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ksauce

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Work and family life have precluded me flying my plane at all for the past three years. It's been sitting on the ramp in Vegas completely neglected. Fortunately, things are finally starting to turn around and I would like to put some air underneath the wings.

My plane has an O-320-E3D with around 1100 hours on it. At the last conditional, the compressions were in the high 60s/low 70s. I've got one P-Mag on it.

What should I do to maximize the likelihood of a successful resuscitation? Right now, I'm budgeting around $3K for the conditional/repairs. Am I being overly optimistic and should just plan on an overhaul? That will certainly delay the return to flight, but it might be a fact of life.
 
ksauce said:
Work and family life have precluded me flying my plane at all for the past three years. It's been sitting on the ramp in Vegas completely neglected. Fortunately, things are finally starting to turn around and I would like to put some air underneath the wings.

My plane has an O-320-E3D with around 1100 hours on it. At the last conditional, the compressions were in the high 60s/low 70s. I've got one P-Mag on it.

What should I do to maximize the likelihood of a successful resuscitation? Right now, I'm budgeting around $3K for the conditional/repairs. Am I being overly optimistic and should just plan on an overhaul? That will certainly delay the return to flight, but it might be a fact of life.
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Optimistic perhaps, but nothing wrong with that. Find someone that has a borescope to start, and look at the internal condition of the cylinders. If they look OK (no rust or pitting) just do an oil change, flush and check the fuel system, and have at it. If you have rust issues, you may be looking at a top end, or perhaps a whole overhaul. Having it in the desert most certainly helps your odds. I flew an airplane with an engine that had all those issues for around 600 hrs before it needed (really needed) an overhaul, but that takes constant monitoring, a good understanding of what the engine is doing, and precludes taking any real long trips.
 
Follow Stephen's advice. Once the borescope is done, charge the battery, pull the bottom plugs, then crank the engine till you have oil pressure.

After that, reinstall the spark plugs and start the engine. Run it long enough to warm it up to change the oil and do a compression check.

There are more things and details but this is the top level to get you started.
 
Check out our EAA club Chapter 1300

headquartered at Henderson. Next meeting 4/13 at HND 7:30pm. Lots of resources available including several RV builders in club.;)
 
Around the time you stopped flying E-mag came out with both a software and a hardware upgrade for the E & P-mags. (There hasn't been any changes since.)

If you don't have those updates, you MUST send your P-mag in.

Good luck with the engine and the rest of the airframe. You will probably be fine due to your location.
 
Thanks for the input gentlemen. It doesn't sound too daunting to at least ascertain the status of the engine. I'm hoping the only real damage done is the faded paint!
 
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