My 10 years with ECI cylinders

This is an update to an old thread. http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=87254&highlight=eci+ring+delaminationHistory

2006 ECI cylinders installed on rocket, nickel carbide, 10:1 pistons

2010 Cylinders removed for ECI recall, oil consumption also high, compression rings delaminated, 400 hours 4 jugs replaced by ECI, two rebuilt. Jugs sent to Lycon for port and polish work. 10:1 teflon pistons installed

2014 High oil consumption, black oil, removed jugs, compression rings delaminated again. 450 hours. Sent to overhaul shop, all jugs checked,guides, lapped etc, honed, new rings. Cam, lifter faces inspected and were in good shape, consistent with 900 hour engine.

April 2015, 1st flight, noted no hot temperatures typical with ring break-in procedures. All summer tried different oils, different break-in. Wrong rings were installed! During upheaval at ECI company I was given cast rings instead of the problematic CN203 rings. Three oil changes were done in the fifty hours with each change showing a small but increasing metal content.
November 2015, Off came jug #1 and a visual inspection showed the cylinders to be ok but cam lobes and lifter faces badly scuffed. Engine removed from airplane and sent to overhaul shop.
No one can explain the cam/lifter damage in the 50 hours but I believe the excessive blow by caused a swirl of particles in the crankcase that started the wear in the upper end.

I have decided to install six new Lycoming cylinders on my rocket. I will be going with stock pistons this time as I have not raced for the last three seasons. It will be interesting to see how my cross country performance will be impacted by the Lycoming cylinders and stock pistons vs the ECI cylinders with 10:1 pistons and Lycon ported cylinders.
In all these threads on ECI cylinders, there are many users who have had excellent service with these jugs. I have six ECI cylinders, in good shape, with new, (correct rings) 10:1 pistons and lycon work, for sale. They have a total of about 500 hours since being at the ECI factory for AD replacement/repair, four new at the time and two rebuilt.

10 years ago I went with ECI for the corrosion resistance and also because Lycoming had done such a terrible job on the previous brand new cylinders I had purchased from them in 2001. The flashings around the fins were so bad that during the clean up I removed tablespoons of casting sand still in place!
Reports are that the Lycoming quality has greatly improved with competition and I at least have ECI to thank for that.
__________________
Tom Martin RV1 pilot 4.6hours!
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EVO F1 Rocket 850 hours,
2010 SARL Rocket 100 race, average speed of 238.6 knots/274.6mph
RV4, RV7, RV10, two HRIIs and five F1s
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Fairlea Field
St.Thomas, Ontario Canada, CYQS
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Interesting, when you say scuff on the cam lobes, is this from corrosion, or miss matched cam followers on a used cam during a rebuild? you would think that the oil filter would catch metal contaminates that were big enough to cause that, what did the crank and rod bearings look like? the soft Babbitt and lead usually imbeds large contaminates into the bearings, ya?

Cam lobes and lifters were fine 50 hours ago when we put the new rings in the cylinders. There was wear typical of an engine with around nine hundred hours.
There was no corrosion, this came from some other source. As I suggested in my post I believe it was caused by excessive ring blow by in the last 50 hours. Combustion material that usually goes out the exhaust was ending up in the crank case. The main bearings also had wear and I put that down to the same foreign material and the 900 hours with high compression pistons. The crankshaft was fine.

Do you think that excessive choke could have increased the ring wear, do you have a magnet drain plug, any signs of metal in oil in filter?

Negative on the magnetic drain plug. Three filter changes in the 50 hours showed an increasing metal content. The shop did not mention any choke issues in the barrels