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Super 8. Documenting an engine overhaul with JB Aircraft

Kahuna

Moderatoring
8 years and ~2k hours of flying the Super 8 and its time for an engine overhaul. I have never experienced one of these (sold my RV-6A a few hundred hours before it was ready.)
The engine has been very good to me and its only troubles over the years I have induced. I have become very attached to the reliability and performance of this IO-540. I picked up the motor from a shop in Florida back in the days where 540's were cheap. Certified and yellow tagged with accessories for $17,500. :D Those days are of course over, thank you Vans RV-10.
First few hundred hours were on 1LSE and one mag, then ~300 hours when the mag died, I went dual LSE.
My typically flight is all in to altitude then LOP 2300RPM to my destination so this engine has spent a vast majority of its time LOP. The other times is flying shows with the team ROP and a also a loafing RPM of 2300. CHT's have been kept below 400 generally unless I get on one of my hard altitude climbs to the FL's and I would generally see low 400's to 410 at worst. I have always felt I have treated the engine with respect. Compressions always in the mid 70s with the occasional mid 60 reading that would come back to mid 70's at the next check. Oil consumption was difficult to measure since I spend much of my time upside down with the neg g's tossing a bit even with the inverted oil. Long flights I would see about 1qt over 6 hours and was consistent over its life.
Reaching its 2k hour point, I felt it was time for an overhaul. The engine was not telling me it needed one. I was. The time is right for me during this off season. I can not afford an engine problem March - November.
Back in January I met Jimmy Brod (JB) in Sebring Fl at a show. JB and his dad have run an engine shop, JB Aircraft Services, there for decades. After just a few minutes of talking with JB, I decided that if I ever rebuilt my motor, this is the guy I want working on it. A quiet, humble, down to earth pair of father & son team. You all know how we are about our engines. I dont let anyone touch it that I don't trust my life with. And up until now, no one has touched it but me. I routinely take 'leap of faith' risks flying night ops over inhospitable terrain, hours over open water, IFR ops with no outs below. It has got to be reliable day in and day out.
So off came the motor with the plan to have JB do the overhaul with mostly ECI parts. I have never gone through this process before. I thought I might document that here and report the findings.
Step one. Take lots of pictures so I can get things back to their respective places on reinstall.
Step 2. Pull the motor. Time to pull single handed was 3 hours start to finished on pallet. I didnt break any records. This includes taking the time to tag everything. Here is the engine hanging from my bi-fold door ready to back up the pickup truck. Engine hoist is not tall enough to get this into my pickup truck.
onhoist.jpg

Then truck it down to my local Yellow freight terminal to shipping to JB.
 
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Engine Mount

Next was to assess the engine mount. She has been worked pretty hard over the years. A custom built mount by John Marshall(rest in peace my friend) up in Indianapolis. The mount looked fine, but, you can't see under the paint and powder coating. So I pulled the mount for blasting, magnafluxing, and powdercoating.
Here is a shot of the engine mount with the generic nicks, dings and scrapes from years of maintenance.
engmount1.jpg


I found a local shop to to the blasting, maganaflux, and powder coating for $50. i thought that was a pretty good deal. I also inspected it myself after blasting just to make myself feel good. It was in great shape. A new set of mount bolts and the engine mount is back on with a thumbs up checkout.
 
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Exhaust Warped

While pulling off the exhaust, I noticed this warpiage located under the heat muff. Hidden for years. My muffs have never been off and I have had no reason to look under them. Hmmm. Whats that?
exhaustwarped.jpg


A quick call to Larry Vetterman... He has seen this before, although rarely. According to Larry, there are 2 cases where this is seen.
1. A wrapped exhaust, or ceramic coated exhaust. I have neither of these.
2. A muff exit blocked where the heat cant get away, either from a scat tube collapse or FW valve that does not dump overboard. Well I have never had either of those. :confused:

Either way, it is what it is. A tap with a punch to check wall thickness in the warpage area and Im satisfied that the warpage does not pose any risk so Im leaving it as is. Amazingly, the rest of the exhaust of completely great. I have never had a crack, support arm break, or anything of that nature in its years of service. Im cleaning it up and putting her back on.
 
