Airplane Owner Maintenance

A Maintenance Oriented Podcast For Airplane Owners, Pilots, and Mechanics

Tag: chtprobe

244 – Down a CHT Rabbit Hole!

August 6, 2024 /

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During a recent prebuy evaluation on this nice Beech A36 Bonanza, the question came up, “Does the old analog CHT gauge need to work in order for the airplane to be considered airworthy?”

(In this case, the analog CHT gauge had an INOP placard on it.)

Check it out:

The airplane has a JPI engine monitor installed (bottom right in the previous photo,) but it is not considered “primary” for CHT. And since CHT is required in the limitations section of the POH/AFM, the original analog CHT gauge must be operative.

Listen to the audio for this episode to hear the full story, including a discussion in the tech forum on the American Bonanza Society website (here’s a link to that ABS forum conversation if you’d like to read it):

https://www.bonanza.org/community/member-forum/tech-tips/posts/jun-2024/original-cht-gauge-inop

Here’s the short story of how we resolved the issue on this airplane:

  • Removed the bayonet CHT probe for the JPI engine monitor, from cylinder #3.
  • Installed in its place a bayonet CHT thermistor probe in cylinder #3 and attached it to the existing wiring that was tied up on the right side of the engine.
  • Installed a spark plug type CHT probe for the JPI #3 CHT.

Now, everything should work, and the airplane will be officially airworthy.

If you have any thoughts you’d like to add to this topic, I’d love to hear them! Just click that tab over to the right and leave me a voice message.

Thanks!

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195 – Is it Time to Tear That Engine Apart?

December 31, 2021 /

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When an airplane engine is making a small amount of ferrous metal, but the evidence is not totally conclusive, the decision to tear it apart, or not, can be gut-wrenching.

Such was the case for the O-540 engine in a turbo Cessna 182RG I’ve been working on at Classic Aviation LLC.

But after the owners decided to have it torn apart, and I got to see the evidence, I’m convinced they made the right decision.

Take a look at the two worst lifters:

And the corresponding cam lobe for those two lifters:

Here’s a side view of the worn cam lobe:

Now compare to one of the other cam lobes that was NOT worn down:

After seeing the condition of the camshaft and the lifters, I was very pleased with the decision of the airplane’s owners to have the engine torn down and repaired.

This engine was mid-time, and all the cylinders were running fine with good compressions, so it made sense to do this repair as opposed to a full overhaul.

In this episode, we also discussed some squawks from a Cirrus SR22T. I’ve got some photos and even a video for some of these.

Alternator #1 needed to be removed due to brush wear, and the oil seal was leaking… check out the brushes that came out in pieces:

We also had to send the engine driven fuel pump for overhaul… watch a startling video of a BAD fuel leak:

We sent the fuel pump to Mike’s Aircraft Fuel Metering in Tulsa, Oklahoma for overhaul… they do excellent work on fuel system components.

Happy New Year everyone! May God bless you in 2022!

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