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Prop/Governor Problem - Help!

C

carlmeek

I'm New Here
I have the following on my RV-10, all bought new from Vans.

YIO-540 D4A5
MT 3 blade prop
Hartzell Governor

The prop isn't moving at all - it just stays on full fine.

- I have checked the bungs in the engine, and sent photos to local experts who have agreed it's all correct. Front bung removed, back bung in place.
- I have tested the prop with compressed air. About 75psi got it moving, and a bunch of oil squirted in my face. Once all the oil had cleared and i'd exercised it a few times, it was starting to struggle to hold the pressure - it was leaking out as fast as it was going in, and holding about 75psi.
- I've checked the governor is being driven (it is) and that the flyweights and things are not stuck inside, its all smooth as silk. I've also checked the pressure relief valve, and it all looks good.
-Both the prop and the governor are full of oil
-I've checked the lever on the governor moves fully from stop to stop, it does.
-I've run the engine for nearly 1 hour in total now, at many different RPM settings including 2700. I've exercised the lever many, many times. I've tried leaving it course, and leaving it fine, for several minutes.

I'm now desparate for ideas.

- I spoke to MT who after asking lots of questions and reviewing photos blame the govenor. They say that 75-80 psi is correct for it to start moving.
- I spoke to Hartzell who have confirmed everything looks in order, and have suggested i ship it off to a prop shop for testing. They said it's extremely unlikely there's a problem with it.

What else could the problem be? Help!! :)
 
When I first put my prop on and fired up, it took several minutes of applying full course back to fine, several times to bleed the system, there is at least a qt of oil that needs to get bled through there. it did not move at first like you are explaining.
 
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Are all part new from Van's? I had a governor once that wouldn't run the prop. Turns out it was running backwards (came off an installation with a Subaru). I sent it to a prop shop and they pulled a plug and out it in somewhere else and then it worked right. Also, it can take some time to get the prop to change pitch the first time.
 
Not sure how oil squirted on your face. Did you test the prop on the engine, with compressed air into the governor output port? Did the oil leak out after you removed the compressed air rubber tip?
Is the O ring on the prop flange in place?
 
Check your oil line from the governor to the front engine fitting. After multiple attempts at higher RPM's, the prop would not cycle. I removed the line to inspect it and found the problem when no oil came out even though the governor had oil in it. The line that came with my engine was full of preservative grease (don't know why). Ran compressed air through the line and the large glob of grease came out. Flushed it, re-installed and everything works great.
 
Double check that the prop governor is running the correct direction. I had trouble with my prop and it turned they had sold me a PG that was turning backwards so no oil was properly coming out.
 
Thanks For the Updates? here are the answers?..

Bret - I?ve now run for nearly an hour with tens and tens of lever movements and RPM changes, air should be gone by now.

Jesse - Yes, all brand new from Vans. Hartzell asked for a photo of the baseplate and verified that the plugs are in the right place - so i think this is OK.

RVBuilder2002 - Yes, there was a plug in the front of the crank. I punched a hole and ripped it out. I?ve taken photos of the back of the prop flange, and the front of the engine showing the rear plug and oil line, and MT and Hartzell have verified these look fine.

Michael - I?ve tried all RPM settings right up to 2700. I was typically testing at 2000+. Not even a tiny amount of movement in the pitch detected. Prop lever does nothing.

BobTurner - Oil squirted at me from 2 places. When inserting shop air into the governor plate that feeds to the prop, initially oil gurgled and squirted back at me through the oil feed line to the governor. Secondly when i pulled out my rubber bung that was allowing me to put shop pressure to the prop, oil fired at me everywhere! ( I guess i should have let the pressure drop first! )

Carlos - This is a front mounted governor, so i don?t think this applies - there is no oil line as such, just all internal oil galleries.

JDanno - I?m not really sure how to prove the governor is running in the right direction?.. any thoughts on how? This sounds like it really could be a possibility - but Hartzell haven?t suggested this could be a problem.


This morning i?m going to follow this test procedure from Lycoming:

http://www.lycoming.com/Portals/0/t...Propeller Oil Control Leak Test Procedure.pdf

This should establish that the crank is holding the expected pressure. If this fails?. then it is at least narrowed down to prop versus governor, and governor looking likely.

Ideally i need a spare governor, but i have no idea who would have one!!
 
Just me but why not utilize Van's fully?

Since you bought all the components from Vans, I would suggest getting their help before tearing into a lot of other issues. The full price comes with help, as there is no one else to blame.

Then if they say do this and get bad results, they can decide to replace something. They have that power.
 
Check the clocking when you mount the governor, make sure the governor's oil output hole lines up with the engine port to the crankshaft. And of course the holes in the gasket. Do not go by where the governor control arm is, that can easily be changed.
 
In conclusion

For future builders:

I was having the same issue. Posted question here: http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=150970

I ran across this thread, noting identical symptoms, but no solution recorded. I contacted the OP and asked. He told me he had a bad calibration in his Dynon Skyview. I checked mine and lo and behold, same problem. I had pulses/rep set to 1 which is the correct setting for a 4 cylinder. It needed to be 1.5 in my installation.

So when I thought I was running at 2200 RPM, I was really running at less than 1500.
 
You boys.........

rrrrrrrr not fast

RRrrrrr sort of fast

RRRRRRRRRR getting fast

Vvrrrrrrrrr Governor works

Yeeeeeaaaay :D
 
mike newall said:
You boys.........

rrrrrrrr not fast

RRrrrrr sort of fast

RRRRRRRRRR getting fast

Vvrrrrrrrrr Governor works

Yeeeeeaaaay :D
Click to expand...

Yep. I was even commenting during the first two engine runs about how quiet it seemed. ... Almost too quiet. ... Not quiet anymore.
 
I'm glad my thread helped someone else - and i feel exonerated from feeling such an idiot!! :)

I'm a long time Rotax pilot, so genuinely didn't know how much GRRRRRR the engine makes at 2000rpm!
 
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