Mike
I believe that in the certified world the heat muffs have to be removed at least once a year to check for leaks that could come from an exhaust pipe issue and thus get in the cabin air.
As long as I have flown rockets I remove my heat muff in the spring when it warms up and then put it on again in the fall if I plan on flying in the winter.
Even at altitude there are rare times in the summer when you really need cabin heat, a sweat shirt will usually do the trick. This has the added benefit of using that 2" of cabin heat air for engine cooling. Usually this air is just run through the heat muff and then dumped in the lower cowling; more heat added!
I had an exhaust pipe fail once, just aft of the ball joint and it sure gets your attention. By removing the heat muff in the summer it gives you two times a year to really look at this critical area of the exhaust system.
I have about 800 hours on my 540 and I sure hope that it makes it the full 2000 hours. I love these engines.
 
Inside the valve cover

Yes it is...any chance JB is going to taking photos of the overhaul?

Why yes he is. Im getting reports in now. The engine has been disassembled. Case sent off. Crank sent off to ECI.
Below is a picture of inside one of the valve covers. JB has mentioned before that he is not a fan of LOP operations and will be very interested in getting inside my motor given all the LOP hours it has.
valves.jpg
 
Those pesky smoke injectors

Some of this will just be me babbling away at different finds as a result of doing an engine overhaul. One of those pesky items us 'smokers' have to deal with is the injectors. They are not the most reliable things. They tend to clog up, require cleaning, and can be a maintenance nuisance. My smoke system is pretty much homebuilt. I have a ~13gal wet wing smoke tank in my left wing under the wing walk area. A smoke pump and filter in the fuse tail area (Anything portable in a super 8 goes in the tail!) and of course the injectors. No valves for flow rate. What I found was my flow rate was about right, given the distance traveled, and the S8 developing a bit more heat. After a few hundred hours of a smoke injector set of tiny orifices being clogged, I just drilled the end of the injector out with an 1/8" bit. With my 2 injectors this seemed to flow about the right amount and never left me being "THAT GUY" with weak smoke on film. Over the years I have watched the SS injectors deteriorate to the point that that are now 1/3 the length they started. I never particularly cared. I pump all the oil in my system would flow and excess unburned oil,..... well only my slot pilot cares. Here are the injectors after being in the exhaust for all these years. I think they have some service life left dont you?:rolleyes:
smokeinjectors.jpg
 
Powder coat

Mike,
Just a thought about your mount. Cracks can hide under the powder coat and not be seen. With your mission, painting it so you can get a proper look at the joints may be in your best interest.
 
Hi Mike

Great thread, I look forward to following your progress. Did Larry V suggest a routine removal of the heat muff at annual cond. insp. to monitor the exhaust? (a pain but...)
Blue skies my friend
 
Great thread, I look forward to following your progress. Did Larry V suggest a routine removal of the heat muff at annual cond. insp. to monitor the exhaust? (a pain but...)
Blue skies my friend

No he did not. But it seems a reasonable thing to do. I would NOT recommend removing the muffs unless you have the hardware to reinstall. Those threaded rods are notorious for breaking.
 
Mike,
Just a thought about your mount. Cracks can hide under the powder coat and not be seen. With your mission, painting it so you can get a proper look at the joints may be in your best interest.

+1 from another Gary. I don't trust powder coating. YMMV :)
 
Am I the only one who's (slightly warped) brain throws the suffix "weld" onto the thread title???
 
Heater Muff

HTML:
I have had no reason to look under them. Hmmm. Whats that?
I have been doing my annuals, on certified and experimentals, accompanied by an A&P/IA. He always insists on removing the heater muffs to check the exhaust pipe. It's required for certified airplanes and given the possibility of exhaust entering the cockpit via the heater ducting it would be very wise to check it every annual.

Good luck with the engine O/H :)

Mike
 
Mike,

The easiest stuff to remove the powder coat is Permatex Gasket Remover. Spray it on and let it set for ten minutes and the powder coat will wipe off with a paper towel. It will reduce the time from trying to get it all off with glass beads.

