1. MMS&TF Piston Engine Seminar By Chad Menne / Malibu Aerospace
Teledyne Continental Motors
“Gold Motor”
Textron Lycoming
“Grey Motor”

2. Who am I and why are we here?
Chad Menne
Malibu Aerospace
Over 7,000 hours of PA46 time
Corporate flight experience
Aircraft management
Flight test experience
Engineering – Research & Development
FAA Certification Tests
Maintenance / Production Flight Tests

3. Today’s Topics Both Lycoming & Continental Engines
How do we operate these engines?
Why do we operate them that way?
What are we missing?
What is my mechanic missing?
What are common problems?

4. Let’s talk engines Reliability
“Piston engines are comprised of a thousand parts flying in all different directions, looking for a way out.”

5. Let’s talk engines Reliability
“Piston engines are comprised of a thousand parts flying in all different directions, looking for a way out.”
98 out of 1385 total accidents were due to powerplant failures (7%), representing 21.4Million flight hours (Nall report 2007). That is one accident every 218,367 flight hours caused by engine failures,(turbine & piston). 11 of them resulted in fatalities (0.8%), which equals ONE fatal accident every 1.95Million flight hours due to engine failure. The TOTAL fatal accident rate is 1 per 84,920 flight hours for ALL types of accidents in ALL types of planes.

6. Let’s talk engines Reliability
“Piston engines are comprised of a thousand parts flying in all different directions, looking for a way out.”
98 out of 1385 total accidents were due to powerplant failures (7%), representing 21.4Million flight hours (Nall report 2007). That is one accident every 218,367 flight hours caused by engine failures,(turbine & piston). 11 of them resulted in fatalities (0.8%), which equals ONE fatal accident every 1.95Million flight hours due to engine failure. The TOTAL fatal accident rate is 1 per 84,920 flight hours for ALL types of accidents in ALL types of planes.
The piston PA46 fleet averages about 150,000 hours/year
That means we should see one accident every 1.5 years and one fatal accident every 13 years due to engine failure (piston & turbine)
Some sources claim a piston engine fails every 3,200 flight hours. Pratt & Whitney claims a PT6 failure every 333,000 flight hours by comparison

7. Common Problems Both Malibu & Mirage Exhaust! Magnetos Turbochargers
Turbo transitions, slip joints, gaskets, clamps
Magnetos
Cam wear, moisture/corrosion, points, dist. block
Turbochargers
Don’t expect them to go to TBO
Cam & lifter corrosion and wear
Excess moisture, fuel dilution, shearing & thermal breakdown of the oil

8. Malibu specific problems
Exhaust valves
Most common cause from high power & high CHT & exhaust temps
Starter drive adapters
Lightweight Iskra starters can cause premature wear
Air conditioner driveshaft seals can leak
Cylinder & ring wear
First to be blamed & rarely the cause
Bearing end play
Check for proper end play during pre-flight and DO NOT fly without end play!
Borescope for detailed inspection before condemning a cylinder
Be sure to use TCM master orifice tool for daily calibration during a compression check

9. Mirage specific problems
Exhaust valve guide wear (high oil consumption and rough running)
Broken oil control rings
Poor break-in results (high oil consumption)
Lycoming does not allow mineral oil
Cracked oil sump at turbo support studs
Cracked internal oil baffle
Be sure to check suction screen for rivets
Fuel servo problems
Unable to get proper ground mixture or full power fuel flow
Can cause surging in cruise
Fuel line AD every 100 hours (cracking due to improper securing of lines)

10. Believe it, or not!
Lifter
Main bearing

11. Crankcase bearing journal

12. Crankshaft Bearing Wear

13. Oil Sample - Good

14. Oil Sample - Bad

15. Most Common Sources of Wear Metal Elements in Oil
Iron
Cylinders, rotating shafts, valve train and any steel part sharing the oil.
Copper
Brass or bronze parts, bushings, bearings, oil coolers, sacrificial coatings.
Nickel
Valve guides, trace element in steel, some cylinder types.
Chromium
Rings, cylinders, a trace element in steel.
Silver
Sacrificial coatings, a trace element in some types of bearings, bearing cage plating
Magnesium
Engine casings, additives
Aluminum
Pistons, piston pin plugs, bearing overlay, casings.
Lead
Primarily leaded gas blow-by, traces from bearings
Silicon
Abrasive dirt from intake air, silicone sealers and gaskets, sample contamination.
Tin
Bearings, bronze parts (with copper), anti-wear coatings.
Molybdenum
Traces of anti-wear coatings, some cylinder types, and bearings.

