice for corrosion. Check tubular structure on the cabin sides for corrosion. These are the first places were corrosion would show.

 

José

[stevesm20b]

Your right. The plane has not been flown enough. Might still be a good deal depending on what part of the country it's in, and if it was stored in a hanger. Corrosion, both on the airframe and inside the engine, would be what I would be looking at. With only 85hrs SMOH, even if you had to go through the engine, it would probably be a lot cheeper than if you had to overhaul a high time engine. I think I would pull a cylinder just to see what the inside of the engine looks like. 

[nugs314]

Mooniac/Mitch,

Thank you very much for the info.  I will look into the CAM issue.  The airplane is almost to good to be true.  I recently had one of my partners destroy our Bonanza with a "off roading excursion" and am excited to make the jump to the M20 family.  The F is imaculate, could use some updating in the panel and has been kept hangared in the LA area.  It is also RAJAY equiped and my offer of 45K was excepted with a little haggling.  I will have the pre-buy completed by the end of the week.  My personal inspection showed no signs of corrosion and the aircraft is definetly loved.  The owner has reached an age were he couldnt fly the aircraft enough.  The tanks were re-sealed recently as well.  Thanks again for all the advice.   

[nugs314]

Thanks Steve and Bennett, good info!

[MooneyMitch]

Keep us posted.  We love success stories! 

[nugs314]

Will do Mitch!

[KSMooniac]

Sounds like a very good deal, potentially of course!  The Rajay system makes for a *very* capable XC bird.  Recent tank re-sealing is a HUGE bonus too since a professional job to do that is around 8k.  Try to get it inspected by LASAR or Top Gun since you're in CA.  Steve mentioned that if you had to address anything in the engine that it would likely be cheaper than an O/H...this is true, but cams are a couple thousand bucks (I think) and you'll have at least a couple thousand in R&R labor.  Hopefully the rest of the innards are good, though.  

Keep us posted!  It sounds like a lot of airplane for the money.