Jim
 
removing powdercoat

Mike,

The easiest stuff to remove the powder coat is Permatex Gasket Remover. Spray it on and let it set for ten minutes and the powder coat will wipe off with a paper towel. It will reduce the time from trying to get it all off with glass beads.

Jim

Boy is that a GREAT tip. A bunch years ago, I asked on this forum any ideas for removing powdercoat, and the only advise I got was, "burn it off with a propane torch." What a pain that was.

Thanks!
 
great thread. just curious what other overhaul or replacement items are on your list[ hoses, wires, ect].

i dont pull my heat muff but i have a co detector that is VERY sensitive. i feel these exhaust systems are as bullet proof as they come.
 
I don't replace any wires that don't show signs of needing it. As for hoses, all my hoses are nearly new thanks to Tom at TS Flightlines.

Do to my activity of formation (throttle never stops moving), throttle cables seem to last ~400 hours at best. Ill be replacing that which has 300 on it. They are such a bear to replace, easiest to replace now with the engine off. Plus I managed to do a complete melt down of my throttle cable during a troubleshoot of my amp meter. Had a charger hooked up to my hanging wires from the alternator. Managed to short across the throttle cable and it melted the cable enough that it doesn't move now. ARGH. :mad: Stupid mistake but fortunately it needed replacement anyway.

Most of my adel clamps are junk. Oil covered, deteriorating, and nasty looking.

AFP fuel servo and bendix flow divider sent to AFP for overhaul and those items have been sent to JB so he can run the engine.
 
Interesting post, Kahuna.

Thanks for taking the time to document it. Most of us do not fly as much as you but it is good info to know some things should be replaced.
 
New Smoke Injectors

In a previous post I mentioned the smoke injectors completely eaten/worn away as in this picture.
smokeinjectors.jpg


It would seem there has been a change in design from John at SA and these are the new style below. Looks fancier. I am concerned about those little spray nozzles getting clogged up and how Im going to clean them. Plus they are not cheap at $55 each which includes the SS clamps. $125.59 for 2 injector kits shipped to my door.

newinjector2.jpg


newinjector1.jpg
 
The heat muff and exhaust pipe underneath it, are something that needs to be inspected every condition inspection. This does not require taking off the through rods and end plates, just take of the hose clamps and slide the shroud off, or open it up enough to take it off. This is very easy to do.
On another related note, the heat muff end plates need to be tight! if they can wiggle around, they will wear a groove in the pipe and if left long enough, can wear a hole through the pipe. We have had to replace a number of pipes over the years because of this.
Clint Busenitz /Vetterman Exhaust
 
Am I the only one who's (slightly warped) brain throws the suffix "weld" onto the thread title???

No, Mike, you're not the only one. My brain also wants to read it as "...an engine overhaul with JB WELD" :)

But hey! It's the other Mike's thread, so he can title it anything he wants to, as far as I'm concerned. I'm just enjoying reading about it, and I'm glad he's posting his engine overhaul, so we can see what's involved. It's definitely a learning experience. :cool:
 
Ignition wires

As I pulled off the ignition wires, I gave them an inspection. They looked ok. A little grease and grime on a few. I own a workhorse, not a beauty queen. I could see one coil to ignition wire connection that showed corrosion and evidence of some arching, hidden by the boot of course. No evidence of any issues on this cylinder.
My top wires have been on since day one. Bottom wires have less. My bottom plug wire lengths are custom lengths. This due to mounting the coils on the engine mount and having each wire, well different lengths.
A call to Klaus revealed that his maintenance schedule, now published in a more current doc version online that I had from years ago, says replace these wires at 500hrs or 10 years. I had not ever considered this before. Hmmm. Well he is a pretty smart guy, so I ordered a new set. My average cost on these is $19.25 each. For 12 plugs this stung a little.
newwires.jpg


Plugs, I ve been going on the cheap for these using the BR8ES plugs at ~$2 each from day one. These have preformed well and last about 200 hours before they are worn and need replacement. I guess 'performed well' is an unknown. Engine runs, plugs fire and are reliable... I have no idea as to performance. Klaus recommended a fancier plug, a IK27 iridium plug that is a... wait for it... $15 each. :eek: Im going to give them a try. Ill have no way of determining any performance difference other than plug life which Ill be able to measure. They will need to last 1500 hours to break even. Thats probably not a reasonable request of any plug.

