Viking engine....Any pireps?

William · #1 08-27-2016, 07:29 PM

I'm interested in hearing any first hand experience of the Viking engine. I'm looking at a aircraft project that has a Viking 110hp engine in it. The engine is from 2012 and does not have the tubular intake, not sure if this is a deal breaker or not, I believe Viking upgraded to the tubular Intake but I don't know why? I contacted Viking engines and they stated they do not have the tubular intakes in stock for the 110hp engine, and don't plan on selling them any longer.

Thanks
Bill

rv7charlie · #2 08-27-2016, 08:15 PM

William, PM sent.

rv6ejguy · #3 08-28-2016, 08:01 AM

The original intakes were a mess and strangled the engine output to well below the published figure. There were various other mods made over the following years to address other issues which cropped up over time.

William · #4 08-28-2016, 08:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rv6ejguy

The original intakes were a mess and strangled the engine output to well below the published figure. There were various other mods made over the following years to address other issues which cropped up over time.

Hi Ross thanks for the reply. Would any of the aftermarket intakes for the Honda Fit be better? What were the other mods?

Thanks
Bill

rv6ejguy · #5 08-28-2016, 08:50 AM

With the engine sitting on its side and other things in the way, not sure if something off the shelf would fit, also depends on cowling space. I don't follow the developments too much on these engines any more since Jan does not allow people to participate on his forum very freely.

If I recall there were some crankcase breather redesigns and something in the gearboxes. There were also numerous issues with their ECU, especially with cold starting. I believe they had at least 4 iterations of those.

We have sold a few ECUs to dissatisfied Viking owners and quite a number more to other Fit users who are doing their own conversions. The engines are quite popular in the 100hp range these days.

The latest Viking engines stand upright and have the factory direct injection in place I believe. Not sure what ECU they use to control that.

The basic Honda Fit engine is very sound but all the new systems added to the outside need to be reliable to make the whole package so.

There was not enough testing (as usual) on the early engine packages before they were released for sale, hence a number of issues quickly came to light.

William · #6 08-28-2016, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rv6ejguy

With the engine sitting on its side and other things in the way, not sure if something off the shelf would fit, also depends on cowling space. I don't follow the developments too much on these engines any more since Jan does not allow people to participate on his forum very freely.

If I recall there were some crankcase breather redesigns and something in the gearboxes. There were also numerous issues with their ECU, especially with cold starting. I believe they had at least 4 iterations of those.

We have sold a few ECUs to dissatisfied Viking owners and quite a number more to other Fit users who are doing their own conversions. The engines are quite popular in the 100hp range these days.

The latest Viking engines stand upright and have the factory direct injection in place I believe. Not sure what ECU they use to control that.

The basic Honda Fit engine is very sound but all the new systems added to the outside need to be reliable to make the whole package so.

There was not enough testing (as usual) on the early engine packages before they were released for sale, hence a number of issues quickly came to light.

Thanks Ross for your insight.

Bill

flyingriki · #7 08-28-2016, 10:09 AM

Is this another eggenfaller boondoggle where they let everyone do the test flying for them then bail out on everyone like last time?

Kyle Boatright · #8 08-28-2016, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flyingriki

Is this another eggenfaller boondoggle where they let everyone do the test flying for them then bail out on everyone like last time?

I would say no. We have a local who prefers to keep a low profile who seems to have had a reasonably good experience with the Viking. He was one of the initial adopters and got sufficient factory support to work out any issues encountered. More recent engines incorporate the learnings from his and other's experience.

Overall, the engine seems to have worked out reasonably well.

rv6ejguy · #9 08-28-2016, 10:44 AM

Some people, especially later customers, are apparently quite happy with their engine packages but quite a number of early adopters were not. Engines were well down on claimed power and heavier than they expected plus experienced lots of cold starting issues in cooler climates.

Additional testing would have uncovered many of these issues.

There are people more knowledgeable than me on all the mods these engines went through in the past several years.

William · #10 08-28-2016, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kyle Boatright

I would say no. We have a local who prefers to keep a low profile who seems to have had a reasonably good experience with the Viking. He was one of the initial adopters and got sufficient factory support to work out any issues encountered. More recent engines incorporate the learnings from his and other's experience.

Overall, the engine seems to have worked out reasonably well.

Hi Kyle any chance you know the mods done on your friends engine?

Thanks
Bill