Cracked case

[Mooney1401]

Have my mooney in for its annual and found a small hair line crack in the case above the #2 cylinder next to the front bolt. Disappointing to say the least. Now the planning of repair (if possible ) or replace.

[Marauder]

Bummer. How many hours on it? And which model?

[Alan Fox]

A shame , I just sold a case two weeks ago for 1200.00

[jetdriven]

Divco in Tulsa can weld up the case for ~800$.  They are the standard case repair shop in the county.  The downside is unless it is a real low time engine, its major overhaul time.  And the guarantee on welded cases is repair of the case only for one year. A friend of ours had 400 SMOH on a Divco case and it cracked again. 

[duke]

chuck ney enterprizes in tulsa repairs cases. I am currently running one of his engines in my f model. It has the ney nozzles, reenforced cases and straight bores. only about 400 hrs on it, but good so far.

[DaV8or]

That sucks!!   This area is definitely a weak area in the IO-360 IMO. I passed on a '69 E during a pre-buy when they found this exact crack you're describing. Then it turns out, that the engine in the plane I did buy, used to have the exact same crack and was welded up. I missed it in the pre-buy log inspection somehow. Nobody else that looked at my logs said anything either, but it's there. It was years and hundreds of hours ago, but I'm still psychologically prepared for the idea that I won't be making TBO. 

 

...and there are people that wonder why more people don't fly and own airplanes. The experience does have a dark, ugly side to it.

[Mooney1401]

I have a 77 M20J the engine is an OI360A3B6D with 2300 hrs on it and running on condition. The cylinders only have 500 on them so I am looking into overhauling the bottom end. I live in Ontario and don't have many options. Parts and shops are limited.

[Alan Fox]

That sucks!!   This area is definitely a weak area in the IO-360 IMO. I passed on a '69 E during a pre-buy when they found this exact crack you're describing. Then it turns out, that the engine in the plane I did buy, used to have the exact same crack and was welded up. I missed it in the pre-buy log inspection somehow. Nobody else that looked at my logs said anything either, but it's there. It was years and hundreds of hours ago, but I'm still psychologically prepared for the idea that I won't be making TBO. 

 

...and there are people that wonder why more people don't fly and own airplanes. The experience does have a dark, ugly side to it.

Almost all case repair is done by Divco , they have been doing it for a long time , They do it well ... Just fly your plane and enjoy it..... 

[bnicolette]

I have a 77 M20J the engine is an OI360A3B6D with 2300 hrs on it and running on condition. The cylinders only have 500 on them so I am looking into overhauling the bottom end. I live in Ontario and don't have many options. Parts and shops are limited.

 

I just had my engine off and it went to Aero Engines of Winchester.  It ended up with a reworked cased (mine was fretting which was found during teardown), new bearings, reworked tappet bodies, new rod bolts and new gaskets.  The engine came back looking great and is running great.  Total cost at the engine shop was under $5K.  Don't give up hope and really look at all your options.  

Tough call though given the time on your engine.  I would give the engine shop a call and talk to them about your situation.  

[N201MKTurbo]

I have had two cracked cases. four weeks and $2500 with me R&Ring the engine and stripping it down to the case, I don't have the tools to split the case. I have always used Divco for repair and never had another issue with a repaired case.

 

It sure gives me a knot in my stomach when I find a crack.

 

 

 

Here is the difference between an airplane renter and an airplane owner:

 

When an airplane renter is flying along and hears a big bang in the engine compartment, he thinks "Oh my god I'm going to die!"

 

When an airplane owner hears the same noise he thinks "Oh my god, what is this going to cost me!"

[bnicolette]

My crankcase was reworked by CSI Crankcase Services in OK

[DaV8or]

Almost all case repair is done by Divco , they have been doing it for a long time , They do it well ... Just fly your plane and enjoy it..... 

 

That's what I'm doing. It is what it is. I just don't trust welded repairs much long term. I've seen way too many fail again no matter who does them.