Does anyone have any real world experience to relate about maintenance and serviceability of the O-470A and/or O-470J? I already know "if is an A or a J, walk away." Can anyone who flies behind one, maintains one add something concrete?

Thanks

I don't know anything about the A engine, but several friends have gotten good service fro the J engines in their early 180's-- to TBO and in at least one case beyond. But of course, since it's a Continental, you can expect to do cylinder work (usually exhaust guides) along the way to that TBO.

Eric

I had a J in my E35 Bonanza and it was great. I had it through 700 hrs with no problems whatsoever. The current owners have put another 200 or so on it with no problems as well. FWIW.

k

Had a -J in a '56 180. It was fine.

I think the problem comes into play when it's time for overhaul, mostly. Availability of parts and the willingness of an engine shop to do the work.

gb

I have an "A" in my 1953 180 with 1590 hours on it. I haven't owned the plane long but it has been trouble free for the past 80 hours I have flown it. I kept reading this vicious rumor that TCM would not even take it as a core, so I visited their both while at Oshkosh. They have assured me that the rumor is not true. They will take the "A" as a core. I have contact info if anyone would like it. Until my engine gives up the ghost I plan on flying the hell out of it. Great performer coming out of Marble this past weekend when others were struggling.

I have owned my 1954 180 with the 0470-J going on 22 years and have never had a problem what so ever with the engine and I also been using car gas for the last 21 years. If you use oil it might be because you have 3 ring pistons. I use about a quart every 3 to 4 hrs and thats the way it has always been from the day I bought it. When I over haul the engine thats when I will go to 4 ring pistons. I have a little over 1200 hrs. on the engine and only 1 cylinder was removed for work and that was around 150 hrs after over haul. The A and J have parallel valves also. As long as I get good service with my engine I will keep it. Just my 2 cents.

I think the original complant with those engines was the fins on the cilenders were smaller so trying to take off on floats on a hot day resulted on high cht. The oldtimers around here used to fly around the lake a few times to let them cool off before resuming climbout.

I had a A in my plane before going to the K. The A ran fine. The starter drive adapter is different than the rest and when I overhauled mine I just happened to find a guy in Arizona that had a turned down shaft and a new spring that matched. That was in 1990 or so and don't know what availability is today. I still have that starter adapter that was working when removed, case halves, and oil pump. All sitting since 1995.

I was looking to see if anyone could add any insight into this thread. Been a while since it has been updated. I am particurally interested in experience with the J model.

Thanks!

Are you looking at an older 180 ?
Here have been my issues just working on them.
1. The two bolt exhaust flanges warp easily and end up leaking. Some muffler shops will weld on thicker then standard flanges and that helps.
2. The crankcase are thinner and are more prone to cracking.
3. The cylinders tend to crack around the spark plug holes.
4. Most of them had a congealing oil cooler. Not good at all for winter ops.

Crzyivan13 wrote:I was looking to see if anyone could add any insight into this thread. Been a while since it has been updated. I am particurally interested in experience with the J model.

Thanks!

When you go flying with my cousin see if our uncle is available so he can give you a first had account of a J engine.

I know several people who run or have run O-470J's in their 180's and are / were happy with them. Since my earlier post in this thread (almost 6 years ago now!), I finally bought myself a Cessna 180. It has a K engine which was installed in 1993, but for the first forty years of it's life it had an A-- I'd guess that the owner(s) weren't unhappy with it, else they would have swapped it out sooner. FWIW I would not balk at buying a 180 just because it had a J engine.

Have a newly overhauled J sitting on the stand to go into a customers 108-2.... Only problem we had during the overhaul is we could not get new through bolts for it and had to modify the case and cylinders to except K studs... Technically, we could put K cylinders on it since the cases are pretty much the same....

I have seen a lot of the early motors run for a long time with few problems... They just are rated at 225 instead of 230...

Brian.

The 470-A engine & 82" C90M McCauley prop on my 1953 model was replaced back in 1993 with a 470-K engine & 82" C203 Mac. W&B sheet indicates it went up 26 pounds. From an earlier W&B / equipment list, I suspect the weight gain was about half prop & half engine. So FWIW the A and probably also the J are a bit lighter than the K.

My Dad took 2 J models past TBO while flying skydivers. We would replace a cylinder once in a while but never any major problems. My current 180 Has an "A" in it that I am hoping makes it to TBO. It has less than 600 hrs smoh and runs great.

hotrod180 wrote:The 470-A engine & 82" C90M McCauley prop on my 1953 model was replaced back in 1993 with a 470-K engine & 82" C203 Mac. W&B sheet indicates it went up 26 pounds. From an earlier W&B / equipment list, I suspect the weight gain was about half prop & half engine. So FWIW the A and probably also the J are a bit lighter than the K.

I guess I wasn't thinking when I wrote this. The weight gain was 26 pounds-- however, I believe the C203 prop was quite a bit lighter than the older-style 2A36C prop it replaced- maybe by as much as 12 pounds. That would make the K engine as much as 38 pounds heavier than the A engine it replaced.

Had a J in my 55 model. Ran fine, no maintenance issues during the time I had it. Only thing was the horizontally mounted cooler; it would heat the oil up on a long climb in the summer. Easy to manage though, I'd just at 10 mph to my climb and it would stay steady. Had no "core" issues when it was time to upgrade. if looking at a new 180, it would be the least of my worries.

I had an O-470A in my 1954.

It was the same serial number engine with which it was delivered from the factory. The aircraft had been used as a supply dropping aircraft, parachute jump ship and in the aerial application (crop dusting) prior to my ownership. I.E she had been worked harder than any in private operations.

The first 20 years I have the privilege of owning her I retained the O-470A and changed to a C203 88" propellor. The only issues I have had is the occasional wait for parts as TCM don't hold a large inventory for the A model. The two bolt flange exhaust is a pain but was fixed with a replacement of doubled thickness.

In 2004 I changed to an O-470R mainly due to the case being 50 years old and having to replace the engine mounts at the same time. The R has a little more power but has a higher fuel burn than the A

Interesting thread. Despite the reputations, no one yet here has had any significant trouble with their A or J engines.
I am a recent owner of a '54 180. It has had an A engine it's entire life. The first engine developed a slight knock noise at TBO, so the original owner replaced it with another low time A he had sourced as opposed to O/H'ing the original. Reasonable decision at the time. The current engine had the top end done, including new 4 ring pistons recently (at 640 since major). After buying the plane, I contacted the engine rebuilder, a well known and respected shop in Winnipeg Manitoba, Universal Engines. The gentleman assured me that it was a fine engine, respect the temps and drive er. Said there was nothing wrong with them at all, just respect them. I can't provide first hand info yet as I parked it for the winter the day after I bought it, but it was nice to hear from someone who knows them well.