A local shop has had an absolutely ratty looking O-320 sitting in the back of the hangar for a couple of years. They picked it up for a song and hoped to at least get some airworthy parts out of it for their trainers. You could not ask for a worse case scenario.....30 years since last run and from Florida. No obvious preservation effort was made and the exterior looks like it has been on the bottom of the ocean. So, today they opened it up and I absolutely couldn't believe what I saw. The inside was incredibly clean with very, very little corrosion. The cam looks unbelievable and there was zero corrosion on the tappets. The cylinders were the same! How does this happen? All of us know that frequent flying, frequent oil changes, dehumifdifiers, magic dust, etc. is required to avoid rust but here it is, the opposite and clean as a whistle. Someone, please explain so I can do it with our engine when it gets back from IRAN!
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30 years in storage - a mystery
- Thread starter AN23
- Start date
Majorpayne317641
Well Known Member
The fact that it didn’t run for 30 years is probably why it was fine. Also, if you run an engine the oil eventually gets empregnated onto the surface of the metal and is harder to completely dry out. The act of running an engine causes a lot of water to form as byproduct. This water and acidity from combustion are what damage engines if not run regularly. I think that because it was not run at all, whatever state it was in was frozen in time. Assuming it didn’t sit outside. If it was outside in Florida it for sure would get daily condensation from the daily heat from sun and cool down overnight cycles.
fixnflyguy
Well Known Member
Seen it before..
Several yeas ago I acquired a 1941 Aeronca TC65 that had been sitting in an open hangar in NC for 25 plus years. It had a Continental A65 on it ( no cowling) and I disassembled it ,finding to my surprise, no bad corrosion and fully rebuildable. The engine I have on my RV-4 was a run-out O320H2AD from a C-172 that had been sitting on a shelf in the local engine shop for several years, and looked like it had led a hard life. I got it for "dirt nothing" and after tear down and evaluation, I had a perfectly good re-build core that is what saved me big $$ for my build. I have found what you see on the outside isn't always what's on the inside.
Several yeas ago I acquired a 1941 Aeronca TC65 that had been sitting in an open hangar in NC for 25 plus years. It had a Continental A65 on it ( no cowling) and I disassembled it ,finding to my surprise, no bad corrosion and fully rebuildable. The engine I have on my RV-4 was a run-out O320H2AD from a C-172 that had been sitting on a shelf in the local engine shop for several years, and looked like it had led a hard life. I got it for "dirt nothing" and after tear down and evaluation, I had a perfectly good re-build core that is what saved me big $$ for my build. I have found what you see on the outside isn't always what's on the inside.
BillL
Well Known Member
There was a Mooney sitting at an airport near here outside for at least 20yrs, housed birds inside - wife demanded plane in divorce and left it there as a warning to others. Finally the resident A&P bought it and the cylinders were still shiny too!!!
I think it must be the run - park - sweat - repeat cycles that are worst for the engine?!?!?!?. I still use my dryer and preheat to 70F, 100 in winter. What ever makes one happy.
I think it must be the run - park - sweat - repeat cycles that are worst for the engine?!?!?!?. I still use my dryer and preheat to 70F, 100 in winter. What ever makes one happy.
PilotjohnS
Well Known Member
No knowledge
I have no knowledge if this is actually true, but I think the engine oil from the old days had more aromatic compounds or something. It seems the old oil use to produce vapor that would coat things that are closed up. We used to keep hardware in containers with just a small cup of oil in the bottom and there was never any rust after what seemed like years of storage. JMHO
I have no knowledge if this is actually true, but I think the engine oil from the old days had more aromatic compounds or something. It seems the old oil use to produce vapor that would coat things that are closed up. We used to keep hardware in containers with just a small cup of oil in the bottom and there was never any rust after what seemed like years of storage. JMHO
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Well Known Member
Your finding the inside of the engine is in good shape is of no surprise to me.
I have an 0-360 in my hangar now that I acquired 30 years ago that was run for 4.2 hours on the ground.
I have pulled the sump and borescoped the cam and cylinders and they look great. NO rust or anything abnormal.
Now this engine has been stored inside of buildings all this 30 or so years with no oil and the plugs all out and crankcase open to air.
I am not going to tear it down before I put it on an airframe and fire it up.
I am going to turn it upside down and get the cam coated with oil and make sure I have oil pressure before it fires up.
But, all that said the only thing I have a situation with is the front main seal as it m ay not hold oil.
The engine was overhauled by an A&P/IA I know and never flown.
Now my luck may vary Fixit
I have an 0-360 in my hangar now that I acquired 30 years ago that was run for 4.2 hours on the ground.
I have pulled the sump and borescoped the cam and cylinders and they look great. NO rust or anything abnormal.
Now this engine has been stored inside of buildings all this 30 or so years with no oil and the plugs all out and crankcase open to air.
I am not going to tear it down before I put it on an airframe and fire it up.
I am going to turn it upside down and get the cam coated with oil and make sure I have oil pressure before it fires up.
But, all that said the only thing I have a situation with is the front main seal as it m ay not hold oil.
The engine was overhauled by an A&P/IA I know and never flown.
Now my luck may vary Fixit
