I purchased my first plane, a 2003 Vans RV-9A, July 2018. I commute from Texas to Kansas weekly for work so have accumulated almost 200 hours since purchase. The plane had 525 TT when I bought it. The Lycoming was a rebuilt that was in storage for some time before the RV builder purchased it in 1999. Previous log books were not available but Lycoming estimated that it had been in use for 2,000 h when he purchased it. The engine was disassembled and reassembled by A&P with new gaskets and seals at time of the builders purchase and pistons, valves, seats, cam, lifters, etc all appeared new based on log book entry. Had a prebuy conducted and no issues were noted at purchase.
Almost immediately fuel burn went to 11 to 12 g/h and the engine would not run smoothly. Two mechanics later there were multiple fuel leaks found. Replaced the Van's fuel selector valve with Andair. Fixing the leaks brought the fuel use back to 7,5 to 8 g/h but the engine was not very smooth. Found the intake connector hose clamps were loose and tightened them up. Through trial and error determined that when the electric fuel pump was turned on, the engine would turn off! Only use electric fuel pump when priming. The primer was checked and not leaking fuel to the cylinders when not activated.
High CHTS climbing out has been a common issue (425F) until fall weather brought cooler ambient temps. The plane is equiped with and EIS 2000 with probes in the 1 and 4 cylinders. Baffling is in good shape and checked again last night with flash light for leaks. Started to notice that the mixture would be set at flight elevation then would get LOP after some time. The engine tried to quit several times at take off then did quit at 11,500 over the panhandle one day. I then replaced the carb with a rebuilt Marvel-Schebler MA-4SPA and a new lycoming mechanical fuel pump. Wow! The engine ran much smoother and fuel burn at 7 g/h. Thought I had it fixed....
Now that the weather is warming up, the CHT are skyrocketing. Yesterday I left TOP (880 msl, 60 degrees F). I taxied to the runway with the engine leaned, conducted my runup to 1,800 rpm after enrichening the mixture. The left mag was rough so ran the engine up and leaned to burn off the plugs. Next mag check spot on. As I lined up to take off, the CHT #4 was already 425 F and #1 was 415F. I took off with one eye on the sky and one on the EIS. I climbed very slowly, full rich, as the temps went to 485. When I reached 3,500 msl, the cylinders started to cool to less than 400 F as I continued to climb to 10,500 (32 degrees F). The temps settled in at 375 and 355 for the remainder of the flight. When I landed in Amarillo, the temps immediately went to 285 for roll to the hangar. This has been the condition for the last 3 flights. The previous flights did not entail having to burn off the plugs before take off.
I'm about to conduct an intake leak test but thinking that my scenerio doesn't quite fit a leak. I've read that the Lycoming SB 258 can be an issue so will pull the carb and check the intake through the sump for dead space. Any other ideas would be much appreciated.
While I have the podium, I would like to thank everyone for their time and knowledge on this forum. I'm a newly minted pilot with a new plane and would have walked away by now had it not been for this forum and peoples honest input. THANK YOU!!!!
Almost immediately fuel burn went to 11 to 12 g/h and the engine would not run smoothly. Two mechanics later there were multiple fuel leaks found. Replaced the Van's fuel selector valve with Andair. Fixing the leaks brought the fuel use back to 7,5 to 8 g/h but the engine was not very smooth. Found the intake connector hose clamps were loose and tightened them up. Through trial and error determined that when the electric fuel pump was turned on, the engine would turn off! Only use electric fuel pump when priming. The primer was checked and not leaking fuel to the cylinders when not activated.
High CHTS climbing out has been a common issue (425F) until fall weather brought cooler ambient temps. The plane is equiped with and EIS 2000 with probes in the 1 and 4 cylinders. Baffling is in good shape and checked again last night with flash light for leaks. Started to notice that the mixture would be set at flight elevation then would get LOP after some time. The engine tried to quit several times at take off then did quit at 11,500 over the panhandle one day. I then replaced the carb with a rebuilt Marvel-Schebler MA-4SPA and a new lycoming mechanical fuel pump. Wow! The engine ran much smoother and fuel burn at 7 g/h. Thought I had it fixed....
Now that the weather is warming up, the CHT are skyrocketing. Yesterday I left TOP (880 msl, 60 degrees F). I taxied to the runway with the engine leaned, conducted my runup to 1,800 rpm after enrichening the mixture. The left mag was rough so ran the engine up and leaned to burn off the plugs. Next mag check spot on. As I lined up to take off, the CHT #4 was already 425 F and #1 was 415F. I took off with one eye on the sky and one on the EIS. I climbed very slowly, full rich, as the temps went to 485. When I reached 3,500 msl, the cylinders started to cool to less than 400 F as I continued to climb to 10,500 (32 degrees F). The temps settled in at 375 and 355 for the remainder of the flight. When I landed in Amarillo, the temps immediately went to 285 for roll to the hangar. This has been the condition for the last 3 flights. The previous flights did not entail having to burn off the plugs before take off.
I'm about to conduct an intake leak test but thinking that my scenerio doesn't quite fit a leak. I've read that the Lycoming SB 258 can be an issue so will pull the carb and check the intake through the sump for dead space. Any other ideas would be much appreciated.
While I have the podium, I would like to thank everyone for their time and knowledge on this forum. I'm a newly minted pilot with a new plane and would have walked away by now had it not been for this forum and peoples honest input. THANK YOU!!!!