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It’s been about eight weeks since I reported the engine issues, and we’re more than due for an update.

The oil cooler arrived back from Pacific Oil Cooler Service about a week ago. They flushed it and inspected it. No issues.

I’ve got to flush the oil cooler and prop governor oil lines. That is on the To Do List before the engine is reinstalled.


 

The repaired exhaust system arrived back on Thursday. Clint at Vetterman Exhaust welded the cracks closed, and added circular reinforcements at the top and bottom of both Y joints - i.e. on the cracked Y and also on the uncracked Y.


 

Here is the reinforcing patch they welded on the uncracked Y. There is a similar one on the other side of this joint. Vetterman is continually adjusting the design based on the service history, and this may be the current configuration. I’ve got one of the early exhaust systems for IO–360-A on the RV–8. Larry Vetterman said that this engine/aircraft combination had been the one that gave him the most trouble with cracks.


 

I had sent the autopilot back to Trio for a software upgrade - it arrived home on Friday. I’ve got to follow up with Canada Customs, as they didn’t read the paperwork that Trio sent very closely, and they charged me taxes as if it was a newly purchased item. I need to fill out a pile of paperwork to get a refund.

The prop is still at Hope Aero. It should be ready to ship back this coming week, but I’ll be on the road. The way my schedule currently looks I’ll be on the road for most of the next four weeks, so I’ll ask Hope Aero to schedule the return shipment to have the prop arrive home the second week of October.

The engine is in pieces at Aero Sport Power. They reported that there was quite a bit of corrosion on the cam, and that the cam and tappet bodies were spalled other. This explains the observed reduction in power and the steel in the oil filter. They said that corrosion on the cam was normally due to inactivity, and thus was not their responsibility. They quoted me a pretty good price, considering all the work to do and parts to replace, but I wasn’t happy with their position that the issue was caused by inactivity, as my aircraft flew almost every week. But, after further discussion they reduced the quoted charges substantially, so I am quite happy with the situation. Their reputation for doing whatever it takes to keep the customer happy is still intact.

There was a bit of confusion about the prop governor. Aero Sport had told me to leave the governor on the engine, and that they would ensure it was inspected. But, after arrival at their facility nothing was done with the governor, as they assumed that I had already had the inspection done. We sorted that out this week when we spoke on the phone, and they will send it off to an overhaul shop ASAP.

Realistically, given my busy schedule, I don’t expect to be back in the air until mid-October, at the very earliest.

Once the engine is broken in, I’m seriously considering using ASL Cam Guard. I can’t see my flying rate increasing much, and the ambient environment isn’t going to change, so I should do something to reduce the odds of anther similar issue in the future. Cam Guard seems to get good reviews, from what I can glean from the web and reading Aviation Consumer.