Engine overhaul time - Lycoming IO-360-M1A

[krellis]

Highly recommend Penn Yan. Oldest engine overhaul facility in the Country.

They have IRAN’d both of my “new” engines for the experimental RV’s I’ve built.

Great folks to work with and highly experienced. Like everyone, parts availability can be a challenge, but PYA has a lot of resources to pull from.

[mhoran]

That was my original plan. Looks like they're still quoting $33,600 for an overhaul. Not sure on timing, back in April it was four months. Probably longer now. Edit: still 15 weeks.

Unfortunately it might make more sense to sell the plane if we have to overhaul. The WAAS upgrade and subsequent avionics issues has emptied the piggy bank. I was thinking we still had a few more years before an overhaul would be necessary. But will wait to hear back from SouthTec abut next steps...

[mhoran]

Savvy recommended I reach out to Watson Aero in Louisville, GA. So far they have come in with the best price and timeline: $32k for new cylinders, $31k for overhauled cylinders, 12 week turnaround. They'll try to order new cylinders if I wish and if they won't meet the timeline they'll use overhauled cylinders. If I fly the plane down to them they'll do the install for $2,500 plus a few other parts. I'll plan to do this if the plane is airworthy, otherwise we'll have to crate it up.

Still hoping for a miracle but it sure doesn't seem likely.

[mhoran]

Some good news, potentially useful for others as well. Unless the oil analysis or borescope suggest otherwise, SouthTec proposed having the overhaul shop order cylinders now and continue flying for a couple months while we wait for parts to come in. This will minimize downtime and keep me flying in the meantime. I'll be down for about a month instead of three, if all goes well. Oil analysis and borescope will be the determining factors here.