ECI engine group A -opinions please

[teaguy]

Turns out my engine with about 40 hours on it is a Group A from the current MSB list. When I started building my wife insisted on a brand new engine, okay if I have to I said. Now this MSB and guess what, my copilot is not impressed and is not too thrilled about going for a ride now! Forget about rationalizing with someone who is no longer comfortable with the project, it does not matter how many hours until we need to start pressure testing, there is a potential issue, no thanks! So, new cylinders or sell. How much will this MSB affect my selling price? Any guesses. Brand new 0-360 fuel injected, lightspeed ignition ECI Titan engine? Just wondering what the difference might be as opposed to a total price. Any guesses.
Mark Mercier
Vancouver, BC
C-GQRV

[vlittle]

Hi Mark.

I spoke with Sue Gregor at Aero Sport yesterday to check the status of my cylinders.

Her assessment is that the group A cylinders are not really a problem, but the repetitive inspection is a conservative approach by ECI based on the group B cracking.

The inspection process is pretty simple, and lines up with oil change/plug rotation cycles and the type of inspections I already perform. I am pretty relieved that I have group A cylinders and based on the conversation, I have no concerns over their longevity.

Vern

[Walt]

Mine also fell into group A, 3.5 years and 725 hrs later and no problems.... but being the anal/fantatical maintenance guy I am, I am electing to swap them out with new ECI cylinders. Talked to Joe Trapota today and the cost will be very reasonable in my opinion. They do a worksheet based on how many hours you have on the cyl's and pro-rate the cost. A new set of 4 cyl's is going to cost me 2K. I was planning a doing a top end at about 1000hrs anyway so this this is a little early and a little more $ but worth it for my piece of mind. My wife and I fly quite a bit and I just don't care to take any unnecessary risks, blowin a jug could definately ruin your day

Just as a side note ECI has always been a pleasure to work with and Joe is a stand up guy. I have a 100% ECI motor and have been totally happy with performance/customer service so no regrets here. All the engine manuf's have had there problems, I rather do cyl's R&R than a crankshaft R&R anyday !

[LifeofReiley]

Fly the heck out of them. This is another FAA blonde moment. Do not fly with the "b" cylinders IMHO.

[teaguy]

Thanks Walt, maybe I should see what it will cost to swap out 40 hour cylinders, before deciding to sell.
Mark Mercier
C-GQRV

[ptrotter]

I have "A" cylinders on my new TMX IO-360. I spoke with Mahlon at Mattituck about it and he basically told me not to worry. All they require is a periodic compression test that I would do anyway. He felt that the failure rate that ECI has seen is not really inconsistant with normal failure rate and that ECI is just being ultra conservative. The only issure is that they MUST be replaced at 2000 hour TBO, but I doubt if I'll ever get close to that so I'm not going to worry about it.

[frankh]

Looks like this is..

A) a Non issue
b) a not too expensive PITA!...

Thanks

Frank