When am I out of the woods?

[Lood]

I've put 33 hours on my newly overhauled engine and it is really running very, very wel. I haven't had any problems whatsoever and the oil consumption is just about stabilized. All temps and oil pressure are running fine.  Some pilots reckon that there's a certain amount of time within which a new engine sorts itself out and if there are any snags or problems, they normally show up in this time. Some even feel that it is sometimes better to buy an airplane with an engine that has done 100 hours SMOH instead of one with 0 hours.
What's your opinion?

[231Pilot]

Lowest time engine I've everhad was 300 hours.  I was happy to get that...and happy not ot have to do the break-in.

[rbridges]

I read an article a while back that said the highest percentage of engine failures were within the first 250 hours and >2500 hours.  

[Hank]

My C had 186 on the tach when I bought it, and I did nothing special. Been flying her the same way since purchase, now ~550.

What is your break-in schedule from the rebuilder? I'd make sure to follow it exactly, and once you're done and the oil changed, fly on and not worry a whole lot. Infant failures tend to happen early when they occur.

[carusoam]

I've never been so fortunate to have a low hour engine or airframe...

-a-

[John Pleisse]

I bought a factory new engine. I gave it 50 hours as perscribed then let it loose (x-c, night, terrain, water).

[Lood]

@Hank: I followed the procedures as prescribed by Lycoming, which is basically the generally accepted way. I was fortunate enough to be able to do the first 3 flights at sea level. After that, I kept low and power at 75% plus, alternating rpm and later power between 70 & 75%, etc. I kept all temperatures cool and never stressed the engine in terms of that. I'm pretty confident that the break-in went as required.

@carusoam: Fortunate? You bet, but I can assure you that paying for it is not easy and the costs were phenominal. I had to buy just short of a brand new engine. But that's another story.

I flew it again yesterday afternoon and it run really well. In fact, so well that the saying about, when there's absolutely nothing wrong and everything runs too good to be true, then you should be worried, comes to mind.

[DaV8or]

I don't think you're out of the woods until you quit flying. These motors can go at any time. Just the way it seems to be.

[rbridges]

Quote: Lood

 

I flew it again yesterday afternoon and it run really well. In fact, so well that the saying about, when there's absolutely nothing wrong and everything runs too good to be true, then you should be worried, comes to mind.

[WardHolbrook]

Quote: DaV8or

I don't think you're out of the woods until you quit flying. These motors can go at any time. Just the way it seems to be.