What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

AOG ---Emergency landing at South Bend, IN - need local advice

rdoerr01

Well Known Member
As I was flying over South Bend Airport at 9000, the IO540 in my RV-10 started to shake real bad and that in when I noticed the #3 cylinder temps dropped right to nothing. I I mediated declare an emergency and landed fine. Looking for advice on service people in or on the field. My contact info is 913-231-0671


Thanks
Ray Doerr. N519RV
 
If you have the necessary tools, pull the cowl and remove the valve cover on that cylinder.

Turn over---mags off---- the engine and see if the valves are working correctly.
 
Engine

Harrison Aircraft Engines is in Laporte IN not too far from there. I would try to see if you can get someone from there to come over on his own time and have a look at it.
If its a valve or cylinder problem Harrison should be able to fix it unless its a cracked cylinder.
 
I'm with Stephen. Pull the nozzle off and see if there is a piece of crud in it. Pretty common.
 
Problem found - Induction leak

I managed to taxi the airplane over to the maintenance hangar, the mechanics there were trying to help but we're busy with other things. I pulled the top and bottom fowl, both spark plugs(fine wire), injector and every they that checked out OK. Next I ran the boost pump while mixture was full rich and throttle crack about 1/4". This showed fuel leaking near the sump at the joint where the rubber tubes and clamps are located, but #3 was leaking less then #1. I wipped this area up real good and tried to boost pump again, this clearly showed it was leaking. We tightened up all the clamps and that corrected the issue for now.
I did a full engine run up on the ramp with the fowl off and had the mechanic watch for any signed of leaks and it was all good. I then managed to get out of there and head to Port Huron, not my final destination, but one step closer to Canada. I will fly the last couple of legs today with an added stop at Aircraft Spruce Canada at CYFD for new intake gaskets and tubes and some clamps for good measure. I buy some extra to add to my tool kit I fly with.
All I can say is it is very important to have tools and some supplies when presented with this kind of issue when away from home. If I had not had the tools and the know how, I would have still been stuck there waiting.


Thanks everyone for the help!

Ray
 
Ray, given a fuel injected 540, the induction leak you described won't shut down a cylinder in WOT cruise. Remember, the throttle is wide open. A loose induction clamp would leak almost nothing.

Offhand, only two likely conditions would cause the #3 cylinder temps to drop to nothing as described....plugged injector nozzle, or stuck valve.
 
Exhaust gsskets

You might pick up an extra set of exhaust gsskets instead. Reportedly they make better seals than the intake gaskets, and are exactly the same size.
 
A sticking exhaust valve can present itself on successive flights, and totally clear up in between. I had a couple of flights recently where the engine hesitated briefly. Then on the next flight it stuck open while sitting on the ground idling in front of the hangar after startup.

So, having just reamed out my #3 exhaust valve guide, I know this is an easy thing to check and fix. Valve cover off, then release valve clips with the rope trick, and check play and travel. The first one will take you an hour or more, the other three will take you 10-15 minutes.

Just remember to tighten the screws on the valve cover when you put it back on... :p
 
Ray,

I had a similar event occur to my RV about a month ago - engine shaking, complete loss of EGT, and rapidly decreasing CHT's due to the cylinder not firing. All of the sudden, the issue resolved itself in the air for the remainder of the flight. After on the ground, I discovered I had a sticking exhaust valve. To me, your issue sounds like more than just an induction leak.

Do yourself a favor and perform a "wobble test" on the intake and exhaust valves of your suspect cylinders. This test should be performed every 400 hours per Lycoming.

Check out my thread on how to dig into this issue here:
www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=128673
 
You might pick up an extra set of exhaust gsskets instead. Reportedly they make better seals than the intake gaskets, and are exactly the same size.

Do not try installing exhaust gaskets on the intake tubes. It will leak. And you will deform the intake tube flanges and most likely warp the intake tube retainer.
 
The gasket he references is not the standard exhaust gaskets that are widely in use today. They are also not exactly the same dimensions, but will fit. You will still need to install the exhaust gaskets with a film of RTV to seal them, so why not just use a paper gasket and if it makes you feel better smear it with a light film of RTV. Either way try what you want, but once you over torque the tubes you'll be buying new parts.

The lycoming paper gaskets fall apart due to heat very frequently. The ECI gaskets are twice as thick and are made from much better material.
 
engine time...new..rebuild...

Ray, like all, glad you and passengers landed okay. Fuel leaks can be devastating & deadly in the engine compartment. Would be helpful to know the engine time/history, was this a rebuild (so time SMOH), was the fuel system rebuilt at SMOH or is this a TSN engine, etc...? I personally go with some of the other comments, worth the time to inspect and check the entire fuel system, if it is "crude" in one injector, likely there is more in the system. Maybe a quick pull of the gascolator screen, if nothing else peace of mind. If one injector is loose, others could be working their way there too. I just had a fuel pump fail on the ground in my aerocommander, very glad fuel pumps have the outboard dump line AND I was on the ground.
Cheers, Mike
 
Made it home safe to Gardner, KS

Thanks everyone for the advice and I will look at the valves. While in Canada, there is a nice friend bunch of guys there so willing to help that I was push out from working on my own airplane. Anyway the local there had a stack of gaskets and so we pulled the intake tube from #3 Cylinder and it looked like there was no paper gasket on the top of the tube at all. I was cleaning it up with scotchbrite when piece fell on the ground that was only about 3/4 of a gasket and it was extremely thin. Like other have said they tend to shrink with the heat from the engine and exhaust. We changed the paper gasket and then with the engine on the intake stroke of #3, I ran the boost pump, finally no gas coming out at the top of the intake tube. I flew home yesterday putting on 6 hrs in 2 legs and everything was normal. I have all new gaskets and tubes coming tomorrow that I will install and then I will check the valve as well.
This engine has never given me any grief in 1050 Tach, 1250 Hobb hours on this RV-10. It's a IO-540D4A5 with standard Silver Hawk EX Servo/Spider and injectors. Fuel Filter was just inspected and cleaned 20 hours ago. Cylinders with brand new ECI nickel cylinders when the engine was rebuilt in 2005.
 
Back
Top