Why wires need replacement? Im sure there is some electrical reason. I have cars with the original plug wires that are 15 years old and 150k miles. I of course have no way to measure any kind of deterioration of these. My mind says that a plug that fires is a plug and wire that are working. I'm sure its more complicated than that. A wires ability to carry this power surely degrades over time. An appreciable amount? I dunno. I don't race. I dont measure my performance to a nat hair. from Klaus "If you cruise at less than full throttle, you might not notice any wire degradation for a long time. At WOT you should see a performance increase when you change wires, even after 300 hrs." Like I said, Klaus is a pretty smart guy and has been doing this for a long time. So a new set of fancy plugs and wires it is. Seems unethical to install age old plug wires onto a new motor. My thinks my motor might protest. :p

Note: Picture. The plugs come in the proper packaging. I pulled them out to gap them and prepare for installing into the motor.
 
No, Mike, you're not the only one. My brain also wants to read it as "...an engine overhaul with JB WELD" :)

But hey! It's the other Mike's thread, so he can title it anything he wants to, as far as I'm concerned. I'm just enjoying reading about it, and I'm glad he's posting his engine overhaul, so we can see what's involved. It's definitely a learning experience. :cool:

Oh. Im sorry about that. I saw Mikes note about welding and I thought it had something to do with welding my exhaust. NOW I get what he was saying. And since I HATE it when people title a thread to sensationalize to get people to pay attention to an otherwise boring piece, Ill change that now. I assure you I did not want anyone thinking that I was trying to play with thread titles to get people to pay attention. Its not my style.
 
I HATE it when people title a thread to sensationalize to get people to pay attention to an otherwise boring piece, Ill change that now. I assure you I did not want anyone thinking that I was trying to play with thread titles to get people to pay attention. Its not my style.

Mike, my comment was actually directed at myself-------nothing wrong with the thread title at all. I just see some things a bit off kilter:rolleyes:
 
As I pulled off the ignition wires, I gave them an inspection. They looked ok. A little grease and grime on a few. I own a workhorse, not a beauty queen. I could see one coil to ignition wire connection that showed corrosion and evidence of some arching, hidden by the boot of course. No evidence of any issues on this cylinder.
My top wires have been on since day one. Bottom wires have less. My bottom plug wire lengths are custom lengths. This due to mounting the coils on the engine mount and having each wire, well different lengths.
A call to Klaus revealed that his maintenance schedule, now published in a more current doc version online that I had from years ago, says replace these wires at 500hrs or 10 years. I had not ever considered this before. Hmmm. Well he is a pretty smart guy, so I ordered a new set. My average cost on these is $19.25 each. For 12 plugs this stung a little.
newwires.jpg


Plugs, I ve been going on the cheap for these using the BR8ES plugs at ~$2 each from day one. These have preformed well and last about 200 hours before they are worn and need replacement. I guess 'performed well' is an unknown. Engine runs, plugs fire and are reliable... I have no idea as to performance. Klaus recommended a fancier plug, a IK27 iridium plug that is a... wait for it... $15 each. :eek: Im going to give them a try. Ill have no way of determining any performance difference other than plug life which Ill be able to measure. They will need to last 1500 hours to break even. Thats probably not a reasonable request of any plug.

Why wires need replacement? Im sure there is some electrical reason. I have cars with the original plug wires that are 15 years old and 150k miles. I of course have no way to measure any kind of deterioration of these. My mind says that a plug that fires is a plug and wire that are working. I'm sure its more complicated than that. A wires ability to carry this power surely degrades over time. An appreciable amount? I dunno. I don't race. I dont measure my performance to a nat hair. from Klaus "If you cruise at less than full throttle, you might not notice any wire degradation for a long time. At WOT you should see a performance increase when you change wires, even after 300 hrs." Like I said, Klaus is a pretty smart guy and has been doing this for a long time. So a new set of fancy plugs and wires it is. Seems unethical to install age old plug wires onto a new motor. My thinks my motor might protest. :p

Note: Picture. The plugs come in the proper packaging. I pulled them out to gap them and prepare for installing into the motor.

