Bill,

 

The first time (Gawd I hate having to say the "first" time) I found coolant in my engine we were having an EAA meeting in my hangar and before the meeting one of the guys saw a trickle of coolant on the tailpipe.  That was on the engine that was built from three used engines from ebay.  I unknowingly, at the time, abused the hell out of it.  It was starting, but was difficult to RE-start.

 

The second time was when a water galley wall in a brand new Mazda center iron failed. It failed in the first hour.  That time when I removed the plugs and pulled the prop through, coolant shot across the wing (pusher) about five feet.  Uh, it was quite obvious there was a problem.

 

Now, on my rebuild from last weekend, the engine, currently, at least, is starting like a car off the showroom floor.  I have literally found myself on the ramp at midnight just starting the engine, letting it run a couple of minutes, then shutting it down so I can start it again.  Yeah, I am a 12 year old.

 

I am currently working 'til 11:00 pm as a patrol supervisor, so my after work hangar time is late. Ellington Field, while in the middle of the Clear Lake/NASA suburban area of Houston, is still isolated enough at the City Hangars that this is acceptable.  Also, as loud as the rotary is, much less so with the turbo, it still has nothing on the corporate jets and military (often with afterburners) jets coming in and out 24/7

 

Chris

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