Notification 17-05-19 Soft Engine Isolators

[Mich48041]

June 9, 2017 Applies to RV-12 Soft Engine Isolators
Notification

[David Paule]

Should have picked up on that, sorry.

Dave

[DaleB]

Woo-hoo!! Checked all four today and found raised lettering on all four. Just barely peeking out of the engine mount, but it's there. What a relief.

[Phantom30]

Originally Posted by DaleB

Woo-hoo!! Checked all four today and found raised lettering on all four. Just barely peeking out of the engine mount, but it's there. What a relief.

Yup, checked my uppers (which were both okay); back to the hangar tomorrow with my computer bore scope camera/light to check lowers. Just as soon not remove lower cowl.....but Woo-Hoo for at least the uppers!

[BigJohn]

Yes, very hard to see, only the edges of the lettering show. I was able to see all four with inspection mirror, strong light, and a lot of muttering!

[Phantom30]

Whoo-Hoo, both upper and lowers are the correct ones. Now, finally finished with annual.

Onto fun stuff to get ready for Oshkosh!

[WingedFrog]

I have a few questions after trying to check my engine:

- The picture on the notification shows two isolators, one good and one bad. These isolators are actually made of two parts, one male and one female. What is shown here on the picture? Is the part that has the raised letters, male or female? Whatever the answer, the mating part does not show any marking, is it so or is the marking not visible because it is on the other side?

- On the good isolators, is the raised text always following the white dot?

- On the bad isolators are always the marking positioned as on the picture, i.e, in the middle of the isolator rather than closer to the bottom as in the good ones. If they are on the middle they are likely invisible when the isolator is under pressure.

- On the good isolators that are squeezed under pressure is the raised text visible from the bolt head side or from the mount side?

I feel that having answers to these questions would make the inspection more reliable.

[todehnal]

Originally Posted by WingedFrog

I have a few questions after trying to check my engine:

- The picture on the notification shows two isolators, one good and one bad. These isolators are actually made of two parts, one male and one female. What is shown here on the picture? Is the part that has the raised letters, male or female? Whatever the answer, the mating part does not show any marking, is it so or is the marking not visible because it is on the other side?

- On the good isolators, is the raised text always following the white dot?

- On the bad isolators are always the marking positioned as on the picture, i.e, in the middle of the isolator rather than closer to the bottom as in the good ones. If they are on the middle they are likely invisible when the isolator is under pressure.

- On the good isolators that are squeezed under pressure is the raised text visible from the bolt head side or from the mount side?

I feel that having answers to these questions would make the inspection more reliable.

My isolators had no markings; no white or purple dot, and no raised text anywhere. This was verified after replacement. The new isolators only had the white dot and raised text on the larger male end. The female had no markings. After installation, only a small portion of the white dot and text were visible. I positioned the white dots so that they could be easily identified with just a casual look. Hope that helps..............Tom

[WingedFrog]

Originally Posted by todehnal

My isolators had no markings; no white or purple dot, and no raised text anywhere. This was verified after replacement. The new isolators only had the white dot and raised text on the larger male end. The female had no markings. After installation, only a small portion of the white dot and text were visible. I positioned the white dots so that they could be easily identified with just a casual look. Hope that helps..............Tom

Definitely answers most of my questions, Tom, thanks.
I have a growing feeling that, based on the fact that probably a large number of these soft isolators have been flying with no adverse effect over 8 years. From what I have been able to inspect so far, I suspect my isolators are in the soft category. I have now more than 200 hours of very smooth running of my Rotax 912. I will need to see some hard evidence of damage to disturb the nice operation of this engine through an intervention that could disrupt a nicely balanced FFW setup.

[RFSchaller]

I haven't checked mine yet. I'm waiting for the Arizona outside air temp to drop somewhere in the indicating range! I think Jean-Pierre has a good question: it would be useful to know how this was discovered and what, if any, dangerous condition resulted. Right now it is not clear if someone at the factory just noted they didn't meet specs or if one failed in service.