Somewhere in the recesses of this old brain, an instructor in Radar Fundamentals in the US Navy explained: any conductor or insulator exposed to high voltage, especially in harsh environments break down and lose their ability to conduct/insulate as when brandy new. Ask me how I know :mad: So Klaus probably had the same info somewhere along the line.
 
Oh. Im sorry about that. I saw Mikes note about welding and I thought it had something to do with welding my exhaust. NOW I get what he was saying. And since I HATE it when people title a thread to sensationalize to get people to pay attention to an otherwise boring piece, Ill change that now. I assure you I did not want anyone thinking that I was trying to play with thread titles to get people to pay attention. Its not my style.

Aw, Mike, now I'm kinda sorry I mentioned it. I didn't think you were trying to sensationalize your thread. And by the way, I don't think anything you've ever posted here is boring. You are one of the most "un-boring" guys I've ever met. Keep the action going!:D
 
One expensive item found was damage to the rods. JB believes that the original engine builder did not use the correct socket when installing and put scratches in the face of the rods where the bolts seat. Magnaflux shows stress risers. This puts all rods into the junk category. Argh!:mad: A very expensive problem fixed with new rods. You cant see much in the pictures, but here they are.
rod1.jpg


rod2.jpg
 
Crankshaft

The crankshaft was serviced by ECI. Flange Cad Plated, crankshaft .003 under on mains, .006 on pins, Shaft runout is less than .001 front to back... "This shaft is better than new!" says JB. This is OUTSTANDING news!:D
crank1.jpg


crank3.jpg


The crank is also Dynamically Spin Balanced. Counterweights Matched Weights.

crank4.jpg


crank5.jpg
 
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Kahuna the way you check plug wire condition is to hook an ohmmeter up to them then stretch and twist the wire and see if the resistance changes.
 
One expensive item found was damage to the rods. JB believes that the original engine builder did not use the correct socket when installing and put scratches in the face of the rods where the bolts seat. Magnaflux shows stress risers. This puts all rods into the junk category. Argh!:mad: A very expensive problem fixed with new rods. You cant see much in the pictures, but here they are.
rod1.jpg


rod2.jpg

Is it possible that the rod nuts were installed backwards at first and then reversed?

http://www.lycoming.com/Portals/0/t...I 1458F (03-06-2012)/Connecting Rod Bolts.pdf
 
Kahuna---
Have JB send you the rods! They would look cool on a plaque on the wall in your house!!!!!
Paper weights, Trophies, etc. Yep, unusual, but cool.
Tom:D
 
...Plugs, I ve been going on the cheap for these using the BR8ES plugs at ~$2 each from day one. These have preformed well and last about 200 hours before they are worn and need replacement. I guess 'performed well' is an unknown. Engine runs, plugs fire and are reliable... I have no idea as to performance. Klaus recommended a fancier plug, a IK27 iridium plug that is a... wait for it... $15 each. :eek: Im going to give them a try. Ill have no way of determining any performance difference other than plug life which Ill be able to measure. They will need to last 1500 hours to break even. Thats probably not a reasonable request of any plug.

Why wires need replacement? Im sure there is some electrical reason. I have cars with the original plug wires that are 15 years old and 150k miles. I of course have no way to measure any kind of deterioration of these. ....
Kahuna,

I run the BR8ES with my P-mags and using the EICommander to monitor them. What I have discovered is that around 100 +/- hours, the EICommnader starts to report some anomalies with these plugs. However, you would never know it by the feel of the engine, performance, or fuel burn. Since I replace my plugs ever condition inspection about 135 hours, I continue to use the cheap ones.

I also replace my plug wires every two years, if it needs it or not. When I was racing my Miata, I would replace them every year and I figure that car ran cooler than my ECi O-360. Like you, I have to make my plugs wires.

Check with Klaus but Emag mentions that you should have "approximately 180 ohms of resistance per foot of plug wire". That may be one way to test your wires.

In addition, I use dielectric grease on my plug wire fittings for no other reason than I figure "it can't hurt".

Keep up the posts, it is a great education!
 
