Hello all,
I'm an A&P (not for a living though) helping out with a Mooney that hasn't run since 2009. We were concerned about the camshaft rusting from sitting for so long, so we pulled a cylinder to have a look. We didn't find any obvious rust, but it didn't look like I expected. Would someone who tears down engines regularly take a look at these pictures and let me know if this is typical?
The cam lobes and tappet faces are smooth to the touch, but, as you can see, there is a lot of discoloration on the cam. Maybe baked on oil and/or coating worn off? I suspect the reddish areas are worn and the other discoloration is some kind of deposit.
If it matters, it's an 0360 A1D, 180 hp, parallel valve engine with about 1000 hours (and probably 30 years) since overhaul.
What do you recommend for cleaning off the deposits?
Thanks in advance.
Jerry