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In spite of what you might read, the CHTs of 3 and 4 and not anywhere near extremely hot. They're higher than is optimum for cruise, but during climb the shouldn't worry you.
That said, it's almost always worth the time and $$$ to make sure the flexible baffle seals-the ones that close the gap between the metal baffles and the cowling-are in good shape. One easy way to find leaks is to put a light source up the hole in the bottom of the lower cowling; then look through the two ram air openings in the front of the cowling to find any light leaks.
Obviously this method works best at low light.
When you find a leak, either replace the flexible seals--I like the kits from McFarlane Aviation. You can find an example here: www.mcfarlaneaviation.com/products/product/BAFFLE-KIT-1BF/
.
The other thing that owners and mechanics for smaller leaks it fill then (artfully) with RTV. RTV is room temperature vulcanize silicone. You can buy tubes of it at any auto parts or hardware store.
Start with this.
Please let me know what you find.
Steve
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HI all, My partners and I are new owners of a 1980 Saratoga with the TIO-540-S1AD motor and 3 bladed prop.
The motor has 2 new cylinders, #3 and #5 and an overhauled turbo.
What we're seeing is high CHT's on cyl #3 and #4. For example during cruise climb, 33in and 2600rpm, the Temps quickly climb in all cylinders a to 380-390, while #3 and #4 are always 25-30 degrees higher. Seems odd that 2 cylinders would be so far off all the others.
Anyone have any insight into high CHT's on the middle 2 cylinders.
We have Gami injectors. Thought we'd contact Gami and see if injector adjustment may be in order or maybe a fresh baffle kit might help.
Any insight or experience would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Steve
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Hi Steve,
Ok thanks, I really appreciate the help. I will be removing the Hoof Valve and O-rings in a few days. Once I get to the O-Rings and measure them I will try and order replacements from Aircraft Spruce, if I they do not have the correct O-Rings I will definitely take you up on the offer for the Cleveland O-Ring manual.
Thanks again Steve,
Ron
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Hi Matt;
I work to answer most of the forum tech questions, and I would like to help, but am going to have to let someone who lives near your area weigh in.
Sorry, we're trying to set up a data base of reputable shops but have other tasks that take priority.
Steve
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Hi Ron;
As Kristin mentioned, the basic part number is MS28775, followed by a dash and a second number. The size (diameter and O.D.) is in the second number.
When you type MS 28775 into the www.aircraftspruce.com
search window, make sure you don't put a space between the MS and 28775. One string I found claims there's a stepped O ring in the Hoof valve. If that's what you find, I can send you a Cleveland O ring manual (292 pages) that may help you buy the one needed.
Steve
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Hi Steve;
I remembered another thing. Can you take a look at the airframe logbooks to determine when the airframe was last recovered, and what process was used during the recover. I imagine that it's covered with Ceconite or the Stits process which is good news since those fabrics are almost indestructible.
Is your mechanic familiar with tube and fabric airplanes? If so he will probably have taken an ice pick or sharp punch to the lower rear longerons. By that I mean pushing up into the tube (through the fabric) with the tip of the pick to determine if there are any soft (rust) spots in those tubes. The lower aft longerons usually are the most susceptible tubes to rust. I mention it because it's a common inspection on tube airframe airplanes.
After you get the battery, clean the engine oil and fuel filters and are ready to start the engine, I recommend you take one spark plug out of each cylinder and then pre oil the engine by using the starter to spin the prop until you get an indication of oil pressure on the cockpit oil pressure gauge.
Please take pictures, and notes so you can write an article for the magazine, or give me a briefing so I can write the article on the trials and tribulations of resurrecting your Tri Pacer.
Best,
Steve
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Thank you very much for all your valuable information. I believe the owner lost his medical and just couldn’t give up his baby. He was paying hangar fees for 10 years without any aircraft movement, ouch! Lost of money wasted.
I’ve sent the prop out for overhaul and the carburetor out for overhaul so far. Is it worth the money to buy new Slick magnets instead of overhauling the old Bendix mags? Mags aren’t cheap but very important. What are your thoughts?
I’m replacing all the rubber hoses and gaskets on the engine right now. Also a very thorough cleaning and maybe a splash of new paint. Since it’s going to run good it might as well look good too.
Thank you once again for your help.
Steve Berggren
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FAA issues an Airworthiness Concern Sheet and asks for information regarding
Make: Piper/FS2003 Corp
Model / Series: J-5A, J-5B, J-5C, J-5D, AE-1, HE-1, PA-12, PA-12S, PA-14, PA-16, PA-18, L-21, PA-20, and PA-22
Serial Numbers: All
Reason for Airworthiness Concern: In flight failure of rudder just above the upper hinge.
From the FAA:
Recently an accident occurred where the rudder on a PA-12 failed in flight. The airplane was a seaplane equipped with a 160 hp Lycoming
O-320 engine. The original tail surfaces had been replaced with PA-18 tail surfaces in accordance with a Supplemental Type Certificate
(STC). The broken upper part of the rudder post broke just above the top hinge and the upper part of the rudder folded over the tail brace
wires in such a way that rudder control was severely limited and as to effectively create an additional horizontal tail, driving the tail down
and the nose up. It was possible for the senior flight instructor to control the airplane in pitch, but required a lot of the available elevator
deflection to do so. By dropping the water rudders, some directional control was established and the airplane was able to return to base and
land, but with difficulty.
We would appreciate input on the following question regarding the most appropriate actions to take:
1. What other occurrences have been observed of rudders failing?
2. What information can you provide about possible causes for the failures?
3. What solutions might be available and effective?
4. What reports of vibrations have people observed in the rudder and is there any correlation with the presence or absence
of a strobe or beacon on the top of the rudder?
