Notification 17-05-19 Soft Engine Isolators

[todehnal]

This one is pretty new, and I couldn't find any posts about it. Apparently there were some soft engine isolators that shipped with some of the firewall forward kits. The order ship dates for these soft isolators was from August 5, 2009, to June 30, 2016. Wow! That's wide range. Anyway, according to the notification you need to look for raised text somewhere around the exposed perimeter of the isolator. Since it was oil change time, and I had the cowl off, it was a perfect time to do the inspection. Sadly, all four of my isolators are missing the raised text. So, I followed the instructions which was to contact Van's. They are sending out the correct isolators. According to the notification, it is a 6 hr job to replace them, and you are to use section 46 of the builders manual as a guide. I'm not sure what needs to come off to do this, but it looks pretty intimidating to me, almost like a complete engine R & R. There is no specific outline for changing them, other than the builders manual, but I am hopeful that I will find some shot cuts as I go through the process. Anyone else hit with this one? The good part is that Van's folks watches out for us, and are prompt to notify us and make it right.

[DaleB]

Oh, snap. I'd seen the earlier notice but not this one. The earlier one was a much narrower range of dates. I need to check mine tonight... the good news is, I'm doing the annual so at least the cowl is already off.

[tomkk]

I wasn't included in the original date range but was included in this latest one. Thankfully, mine have the raised lettering so I'm OK. I don't think I could replace them in 6 hrs

[rgmwa]

I saw that notice just recently and suspect that mine are also the soft type. As it's a notification and not a service bulletin, I'm wondering what issues the softer isolators may cause. Cowl rubbing? Engine problems? Maybe Scott could explain.

[Ueli N]

I had to change the mounts on my plane not too long ago, I had the ones with the purple dot.
Was not looking forward to it since they looked good and the plane has not been in the air yet. I checked with Vans, they said the should be replaced but gave no explanation why.
So I replaced them.Its not as bad as it sounds.
I used an engine hoist at the engine and you need a support for the tail.
As I remember I only had to remove a fuel line at the gascolator and a clamp for the Wireing bundle to get some slack.
Loosen up all nuts on the engine mount bolts all the way, lower engine slightly and replace upper mounts. Leaving upper mountings loose all the way rise engine to get enough clearance to replace lower mounts.
With the new engine mounts the gap between the upper cowl and the spinner is about 1/16" less.

[rgmwa]

Originally Posted by Ueli N

So I replaced them.Its not as bad as it sounds.

That's reassuring at least. Thanks for the description.

[Phantom30]

Originally Posted by Ueli N

I had to change the mounts on my plane not too long ago, I had the ones with the purple dot.
Was not looking forward to it since they looked good and the plane has not been in the air yet. I checked with Vans, they said the should be replaced but gave no explanation why.
So I replaced them.Its not as bad as it sounds.
I used an engine hoist at the engine and you need a support for the tail.
As I remember I only had to remove a fuel line at the gascolator and a clamp for the Wireing bundle to get some slack.
Loosen up all nuts on the engine mount bolts all the way, lower engine slightly and replace upper mounts. Leaving upper mountings loose all the way rise engine to get enough clearance to replace lower mounts.
With the new engine mounts the gap between the upper cowl and the spinner is about 1/16" less.

Thanks...you make sound much less of a hassle than I was trying to picture! And I thought I had finished my annual.....if these "service" change-outs keep coming I'll be lucky to get in the air this Summer!

[BigJohn]

Oh boy, this is not good news! I did not recieve a "notification". Was it emailed? At least I'm in the midst of my annual so its the right timing, if I have to do it.

[todehnal]

I don't think that any notifications were sent out, at least I didn't receive one either. I just happened to take a look at the list on Van's support site, saw the notice, and decided that I needed to comply. My thoughts are that with the soft rubber, when you torque to specs, you may wind up with no rubber dampening at all, due to the sleeve bottoming out on the washers and mount, effectiviely leaving you with a solid mount. I appreciate the write up from Ueli. His experience makes me think that it won't be a terrible task after all. By the way, I have no purple dot, no white dot, and no raised text, for what it's worth. I may see some evidence of them when I get the old ones out, but I carefully worked my way around all four front and back rubber mounts using a mirror and found no markings at all.

[rvbuilder2002]

E-mails are only sent out for Service Bulletins

A Notification is only issued for things that are not safety of flight concerns.

The soft isolators can not be over compressed because there is still a spacer that the bolt torques up on.