I most certainly wouldn't have let it ride. The problem would have been diagnosed and fixed whatever the cause. I just wanted to be able to make the seven minute flight home before doing that work rather than having to take her apart and bring her home on a trailer.
Article I was looking for earlier:
Decision Point by Mike Busch inn the July 2012 SA Issue.
http://www.oshkosh365.org/saarchive/.../2012_7_12.pdf
It is usually charged by the shop rate which varies. but it may take all day depending upon how easy the exhaust comes apart. how badly the hold down nuts are rusted it's always more than you plan for.Originally Posted by Kyle Boatright
To the point of the question - I budget up to 4 shop hours to pull and replace a cylinder. The last cylinder that I pulled took about an hour to undo the exhaust system for that side of the engine, undo the intake for that cylinder, undo the ignition harness, remove the spark plugs, spin the prop until both valves were closed, and undo the cylinder base nuts. Putting it all back together correctly takes more time but not a whole lot more. Most of the extra time is checking/setting the dry tappet clearance. So I almost always get it done, or see it done, sooner than my estimate. Just apply a good dose of Kroil to the exhaust nuts and don't break a stud off.
The price for the overhaul of a cylinder is usually in the $400 range, plus you often have to add the cost of a new exhaust valve, a new piston, and a new set of rings. On a mid-time engine that just is leaking past the exhaust valve, I have been able to just get the valve seats redone, the valves cleaned up, the bore checks OK, paint, and done. If you catch the problem early and no new parts are required, it is not expensive in aircraft terms. If you have to buy an exhaust valve for a Lyco, then the price starts climbing.
So if you are having a good day, in my neighborhood you can pull a cylinder, have it worked on, and put it back on ready to go flying for maybe $750.
Hope this info helps,
Wes
N78PS
After thinking about what has been posted here, I have a question - What is the shop rate that is being charged here? Is this an antique airplane in a jet shop? In my neighborhood, $5000 buys over 55 hours of shop time.
Best of luck,
Wes
N78PS
Thanks for the input. The only time I paid to have a cylinder removed (IIRC) and got a new exhaust valve, it was surprisingly inexpensive. That was 15 years ago and the mechanic was a good guy, but I swear, it was cheap, cheap, cheap, like $250 or something. My partner and I were both shocked at how inexpensive it was, and you post confirms that either we got the deal of the century or maybe we weren't smart enough to understand what we paid for. This was on an 0-235 L2C, by the way.
The last 4 Lycoming 0-360 cylinders I sent out for overhaul came back with +.005 pistons rings pistons, piston pins, new valves and springs keepers, and the cost was pocket change over $4500 plus shipping.
In my case the original mechanic said that he would do the work for free, I just need to provide parts. I should have the airplane home tomorrow and I'll start looking at it then.
Not to say mechancs can't make mistakes. I bought a AP/IA "rebuilt to zero time specs" A65 engine out east. The guy put standard rings in a .015 hole (it was even marked on top of the piston). The log said the ring gaps were checked but either he was blind or didn't do it so of course I wound up with a soft cylinder. When I called him on it he had a 'memory loss'.
The exhaust valve on #1 is leaking for sure.
I don't know why but the plugs on the right side always look lean and on the left side they look good. #1 has been particularly bad. My EGT thermocouple is on #4 and I've been leaning to it. I think that after this is done I should move it to #1. But why that cylinder runs lean is a mystery to me.
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