16. Exhaust Woes
Leaky Gasket
Colorful clues

17. Mirage Turbo Transition
Heavy, Cast Inconel
Erosion & Blistering

18. Malibu Turbo Transition
.065” Stainless Steel
Check at EVERY Oil Change!

19. Tailpipe Trouble
Corrosion has its way
Heat Muff - Uncovered

20. V-Band Clamps

21. Exhaust Clamps Malibu & Old-Style Mirage Clamps
Crack from over-tightening

22. Exhaust Clamp Engagement
The right way
The WRONG way

23. Sump Cracks (Turbo Mounts)

24. Turbochargers

25. Common Turbo Problems Compressor damage Bearing failure Seal failure
Scavenge pump failure
Scavenge hose failure
Wastegate failure or sticking

26. Turbochargers
Bearings
Compressor Damage

27. Engine Cooling

28. Things that you can do
Vent oil cap after shutdown (minimize corrosion)
Watch EGTs and trend data (ignition and fuel injection anomalies)
In-flight mag checks (look for hot or cold EGTs)
Oil samples (watch for iron, nickel, almuminum)
Watch for peak TIT drift (up or down)
Drift up is usually ignition or low compression
Drift down is usually a probe going bad

29. The best pilots can juggle
The best way to prolong your engine’s life and improve safety is to know how to balance parameters
Trade one temp for another
Engine limits are not intended to provide longest life, but are instead proven to be acceptable for short durations
Add fuel only as necessary to achieve a good balance during climb
Less fuel means more power! (power means heat)

30. Which is worse???
360° CHT – 1650° TIT
400° CHT – 1580°TIT

31. Which is worse??? 360° CHT – 1650° TIT 400° CHT – 1580°TIT
The TIT is an exhaust gas temp, the CHT affects the engine’s ability to dissipate heat
A cooler CHT can transfer more heat away from a valve
400° CHT – 1580°TIT
Less differential from valve to seat and guides removes less heat from valve
Localized oil temps will be hotter at valve guides

32. Operations How hot is too hot??? Lean of Peak, no free lunch
CHT or EGT/TIT, not both (valve wear)
High TIT equals more exhaust wear
Lean of Peak, no free lunch
Lose speed (less power at same power setting)
Wear exhaust (higher EGTs, more oxidation)
Not as smooth (slight roughness or surging)
Cooler CHTs (helps offset the higher EGTs and cool valves)

33. LOP Cost Comparison Continental Lycoming
20% fuel savings ($28,000 over 2000 hours)
1500 hrs x 21GPH x $4.50/gal - 20%
2% speed loss ($9,000 additional aircraft cost over hours)
1500 hrs x 200kts - 2% / 196kts x $300/hr
Increased exhaust wear costs ($3000 over 2000 hours)
Lycoming
25% fuel savings ($35,000 over 2000 hours)
1500 hrs x 21GPH x $4.50/gal -25%
10% speed loss ($50,000 additional cost over hours)
1500 hrs x 200kts - 10% / 180kts x $300/hr
Increased exhaust wear costs ($10,000 over 2000 hours)

34. Ignition timing and combustion speed
How to change your ignition timing???
Engine speed
Higher RPM = less advance (less time to burn)
2500 RPM = 1 Revolution every .024 seconds
Lower RPM = more advance (more time to burn)
2300 RPM = 1 Revolution every .026 seconds or 9% more time
Mixture ratio ROP
Leaner mixture = more advance (burns faster – sharper power pulse)
Richer mixture = less advance (burns slower – softer power pulse)
Mixture ratio LOP
Richer mixture = more advance (burns faster – sharper power pulse)
Leaner mixture = less advance (burns slower – softer power pulse)

35. Affects of RPM on “Combustion timing”
Lower RPM
Higher RPM
TDC
Peak Pressure
Intake
Compression
Combustion
Exhaust
Earlier Peak Pressure, More Time to Burn, More Cooling Time
per Cycle, Less HP, Cooler EGT, Cooler CHT
TDC
Peak Pressure
Intake
Compression
Combustion
Exhaust
Later Peak Pressure, Less Time to Burn, Less Cooling Time
per Cycle, More HP, Hotter EGT, Hotter CHT

36. Affects of mixture on “combustion timing”
TDC
Peak Pressure
Affects of mixture on “combustion timing”
ROP Combustion
LOP Combustion
TDC
Peak Pressure
Intake
Compression
Combustion
Exhaust
Faster Combustion, Sharper Pulse, Cooler EGT, Hotter CHT
TDC
Peak Pressure
Intake
Compression
Combustion
Exhaust
Slower Combustion, Lower Pressure, Hotter EGT, Cooler CHT

37. Leaning Techniques No wonder you’re confused!
Rich of peak, lean to peak, lean of peak
TIT peak method, a.k.a.“the factory method”
Fuel flow method
JPI lean find “Lean L” method
JPI lean find “Lean R” method
“The big pull”

38. What’s My Horsepower??? Continental Lycoming LOP, FF x 15 = HP
ROP, FF x = HP (Can vary a lot)
Lycoming
LOP, FF x 14 = HP
ROP, FF x 12 = HP (Can vary a lot)

39. E-mail me, cwmenne@malibuaerospace.com
Thank you!
Questions
Comments
me,
Fly Safe!