From: "Marvin Kaye" <marv@lancaironline.net>
Subject: Re: ECI "Titan" Cylinders
To: lml
Date: Fri, 13 May 2005 21:44:16 -0400
Message-ID: <web-943481@logan.com>
In-Reply-To: <007501c5581f$dc235260$6e5c6a44@308h101>
References: <007501c5581f$dc235260$6e5c6a44@308h101>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"; format="flowed"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

Posted for "Janie & Ed Smith" <2luv2fly@cox.net>:

Friday Evening
  5/13/05
  
  Group:
  
  I'm not one to do much talking on the LML - simply because there are so many
out there who know so much more than I do, so the best thing is to just be a
lurker.  I don't have as good a "flame suit" as others!  <grin>  However, I
would like to present some information to the group for comments and
suggestions.
  
  A good friend of mine, Dennis Pratt, has a IV-P (s/n 54 I believe) that has
been flying for over 1000 hours and he has recently been having cylinder
issues with ECI.  Before I jump into the middle of this, let me give some
background - -
  
  1.  The airplane first flew in late 1997 and continued to operate for about
800 hours without any real issues (no cylinder problems).  This in itself
seems to be unusual, because many others have had cylinder problems early on,
but Dennis managed to make it to 800 hours.
  
  2.  At 800 hours the cylinders were removed because of excessive blow-by (no
choke left in cylinders).  The blow-by had gotten so bad that the push rod
tubes and valve covers were leaking oil!  The cylinders were removed and sent
to ECI for overhaul and CermiNil coating.
  
  3.  The 6 overhauled cylinders were installed May 2003 by a certified repair
station and Dennis began the break-in process without any issues.  The engine
cylinders did break-in and continued to operate normally for about 150 hours.
  
  4.  In December 2004 during a 100 hour inspection, a crack was discovered in
# 4 cylinder between the fuel injection port and spark plug hole.  That
cylinder was removed and sent to ECI for repair.
  
  5.  The decision was made to not repair the # 4 cylinder and ECI supplied a
brand new "Titan" 550 cylinder, which was installed by the same repair
station.
  
  6.  The new cylinder was operated in excess of 40 hours without ever seating
the rings.  Temperatures on that cylinder were anywhere from 30 - 50 degrees
higher than the other 5 cylinders.  Dennis tells me that he ran the engine
full rich during any climbs to altitude, but had to level off one to two times
to get the temperature on that cylinder down below 400 degrees. Certainly
takes away from the versatility of the airplane.
  
  7.  Dennis talked to ECI about the temperature problems with the cylinder -
they told him that 450 degrees was OK for that cylinder.  I certainly believe
this is quite contrary to everything discussed on the LML.
  
  8.  The new cylinder installed in December 2004 was replaced with another 
new
ECI "Titan" 550 in early April 2005.  The cylinder removed didn't appear to
have any "obvious" defects (cracked ring, scored cylinder).  The only
indication was an excessive amount of oil on top of the piston and around the
bottom spark plug.
  
  9.  NOW - history is beginning to repeat itself.  The second new "Titan"
cylinder, after 15 hours of flying doesn't give any indications of breaking
in.  Temperatures are just as hot as before.
  
  10.  The baffling is just as it was when the 6 overhauled cylinder were
originally installed.  Charlie Kohler had the occasion to inspect this engine
while the first new "Titan" cylinder was being broken in and made some
suggestions, which were done - no change in temperatures.  Also, the
temperature probes were switched around to eliminate a bad probe (Vison Micro
Systems) - problem stayed with # 4 cylinder.  Injectors were also switched
around - problem stayed with # 4 cylinder.
  
  QUESTIONS:
  
  1.  Has anyone had any experiences (good or bad) with the "Titan" cylinders
for the TSIO 550?
  
  2.  Why would there be temperature issues with a new cylinder and not the
ones overhauled the first time?  I would think the coating process would be
the same.
  
  3.  From the above information, what does Dennis appear to be doing wrong?
  
  Thanks in advance for your comments and suggestions.
  
  Ed Smith
  Chesapeake, VA
  
  PS:  Marv:  What does Dennis need to do to get back on the LML?
  
[re: your PS.... nothing.  I've reinstated his subscription, as he'll see when 
he receives this post.  Thanks for the heads up.  <Marv>    ]