[rteabeault]

I flew the RV-10 that I fly (but didn't build) down to KOKC to pick up my mother and fly here back to Colorado. This RV has a split ignition with a mag on the Left and an electric ignition on the right. Prior to departure back to Colorado we got a big mag drop and vibration during the run-up when we switched to the right (electric). We then taxied back and shut down. Being the Memorial Day weekend we could not find a mechanic that was A. working or B. willing to work on an experimental. In the end we flew back to OKC commercial and left the RV at the FBO.

Before we left I decided to give it another try and observed that when switching to the right (electric) side the number 3 cylinder's EGT dropped to 0. This made me think that perhaps we had a bad spark plug or even a faulty or disconnected plug wire. When switching to the right only 5 cylinders were running which in my mind explains the RPM drop, the vibration and the EGT going to 0.

I did not have the time or ability to look at it further so we flew back commercial and I am now trying figure out what to do. I can either fly back with the owner (and builder) and we can try to repair it or we can find a mechanic and have them go over there and take a look. So with that, can anyone point me to a mechanic in the Oklahoma City area that would work on an RV-10?

 

[Mike S]

Welcome to VAF!

Russell, first off, welcome aboard the good ship VAF

I feel your pain, having just gone through a similar issue with my 10----just got it home yesterday after a total left side ignition failure on a trip to Yuma.

Please give us more info about the ignition system that is having issues-----who makes it, what model, does it fire all top or all bottom plugs, or half and half??

How many coils are there? Does each coil have one, two or more plug wires going to it? It is pretty common to have a coil firing two plugs, but you stated the EGT showed only one cylinder dropping out, so I would suspect the coil is still good, and the plug is shorted. But that is strictly a guess...........

For what it is worth, I installed a pair of borrowed mags---(thanks Andy) to fly home on when mine quit---------just an option to keep in mind if there is a problem finding someone to work on the electronic stuff.

 

[sailvi767]

It sounds like a coil failure. It's not unusual to have only one side fail. We carry a spare in our travel kit.
G

 

[rteabeault]

I don't know all of the details of the ignition system. I am not sure who makes the electric side or how many coils there are. The owner/builder has been out of the country for the last two months and is thankfully returning today so I will try to get more info from him.

 

[Dan B]

RV-10

Check your PMs.

 

[rteabeault]

Solved

I wanted to thank the people that reached out to me regarding this issue. I made it back to OKC with the owner yesterday. We took the upper cowling off and saw that the spark plug wire was disconnected from the plug. Put it back on, checked the rest of the connections, put the cowling back on and after a total of about 30 minutes of time spent at KOKC we were departing on an IFR flight plan back to KBDU.

 

[AltonD]

People are great on here. Very helpful. On a lot of forums, you have to weed out the garbage. Almost never happens here. Members will go way out of their way to help you.