Download Entire ACS here www.piperflyer.org/knowledge-base/aviati...b35e3e7032f1e63.html
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Ok, I will get that valve and O-Rings removed, check the sizes and see if Aircraft Spruce has the replacements.
Thanks Kristin!
Ron
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I don't know the sizes off the top of my head, but Aircraft Spruce will have the o-rings. They will be an MS28775 and the dash number determines the size. You may be able to get the part number out of the parts catalog, otherwise you will need to disassemble. This is beyond preventative maintenance so your A&P should have a selection of O-rings that likely cover what you need.
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Hi,
My name is Ron Jung I am a fairly new subscriber here, I have a 1978 Piper Turbo Arrow III (PA-28R-201T) was wondering if anyone has the MS/part numbers, and where I can find replacement o-rings for the emergency gear extension hoof valve?
Thanks
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thanks Steve, as of yesterday am they were going to pull the Tach instrument out and O/H. They have talked to Century and that is what they felt it was. in the past 3 months, starting after I installed a new engine, it has been bouncing around until recently it would work during runup then drop 700 ish RPM and a couple days ago it failed until next start.
- 2 months ago they took the cable out and lubed the cable.
-3 weeks ago they unhooked the cable and ran a drill and the tach worked great for the 15 minutes they ran it.
- they have also did multiple runups with good success until I fly it.
-yesterday we talked and knowing that it was a risk on O/H tach and not fix the issue i authorized to swap parts from side to side. as of last night they called me and sent a video of the piece that separates the cable and converts it to electrical. both tachs work but the failed one worked better. So i authorized the owner to fly it 1/2 hour and see if either fails. i am now waiting to hear what happens today. I just hate to have the plane down for another 10 days to have Century O/H and not fix the problem.
Do you have any other thoughts? BTW it still could be the part on the engine where the cable goes into the gear reduction box?? but all of that looked good a few months ago and since it is the most expensive item they were leaning on the O/H tach due to costing and Century's comments until I gave autho to spend labor swapping the cable to electrical connection. (what ever it is called)
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Last months One Question Survery was:
During the COVID-19 quarantine/shut down period has activity at your local airport, when compared to the pre-COVID timeframe:
Answers:
Decreased 59.68%
Stayed about the same 33.87%
Increased 6.45%
-At first when the stay at home edict came out the airport activity was almost zero. Since then the activity has picked up and back to normal. Restaurant reopening helped.
-Shutdown of flight school was total, however, as restrictions eased, the activity sharply increased. The FBO remained open but this reliever airport had minimal business jet activity, which has increased dramatically since eased restrictions.
-Activity has picked up lately and is almost back to normal
-Decreased overall but lately i.e. has improved. No fly- in breakfasts have hurt.
-Initially decreased, particularly corporate aircraft, but now is back to normal levels.
-Initially decreased but in the past 3-4 weeks, traffic (particularly international pilot training company on field) has increased incrementally. We are at about 75% of pre-COVID levels.
-Flying itself had nothing to do with Covid-19. It was the flying activities we cherish and excuses made to enjoy our activity that were shut down that grounded all activities. Now that we are all slowly opening up hopefully we can use this as an excuse to get up and go; And the gasoline prices won't trend up as fast as our climb out!
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Looking for some tips for the rear seats removal on a 1988 Piper Archer II. I’m hauling some light weight cargo for an Angel Flight. Is the seat removal an easy project? Is removing the headrest and folding the seats forward a better idea? A quick review today after work didn’t appear like a 10 minute job. Thanks for your help.
Fred
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Hi all,
I’m reaching out to the Arizona members. I’m in the process of buying a PA-28-180 and I’m based out of Chandler, AZ(KCHD). I was hoping I could get some recommendations for who you know and trust to perform annuals and general repairs.
Thanks,
Matt
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Exhaust has been repaired. We used Acorn Welding and everything looks good so far. At this point we are just finishing the door repairs and once it is re-mounted we are ready to fly again! I sent off the Manifold Pressure gauge and got it calibrated and cleaned.
I'm just waiting to hear from the FAA to get my special issuance for my diabetes. I'm told to expect late September at the earliest. So maybe October? At any rate the plane will be ready before me!
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Hi James;
I am basing my suggestions on the information I have gleaned from the Seneca II manual and parts book simply because I do not have the Seneca III manuals.
The tach is driven by a rotating flexible cable that transmits the rpm of the engine to the tach. Two things can cause failure. First, the flexible cable connection can break. This failure is easy to troubleshoot- when discounting the struggles for access to the back of the tach instrument--by unscrewing the cable housing nut on the back of the instrument and pulling it far enough away from the instrument to see the cable, then watching to see if the flexible cable rotates when an assistant rotates the prop. If it rotates, then the problem is the instrument.
I suspect it's the cable because these mechanical tach are pretty hardy. The most common fault with a mechanical tach is a weakened magnetic connection between the cable driven half of the instrument and the needle assembly, and increased drag on the needle part due to lack of effective lubrication.
The result is a tach that indicates low, sometimes as low as 200 rpm below actual engine rpm.
If the cable is good, I recommend that it be pulled and cleaned before re-lubing it and re-installing it. I recommend a graphite based light grease since this type won't congeal in cold temperatures. Amazon has some, as does a good auto parts store.
If the cable it good, then it's the instrument. You'll need to send it to one of the instrument overhaul shops such as aircraft precision instruments ( www.aircraftprecisioninstruments.com/
) or one of the other well known overhaul shops.
Your mechanic may have an instrument overhaul shop he likes dealing with.
I hope this information is correct; I don't know if Piper upgraded to electronic tachometer displays in the Seneca III. If it did, and your tach is dead, the fault is usually related to a wiring problem such as a broken wire. You can test the sending unit on the engine by swapping it with the sending unit on the other engine.
Please let me know what you find.
Steve
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