Smoke Injectors

I recently updated my smoke injectors from ones that looked like your old ones that I had fabricated. After seeing my buddies injectors from SA I knew there would be no reason to spend so much on them to pruchase theirs. I found a 1GPM flow SS nozzle from McMaster Carr #3404K79 with 120deg spray pattern. They are only $10.83 ea. A couple bucks for an iron bar from Aviation Depot and a $10 welding job from the welding shop around the corner. Add the fittings and I have two great working injectors for around $50. They have a selection of different flow nozzels so you can match what works with your pump. For my setup I'm getting around .6GPM which gives me a nice smoke trail. Probably wouldn't hurt for this kind of money to have a spare or two in your travel kit for that just in case moment.

 
The case has been given an upgrade. Case has a no leak center dowel pressure conversion. The thru bolts will be floating and the seal will be accomplished by O rings around the dowels

case5.jpg


case4.jpg
 
The Clean room

Here is where the rebuild is taking place. Called the clean room Like being in an operating room. This is the kinda place I want my engine built in.
cleanroom.jpg




And here is how the build begins. The crank stands alone.
cleanroom2.jpg
 
Kahuna---
Have JB send you the rods! They would look cool on a plaque on the wall in your house!!!!!
Paper weights, Trophies, etc. Yep, unusual, but cool.
Tom:D

Yep, these sorts of things make nice living room decor items, at least in a bachelor place. This is the incident that made me reluctant to fly at night (O-320 Piper Pacer).

DSC00061.jpg
 
As I pulled off the ignition wires, I gave them an inspection. They looked ok. A little grease and grime on a few. I own a workhorse, not a beauty queen. I could see one coil to ignition wire connection that showed corrosion and evidence of some arching, hidden by the boot of course. No evidence of any issues on this cylinder.
My top wires have been on since day one. Bottom wires have less. My bottom plug wire lengths are custom lengths. This due to mounting the coils on the engine mount and having each wire, well different lengths.
A call to Klaus revealed that his maintenance schedule, now published in a more current doc version online that I had from years ago, says replace these wires at 500hrs or 10 years. I had not ever considered this before. Hmmm. Well he is a pretty smart guy, so I ordered a new set. My average cost on these is $19.25 each. For 12 plugs this stung a little.
newwires.jpg


Plugs, I ve been going on the cheap for these using the BR8ES plugs at ~$2 each from day one. These have preformed well and last about 200 hours before they are worn and need replacement. I guess 'performed well' is an unknown. Engine runs, plugs fire and are reliable... I have no idea as to performance. Klaus recommended a fancier plug, a IK27 iridium plug that is a... wait for it... $15 each. :eek: Im going to give them a try. Ill have no way of determining any performance difference other than plug life which Ill be able to measure. They will need to last 1500 hours to break even. Thats probably not a reasonable request of any plug.

Why wires need replacement? Im sure there is some electrical reason. I have cars with the original plug wires that are 15 years old and 150k miles. I of course have no way to measure any kind of deterioration of these. My mind says that a plug that fires is a plug and wire that are working. I'm sure its more complicated than that. A wires ability to carry this power surely degrades over time. An appreciable amount? I dunno. I don't race. I dont measure my performance to a nat hair. from Klaus "If you cruise at less than full throttle, you might not notice any wire degradation for a long time. At WOT you should see a performance increase when you change wires, even after 300 hrs." Like I said, Klaus is a pretty smart guy and has been doing this for a long time. So a new set of fancy plugs and wires it is. Seems unethical to install age old plug wires onto a new motor. My thinks my motor might protest. :p

Note: Picture. The plugs come in the proper packaging. I pulled them out to gap them and prepare for installing into the motor.


I have the Plasma 3 on the left side with IK-27 plugs on the top. I have been flying my airplane since 2007 and have 820 hrs. The first two years I ran the standard plugs. The Plasma 3, because of its long duration spark, eats plugs like there's no tomorrow. I used to have to regap the std plugs at 50 hrs and throw them out at 100. It was very frustrating to have to do this between annuals. I then switched to the IK-27 and I can make it to the annual with about 120 hrs without having to mess with the plugs. I buy the plugs online from the lowest bidder. Last time I bought them from Sparkplugs.com for about $8 ea.

