A friendly reminder about the importance of February 21st, 2009:

If you're a lycoming engine owner and you're not aware of the crankshaft service bulletins or you don't know if your engine/crankshaft is on the list then you need to pay attention to this right now.

Cost before Feb 21st: $2000

Cost after Feb 21st: $16,000

You don't have to replace the crankshaft by the deadline, but you do have to place the order for the crankshaft kit through a Lycoming dealer.

Details are here:

http://www.lycoming.com/support/publica ... SB569A.pdf

http://www.lycoming.com/support/publica ... /SB566.pdf

Or call the Lycoming special number at (570) 323 6181

N131CP wrote:A friendly reminder about the importance of February 21st, 2009:

If you're a lycoming engine owner and you're not aware of the crankshaft service bulletins or you don't know if your engine/crankshaft is on the list then you need to pay attention to this right now.

Cost before Feb 21st: $2000

Cost after Feb 21st: $16,000

You don't have to replace the crankshaft by the deadline, but you do have to place the order for the crankshaft kit through a Lycoming dealer.

Details are here:

http://www.lycoming.com/support/publica ... SB569A.pdf

http://www.lycoming.com/support/publica ... /SB566.pdf

Or call the Lycoming special number at (570) 323 6181

And what do you want to bet, that a bunch of people wont order it that want to sell there aircraft, and don't feel they should discount it any for having to have the crank replaced.

I have walked on 4 different planes in the last year that dealers were trying to peddle onto some unsuspecting sole. It is a shame, it is so painless to get the kit.

Thanks a bunch for bringing that to our attention. You most likely saved me a lot of hassle in my search for the "perfect" aircraft for myself.

Uh, is it not accurate that, under FAR Part 91, you are not required to comply with Service Bulletins? I was under the impression that this was true even of "mandatory" service bulletins.

Maybe not.

In any case, if I had one of these engines, I'd be buying a kit.

MTV

I think MTV is right, its required when its an AD.

It is my understanding that a service bulletin is issued by a manufacturer and is not enforceable...even as a mandatory SB. It is simply a manufactures suggestion or strong suggestion in the case of a mandatory SB. It is a CYA deal for manufacturers that may have an issue with one of their products in order to build a defense in the event of lawsuit. Think of it as a recall such as you would see from an auto manufacturer except that in this case the owner is responsible for the repair or replacement...one of the joys of aviation.

In some cases a SB may become an AD which is issued by the FAA and enforceable as mandatory.

A64pilot could give us a definitive answer on this one...Jodie?

The FAA AD that goes along with Lyc SB569A requires the crankshaft to be replaced within 12 years from Lycomings engine in service date, or at engine overhaul, or at engine opening for prop strike etc
The FAA consider engines to require overhaul at 12 years and it is mandatory for part 135 ops.
This is how i understand it.
The Maule O540 and IO540 engines are afected, but not the O360.
Jeremy

Exactly. And if you get the crankshaft kit by Feb 21st then you pay $2000 but if you wait until later then you pay $16,000 at overhaul or if the engine is opened...

If your engine is on that list then you need to pay attention to this....

Forum,

I'm building an experimental called a bearhawk. I bought a IO-540-C4B5 engine for it that has been disassembled, parts cleaned, the machine work done, and it's ready to be assembled.

I didn't get a logbook with the engine, but I do have a stack of yellow tags and serial numbers.

Now for the questions:

1. Can I start a new logbook for it since everything has been overhauled and tagged? If not, what are my options? Perhaps I can contact the original owner and see if he has it.

2. How do I know if my crankshaft is on this recall? I have the yellow tag here. It says that the crank was repaired on 5/25/99 the serial is 5103765-1 or the first 5 might be an S, I can't tell. The tag states that it was magnafluxed, inspected, grind rods 4.010, mains M.003, renitrided, cadmium plated, baked flange, rebushed ctwt blades.

I'm kinda green with aircraft engines and haven't gotten together with my IA to put it together yet, but since this date is close I figured I would ask for help.

Thanks,
schu

Those links in the original post are to PDF documents containing tables of the engine serial numbers and crankshaft serial numbers that are affected. I think 566 is the service bullitin that the AD is based on, and 569A lists other affected engines that qualify for the $2k crankshaft. They also have the dates that affected engines were produced..

How do I find the engine serial number? I just have a number for the case.

schu

Thank you N131CP, reading this thread got me moving and reminded me to call Lycoming.
So, again thank you, i bought my crankshaft kit the other day for $2040 (40 bucks for using my credit card). It will ship in about 14-16 weeks.
I wish i could have spent that money on something else but it's kinda cool i bought a $16,000(or more) for only $2000.

Not really sure what to do about replacing it though.

My Maule has about 450 hours TT on the tach. the in service date of the engine is Sept. 2004, the month i bought it from Maule.
The deal is you need to replace the crank within 12 years of the in service date, which put me at sept. 2016.
Not sure if i should do it now or then?, but at least it will be sitting in the basement. Petar

Hi Petar - you're welcome. I think that the decision is about labor cost vs risk. On the labor cost side you might as well do the replacement when you need to open the engine anyway. On the risk side there *is* a small problem with the crankshaft, even if it is not serious enough for an immediate recall AD, and by buying the kit a certain amount of liability for crankshaft failure has transfered from Lycoming to you.

But there's also a risk introduced every time the engine is opened....

This whole issue is one of the most gnarly decisions I've come across in quite a while!

One of my neighbors is affected by this. That is a lot of (potentially)
bad crankshafts... Were they made in Mexico or something?

So does complying with the AD + SB and installing a new crank
retire the AD all together? What if Lycoming comes out 5 years
from now and says "Oops, our replacement cranks suck horse
turds too?"

I'm glad I sit behind a Continental....

1954C180 wrote: What if Lycoming comes out 5 years
from now and says "Oops, our replacement cranks suck horse
turds too?"

It's a great revenue stream.

Right up to the point that people stop buying Lycoming powered airplanes