I have an IO 360 from Aerosport. Superior with the roller lifters. Cylinders are ECI Titans which I ordered to get the nickel carbide finish. I knew I wouldn?t be putting many hours on per year, so spent the extra on the cylinders and lifters, hoping to avoid corrosion problems.
Bought the engine Dec/08 and first flight was 11 Jan/2012. I?ve always been very pleased with it; strong, smooth and trouble free.
Now comes the bad part.
A few months ago we found quite a bit of ferrous metal in the filter. After break-in the metal in the filter tapered off but never really went away, Now at around 150hrs it is back with a vengence.
The oil analysis shows fairly normal with slightly elevated copper and nickel.
Borescope of cylinders showed good condition with no corrosion. Since I have the roller tappets we had to pull a cylinder to see the cam. At first sight the cam looked good ? no corrosion. On closer examination we could see what looked like a dimpled surface on the lobes. This shows up better in the photos since it can be magnified.
Have been talking to Aerosport and they agree the engine should be sent back for a new cam.
So what do think the verdict will be? Faulty hardening maybe?
BTW the dry tappet clearance was way too high on all tappets. Averaging about .160.
Should be .028 to .080. Is this related or a separate issue?
Will post pics when I figure it out.
Bought the engine Dec/08 and first flight was 11 Jan/2012. I?ve always been very pleased with it; strong, smooth and trouble free.
Now comes the bad part.
A few months ago we found quite a bit of ferrous metal in the filter. After break-in the metal in the filter tapered off but never really went away, Now at around 150hrs it is back with a vengence.
The oil analysis shows fairly normal with slightly elevated copper and nickel.
Borescope of cylinders showed good condition with no corrosion. Since I have the roller tappets we had to pull a cylinder to see the cam. At first sight the cam looked good ? no corrosion. On closer examination we could see what looked like a dimpled surface on the lobes. This shows up better in the photos since it can be magnified.
Have been talking to Aerosport and they agree the engine should be sent back for a new cam.
So what do think the verdict will be? Faulty hardening maybe?
BTW the dry tappet clearance was way too high on all tappets. Averaging about .160.
Should be .028 to .080. Is this related or a separate issue?
Will post pics when I figure it out.
