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Unable to fly for 2 months & 3 days

donaziza

donaziza

Well Known Member
Last time (til today), I was unable to fly for 2 months, 3 days, due to a doozy of a cold. So of course I started worrying about oil film slipping off my pistons and cylinders. Finally got out today, hit the boost pump, but forgot to first crack the throttle and run the mixture rich. 10, maybe 12 blades went by,--- nuttin.

So after cracking the throttle and running the mixture rich, and another short boost pump, it started fine. Now I'm not a mechanic, nor am I a builder,---did I do any scoring to my pistons or cylinder walls??:eek: Maybe 2 months 3 days is nothing to worry about---I dunno.:confused:

Oh, and I forgot to add, its an ECI IO 360
 
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Also not a mechanic, but I think there is a very realistic chance that you did no damage what so ever. If anything the 12 rotations helped build up oil pressure before actually starting the engine, similar to the Lycoming preoil procedure for a new engine.

Unfortunately many planes sit for months before being started, so this isn't uncommon. If you made a habit of this continuously it might catch up to you 10 years down the road from corrosion, but I really doubt you hurt anything at all.
 
If you could hurt an engine that easily, airplanes would be falling out of the sky left and right. You're fine.
 
did I do any scoring to my pistons or cylinder walls?
Click to expand...

Of course you did!
And it so happens every time an engine is started. The major part of engine wear happens when the engine is cranked for starting. The longer an engine?s been sitting, the worst the wear.
But in your case, as already stated by others, nothing to worry about :)
 
You worry too much, the engines aren't that fragile. There's no load on the rings other than the rings natural tension, it's only when the engines run that the force against the cyl walls gets high. That short a period is minuscule as far as wear goes.
 
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