was nothing really wrong with the previous engine, but it was approaching TBO
and the owner decided that “it was time.”
(Had he been my client at the time, I’d
have done my best to convince him to
keep flying the engine rather than replacing it, as I’m definitely not a believer in
the concept of TBO for piston aircraft
engines—but he wasn’t, and so I didn’t.)
To minimize downtime, the owner
decided to purchase an overhauled/
exchange TSIO-520-R engine from one of
the biggest and most reputable engine
overhaul shops in the country. This company has a longstanding and
well-deserved reputation for building
excellent engines and standing behind
them with a generous warranty policy
and top-notch customer service. The
replacement engine was shipped in late
October 2007 and installed in the T210N
in early December 2007, along with a new
turbocharger, turbo controller, and
wastegate assembly.
In April 2009—just 16 months and 154
hours later—a substantial quantity of ferrous metal was found in the oil filter
during a routine oil change. Further
investigation revealed damage to the oil
pump gears. The engine was removed
from the aircraft and shipped to the shop
that built it for evaluation. The shop performed a complete teardown inspection,
and installed new main and rod bearings,
new rod bolts and nuts, and a new oil
pump. They flushed the oil cooler, turbocharger, lifters, wastegate, starter adapter,
and turbo controller and installed an
overhauled propeller governor. The
engine was shipped back to the owner in
early June and reinstalled in the aircraft
in early August. This work was covered
under warranty.
Three months later in November
2009—at 203 hours SMOH and 48 hours
after the teardown—problems developed
with the turbocharging system, resulting
in replacement of the turbo controller. At
that time, the oil filter was found to contain a small but appreciable quantity of
ferrous metal, but after consultation with
the engine shop it was decided to continue the engine in service.
All appeared to be fine with the
engine until that beautiful spring day in
Solid IFR...
Its not just the crystal clear synthetic vision, the comprehensive autopilot
coupling, vertical steering, flight director, or hundreds of other details that
makes GRT Avionics the perfect choice for IFR flight. It is the confidence that
comes from hundreds of thousands of hours of proven performance.
Designed by experienced aerospace engineers. IFR proven. Expect nothing
less from GRT.
...with confidence.
Graphical Engine Monitor with EGT history
Dual AHRS - Auto-cross check. No degradation with loss of an AHRS; no
need to revert to partial panel backup.
Synthetic Approach with highway-in-the-sky to any runway
Extensive Lateral and Vertical autopilot coupling expands autopilot
functionality.
XM Weather, TIS Traffic, Stormscope, ADS-B,
and much more...
8 serial ports in/out, 8/14 analog inputs/outputs, ARINC 429 for today and
built-in growth for tomorrow.
Primary Flight Display with synthetic vision
Moving Map with shaded relief terrain
Dual AHRS/Air
Data Computer
Grand Rapids
Technologies, Inc.
616 245-7700
AVIONICS
GRTAVIONICS.COM
