AEIO 320 E2B

B

Barry B

Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2020
Messages
7
I am looking for an engine for my Decathlon, or overhaul shop. Any good ideas would be appreciated
 
I have a core, but at last annual they found pitting on the front of the crankshaft, ?????
 
Barry B said:
I have a core, but at last annual they found pitting on the front of the crankshaft, ?????
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Not unusual for an aircraft that sat for a while at some point. Front of the crank is exposed outside the case, where condensation can collect on the bottom. Depending on depth, a good engine shop might be able to machine that out without red tagging the crank. If the crank is bad, that will run you about $7K just for the part, and that is IF you can find one. Some models are made of unobtanium right now.

Depending on the size of your wallet, might price a new exchange from Lycoming.
 
Big Ed said:
Not unusual for an aircraft that sat for a while at some point. Front of the crank is exposed outside the case, where condensation can collect on the bottom. Depending on depth, a good engine shop might be able to machine that out without red tagging the crank. If the crank is bad, that will run you about $7K just for the part, and that is IF you can find one. Some models are made of unobtanium right now.

Depending on the size of your wallet, might price a new exchange from Lycoming.
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I did check the price, its a lot bigger than my wallet is. Thanks BB
 
Not sure if you mean outside or inside diameter, but there is ability to grind the inside to a max diameter, and grind the pits out. I've saved 3 cranks over the years thankfully. And the other was limited to 150hp engine. Need to check with the engine shops. This procedure can be done on the plane.
 
@Barry B , to answer your original question, finding a replacement engine is going to be very challenging as they don't seem to exist out there without an airplane attached to them. My project was bought without an engine, I had no idea that I couldn't just call a shop and order one up, it almost caused me to part out my airframe. So hang on to what you have and get it fixed if you can. Out there in the upper midwest there should be a reputable shop within a day's drive. Between Denver, Wichita, and Minneapolis there has to be a good one you can go to for service.

What is the total time on the engine and when was the last overhaul done?
 
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Yep. I have a fairly conservative friend with 4000 hrs on one. Never even pulled a cylinder.

The secret is to not let them sit too long.
 
darrell whitley said:
Hmmm🤔 Good conversation I’m at a little over 1,600ttsn. Wondering what I do when I reach 2,000.
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Just keep flying it! I think its terrible that people think a perfectly good running, healthy engine needs to be euthanized just because its reached some arbitrary number! There's so much more to the equation, and hours of operation has the LEAST effect (in my professional opinion of course) on the health and reliability of the engine. It further infuriates me that "professional" mechanics who should otherwise be experts in their field do the same. "older" engines almost never just catastrophically fail without warning.... they die a slow, agonizing (for the owner) death. a new, young engine is statistically far more likely to have a catastrophic failure.

sorry, I'll step down off the soap box.
 
Engines aren't euthanized, they are given new life. When the time is right, an overhaul is a good thing.

I just wrote a check to my engine shop today.
 
Yes. If your engine meets compression criteria, is not throwing oil, and meets static runup, any IA that turns you down due to time since overhaul needs to be avoided - like the plague. Unless you are really, really wealthy.
 
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