Last year at 700 hrs, I had some frustrating problems with both ignition systems at the same time. I had intermittent misses and even a significant power loss requiring an emergency landing. To make a long story short, I had three different problems. On the mag side, I found a bad Champion massive elect. plug with only about 200 hrs that measured 9000 ohms. This had caused arcing inside the mag. Cleaned up the mag and made appropriate adjustments. Replaced all mag plugs with Tempest. I also found a bad LSE plug wire in the manner Rocket Bob stated. The resistance was all over the place when I wiggled and twisted the wire. I replaced all four. I was going to go to the auto parts store and roll my own, but in the end Klaus' price was very fair. I will definitely be replacing these every 500 hrs. Finally the circuit board on the cover of the Hall effect was replaced and found to have an intermittent problem. I had all these problems despite regular maintenance. I did send in my mag at 500hrs and I'm glad I did as it was showing some signs of minor wear and appropriate parts were replaced.

Jerry Esquenazi
RV-8 N84JE
 
Oil relief grooves

Another upgrade being done is to have 'oil relief grooves' machined into the case at the cam. This is done by ECI. There is very high pressure oil at the cam. These engines have a notorious leak called a 'backbone leak' that these grooves solve. You can see the groove cut into the face of the case.
case9.jpg


case11.jpg
 
Another upgrade. Positive Cam Jets

This is a very cool upgrade. Much if not most, of the engine wear happens at startup. The cam gets lubed by splash oil only. A little late, but better late than never. What JB does is have ECI machine some holes into the case to an oil galley and then he installed specially engineered jets. Their job is to spray oil onto the cam lobes at startup to improve excessive cam to lobe wear. This upgrade does take a lot of time and effort to do, but worth the effort. The first picture you can see the hole machined into the case. The the others with the jets installed.
case2.jpg


camlube1.jpg


camlube2.jpg


camlube3.jpg
 
Cool details of the upgrades. Nice to see and understand.

Can some of these be done to a typical O-360 as well?

I like the oil leak prevention techniques. Seems so simple it makes you wonder why they were not designed that way all along.
 
Cool details of the upgrades. Nice to see and understand.

Can some of these be done to a typical O-360 as well?

I like the oil leak prevention techniques. Seems so simple it makes you wonder why they were not designed that way all along.

Yes they can all be done. There is nothing special about my 540 setup.
 
The case has been given an upgrade. Case has a no leak center dowel pressure conversion. The thru bolts will be floating and the seal will be accomplished by O rings around the dowels

case5.jpg


case4.jpg

A little more detail on this item. This one is a big deal. Typically your case halves get sealed and pulled together with the thru bolts. Its an interference fit at the bolts. What happens over time is that as the engine wears, the case halves begin to move. This causes 'fretting' (case halves movement with metal to metal contact) and leaks. Mine was doing this and this is very common on Lycomings. Im sure many of you have seen leaks at the thru bolts. During overhaul, after the case gets lapped and line bored by ECI, these dowel pins get installed and become the interference fit and not the bolts. This reduces, if not eliminates, those pesky leaks at the thru bolts and reduces the fretting of the cases. At assembly, the case halves get pulled together and the fit is at the dowels. An important item for the next overhauler to know! Since the case will not just fall apart when you remove the thru bolts.
 
ECI cylinders

The cylinder of choice is the ECI Titan CermiNil? Nickel Bore Cylinders with Tapered Fins and Matched Weight pistons 9.5/1. These cylinders have a number of technological improvements. JB does the assembly of these as they arrive in kit form from ECI in my case.
cyl4.jpg


cyl1.jpg


cyl2.jpg


cyl3.jpg
 
Case assembly

Here is the preparation of the case assembly, otherwise known as the power section.
caseassembly1.jpg


caseassembly2.jpg


caseassembly3.jpg


caseassembly4.jpg
 
This is a very cool upgrade. Much if not most, of the engine wear happens at startup. The cam gets lubed by splash oil only. A little late, but better late than never. What JB does is have ECI machine some holes into the case to an oil galley and then he installed specially engineered jets. ...
Mike, is this essentially the same thing as the "Ney Nozzle"?

- John
 
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