Question for Mahlon-Rust!!

Mahlon,

2.5 years ago, I purchased an IO-360 from a friend with 400 hours SMOH. I have photos of the OH, and know that the level of work and the pedigree of the parts was flawless. Also, the engine was flown at least 3 times per week by the previous owner, so I do not suspect any problem before it was stored.

Before we removed it, we followed the Lyc pickling SB to the letter, including the mix of pickling oil and engine oil, ran to appropriate temps, covered all the holes. The engine was then crated and shipped to me. I hung it, and kept holes covered as much as possible during the fitting of hoses, exhaust pipes etc. The crank has never been turned, and every year, I remove the dessicant spark plugs from the top holes, bake until they turn color, then replace them. While the dessicant is baking, I heat a 50/50 mix of Aeroshell oil and pickling oil. This is then fogged into the cyls, dessicant plugs are re-installed.

Now my problem: I removed a mag last night, and a brown color caught my eye on an accessory gear-Rust. It wipes off with my finger, but I'm wondering what my next step should be. The engine will not be run for the first time for at least another 5 months. Any suggestions?

Art in Asheville.

I'm not an expert, but from what it sounds like, you've taken all the proper precautions to keep corrosion out. I'd just keep what your doing, and when you decide to get ready to run, borescope the cylinders and any other orifices that you can stick the 'scope into to try and see any rust. I don't think from what you describe that you'll have any big problems.

Not being able to see the parts and engine directly, it is difficult to make a recommendation. If you have raw rust on internal engine parts that is not a good thing. The only way to be sure of the internal condition of parts, you can't see, is to visually inspect them and that means taking the engine apart enough to look at them.
It's always better to be safe then sorry. Maybe you should pull a couple of cylinders off and look around in there, to see what you can see. Pulling off, as many accessories as possible, should afford a pretty good look at the accessory gear drive train. Once you look around you should have a better feel if any more work is necessary.
Good Luck,
Mahlon
"The opinions and information provided in this and all of my posts are hopefully helpful to you. Please use the information provided responsibly and at you own risk."

Do Your Best for 5 Months and see what happens

Fire it up in 5 (?) months and see what happens. You've already seen bwown stuff so if you open it your are going to see more brown stuff - no great mystery. If you are terribly concerned and can't stand to run it this way, then wait until you are ready to run it before tearing it down and "starting over". I bought my engine in 1999 and did not run it or do anything to it until 2004. If the brown stuff wiped off with your finger it does not sound like a serious oxidation problem.

Bob Axsom

Thanks for the opinions..

Gents,
Thanx. Now that I've slept on it, I took another look with a brighter light. The gear that had brown stuff on it (which wiped off) does not show any signs of corrosion on the sides and most especially on the gears and lands.

I'm of the mind to keep going, and not worry about it. I'll fire it up once I'm at the airport, and run it, then change the oil after say, 5 hours, then at 10 hours. If a few oil analysis come back with tons of bad data, I'll pull a jug and look inside. Other than that, I'll stick with what I have.

Thanks again for your help.

Art