Maintenance Tips

Upon arrival check the engine crate and engine for any damage during transit. Around the dipstick you will find the installation instructions, please review and let us know if you have any questions. We always inhibit the engines following testing because we are never sure on when they will be installed and corrosion only takes days to start so its important to protect your engine while its in transit. While inhibited your engine is good for at least  6-9 months. When you remove the yellow plugs from the engine you may find a little oil drain out, that’s fine. ADD OIL before starting the engine.

Installation Instructions

For breaking in the engine please use mineral oil or equivalent made by other manufacturer. Once the break-in period is over please switch to straightweight engine oil or equivalent made by other manufacturer.

Please also select the below links to review approved Lycoming lubricants and our break-in instructions below from your respective engine manufacturer. For engine oil we have no preference on a particular manufacturer but we recommend on sticking to one type as they work in different ways.

DO NOT USE MINERAL OIL IN LYCOMING TURBOCHARGED ENGINES. As per Lycoming break-in instructions, the use of mineral oil is known to cause coking in the turbos. Mineral Oil is approved for use in Continental turbocharged engines.

For the break-in run please follow the manufacturer recommendations and your respective POH. Following the installation, turn over the engine to confirm the engine is operating correctly from inside the cockpit, (For example, oil pressure, throttle control etc). Also make sure the rigging of all controls to the engine components are installed correctly.  AME’s/A&P’s typically carry out this procedure following the installation of the engine. Most customers take a short flight to confirm everything is operating correctly. To help break-in the engine we recommend flying for at least 20 mins at 75% power or above and then bring it back to normal cruise settings for 5 mins and keep repeating this format for a couple of hours if possible. Return to base and have a good look for leaks.

SI 1014M Lycoming Lubricating Oil

SI 1427C Lycoming Break-in

TCM Break-in

TCM Engine Break-in Flight Tips

DO NOT USE MINERAL OIL IN LYCOMING TURBOCHARGED ENGINES. As per Lycoming break-in instructions, the use of mineral oil is known to cause coking in the turbos. Mineral Oil is approved for use in Continental turbocharged engines.

1. The easiest way to ensure your engine has a long and healthy life is to follow the airframe and engine manufacturer’s recommendations, sounds simple but you would be surprised at the number of people that deviate from this.
2. Develop a long-term relationship with the person that carries out the maintenance on your aircraft
3. Manage your CHT’s. Find the temperature range that your cylinders are comfortable with as you lean out the engine. Cylinders that continuously operate at higher CHTs, 400 degrees Fahrenheit and above, for long periods, will tend to need mechanical attention before cylinders that run in the 360s or 380s.
4. You should not be running your engine at reduced power settings for long periods of time under the assumption that you’re preserving the internal components and increasing your chances of reaching TBO. Try to avoid prolonged ground runs.
5. Routine calibration of the fuel system.
6. Check the magneto timing, the typical inspection interval for mags is every 100 hours.
7. Do what you can to eliminate engine corrosion – Frequent oil changes, frequent flying and getting up to the recommended operating temperatures. For long periods of inactivity inhibit the engine.
8. The older the airplane, the more likely the gauges are off. Have your mechanic check the accuracy of your gauges. If the prop is rotating higher than the rating you could be exceeding manufacturer-recommended parameters.
9. Inspect cowling and baffling to ensure proper engine cooling
10. Checkout Lycoming SI 1427, SL180 and Continental SPM Chapter 7
11. From everyone at Aerotec Engines – Fly Safe and Enjoy

Without protection most metals will either rust or corrode and the materials that our engines are made of are no exception to this rule. Rust is the result of oxidization while corrosion is a galvanic process caused by the electrical interaction between dissimilar metals or fluids.

Some engines are at higher risk than others and age is a factor. So is geographic location, storage, how engines are operated, frequency of oil changes and most importantly the hours of operation, e.g, engine and inactive engines.

The risk of corrosion and rust to any engine is a shorter engine life. The most common areas to be impacted are cylinders, pistons, rings, valves and guides, camshafts and lifters.

Corrosion can be expensive. Jason founder of Aerotec reminds customers to do the math.

“If an engine overhaul costs $30,000 with a 2,000 hour TBO, the cost is $15 per hour. Shorten the life of that engine by 500 hours and you have lost $7,500.”

Corrosion can be costly

• Try and fly the aircraft for at least 1 hour a week.
• As per Lycoming SL180 get the oil temperature up to 165 C to 220 C allowing you to burn off the moisture inside the engine.
• Change the oil – after the break-in period change the oil after every 50 hours of engine operation or every 4-6 months (whichever occurs first). For engines with OIL SCREENS change the oil every 25 hours or every 4-6 months (whichever occurs first).
• Stick to one type of engine oil. All manufacturers of engine oil have done their homework on the lubricants they offer and in a pinch its ok to top up with another brand. The engines oils do work in different ways so our recommendation is to stick to one type.
• Inhibiting kits – For prolonged periods of time where you are not using your aircraft protect the engine using an inhibiting kit.
• Additives will help. Manufacturers like Camguard and Aeroshell have done extensive research to  help protect engines against corrosion. We recommend looking at what they offer.
  • Aeroshell
  • Camguard
• Centri-Lube camshafts – when your engine is being overhauled or repaired you have additional options to explore like installing a Centri-Lube camshaft which includes precisely drilled hole positions on the cam lobe allowing oil flowing through the camshaft to reach the surface of the lobe.
• Parker Lube – Both Lycoming and Continental are putting a protective coating on a new camshaft’s lobes and bearings during the break-in process. This will normally wear off in the middle of the lobe but the sides of the lobes are still afforded a line of defense against risk of corroding or rust when high and dry for several days or weeks when the engine is idle.

Here’s an excellent article written by Don Ledger for the Canadian Aviator magazine.

Corrosion can be costly

Please do not use auto fuel in your engine. For engines with higher compression pistons the use of auto fuel could cause detonation.

The use of auto fuel will VOID your warranty with Aerotec, with the manufacturers of the components installed on your engine and with Lycoming or Continental. AUTO fuel contains ethanol which can cause damage to your Lycoming or Continental engine.

Many aircraft owners over the years have calculated their annual operational costs and save accordingly so if expensive items are needed they have the funds available to keep the aircraft operational. In most cases we find that these operational cost calculations exclude the prevision of saving for the engine overhaul. For every hour you fly our recommendation is to save what it costs for the overhaul per hour. Here’s how its calculated

At 500 hours TSOH if you engine requires being repaired due to a prop strike or metal contamination you will already have most of the money saved up to pay for the repair.