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Rotax Engine Troubleshooting

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budyerly(at)msn.com
Guest

Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2016 9:29 am Post subject: Rotax Engine Troubleshooting

To all,

 I did another late night brain dump some months ago.  I asked on the  forum for some inputs on Rotax Troubleshooting.  Well no one else wanted to  participate so I figure I’ll start it.

  

 This is a compilation of some of the problems I have seen at my shop and  helped handle over the phone or read on the internet over the last 10 years of  working with the Rotax.

  

 I would appreciate other inputs.  Most of my clients will recognize  some of these as will some forum folks.  It is in Word format so either add  to it or send a separate email off line so as not to clutter the forum.

  

 For those with download problems I am also attaching a .pdf file.

  

 Regards,

 Bud Yerly

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Remi Guerner

Joined: 14 Dec 2010
Posts: 284

Posted: Sun May 01, 2016 11:43 am Post subject: Re: Rotax Engine Troubleshooting

Thank you Bud for your interesting memo on the maintenance of the Rotax. This confirm my personal experience: maintaining these engines is time consuming and becomes very expensive when you have to replace parts, actually a lot more time consuming and significantly more expensive than for any four cylinder Lycoming or Continental.   

Regards

Remi Guerner

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budyerly(at)msn.com
Guest

Posted: Sun May 01, 2016 1:19 pm Post subject: Rotax Engine Troubleshooting

Remi,

If you saw the Lycomings around my EAA Chapter here, I am thankful for my 

Rotax.  In Florida I am alarmed at how often cylinders are losing 

compression at so few hours, and how nasty and oily they are.

I've spent only a few thousand in over 300 hours.  But my experiment with 

ethanol caused most of it.  It is what Gary Leinberger calls "The Dumb Tax". 

Boy does that learning curve cost a bunch of money.



Hopefully this will help some folks stop the bleeding of time on the secrets 

the Rotax factory does not want to put out.  Even the classes are 

disappointing to the more experienced guy.



Regards,

Bud Yerly

--

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JonathanMilbank

Joined: 14 Apr 2012
Posts: 391
Location: Aberdeen area

Posted: Fri May 06, 2016 6:39 pm Post subject: Re: Rotax Engine Troubleshooting

It's long after midnight and I can't sleep, so an ideal opportunity to do some uninterrupted email composing. What better than joining in with Bud's initiative? Here are a few thoughts:



When I first installed my current and renovated engine, it proved impossible to get it to run smoothly throughout the rev range, even though the ignition was working well and the carbs were supposedly balanced with a proper balancer. Eventually both were opened and a very rare problem was revealed. One of the sliding "pistons" had above the diaphragm a spring which had lost much of its elasticity. Replacing the springs inside both vacuum chambers completely solved that problem.



In my experience, if you believe that the carbs aren't balanced, then check that both throttle arms which have the cables linking them to the throttle lever are all the way back at their closed positions with the idle screws screwed fully out of the way so as not to be touching the arms. If they are moving exactly together when you start advancing the throttle, then the balance will be nearly correct and only slight adjustment might be needed. This assumes that there aren't other problems like air leaks.



A couple of people including a good friend have sent their little black box ignition control units (solid state) to an address in the Netherlands to be rebuilt seemingly with improved electronic components. It cost my friend about £350 from the UK for both units including delivery etc. He is delighted with the result, claiming that his engine feels much smoother. So no need to throw away your old faulty CDI's.



I would dearly like to see an improvement to the starter sprag clutch to make it last much longer. I think that an average life for this item in the 912S engine of around 500 hours and a replacement cost of over £500 not including labour is a disgrace!



There was a slight weep of oil from two of the cylinder head rocker covers, so I took out the O-rings and boiled them in water for 15 minutes. After replacing them the leak was only a little less, so I ordered a new set of O-rings. These were no better so I wonder what to do next.



A large difference in the "mag" drops was solved by raising the needles in the carburettors one notch to make the mixture ritcher. Now there is almost no difference to be seen, which ties in well with my experience on another large radial-engined aircraft having a cockpit mixture control.



Someone else was using waterless coolant and didn't like it, so I've always used 50/50 glycol/water with the higher pressure radiator cap and found no undue problems with cooling. Having said that, it's a good idea to ensure that the oil cooler gets the full intended airflow through it and that air can't escape through poor ducting which would allow it to bypass the cooler.



In my experience excellent propeller balancing can be achieved by balancing the whole propeller hub/blades/spinner assembly together off the aircraft using a static balancer.



Off to bed now.

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pete(at)lawless.info
Guest

Posted: Fri May 06, 2016 10:13 pm Post subject: Rotax Engine Troubleshooting

Hi Jonathan

     

     You don't happen to know what the "address in the       Netherlands" is do you?

       

       Thanks

       

       Pete

       G-RMAC Classic #109

       

          On 07/05/16 03:39, jonathanmilbank       wrote:

     

      	  Quote: 	
		          	  Quote: 	
		  --> Europa-List message posted by: "jonathanmilbank" <jdmilbank(at)yahoo.co.uk> (jdmilbank(at)yahoo.co.uk)

A couple of people including a good friend have sent their little black box ignition control units (solid state) to an address in the Netherlands to be rebuilt seemingly with improved electronic components. It cost my friend about £350 from the UK for both units including delivery etc. He is delighted with the result, claiming that his engine feels much smoother. So no need to throw away your old faulty CDI's.

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Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:

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nigel_graham(at)m-tecque.
Guest

Posted: Fri May 06, 2016 11:14 pm Post subject: Rotax Engine Troubleshooting

Pete,

          

Jonathan is probably still asleep as he didn't get to bed till so       late  so I hope he doesn't mind me jumping in.     

The company is "Carmo"

       Rooseinndestraat 54a

       5705BV

       Helmond

       Netherlands

       

       [url=Tel:+31]Tel:+31[/url] 492 565 220

          

Contact is Kevin ( kevin(at)carmo.nl (kevin(at)carmo.nl) )     

Web: https://www.carmo.nl/index.php?main_page=about_us&zenid=2ehjm35bincu889agim2s56jt0

       

       I've not heard a bad thing about them - good prices and very fast       turn-around.     

Nigel     



          

     On 07/05/2016 07:12, Pete Lawless       wrote:

     

      	  Quote: 	
		                

       Hi Jonathan

       

       You don't happen to know what the "address in the         Netherlands" is do you?

         

         Thanks

         

         Pete

         G-RMAC Classic #109

         

              On 07/05/16 03:39, jonathanmilbank         wrote:

       

        	  Quote: 	
		            	  Quote: 	
		  --> Europa-List message posted by: "jonathanmilbank" <jdmilbank(at)yahoo.co.uk> (jdmilbank(at)yahoo.co.uk)

A couple of people including a good friend have sent their little black box ignition control units (solid state) to an address in the Netherlands to be rebuilt seemingly with improved electronic components. It cost my friend about £350 from the UK for both units including delivery etc. He is delighted with the result, claiming that his engine feels much smoother. So no need to throw away your old faulty CDI's.

- The Matronics Europa-List Email Forum -

Use the List Feature Navigator to browse the many List utilities available such as the Email Subscriptions page, Archive Search & Download, 7-Day Browse, Chat, FAQ, Photoshare, and much more:

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pete(at)lawless.info
Guest

Posted: Fri May 06, 2016 11:33 pm Post subject: Rotax Engine Troubleshooting

Thanks. It's not happened yet but it must be due soon.

     

     Pete

     

     On 07/05/16 08:13,       nigel_graham(at)m-tecque.co.uk (nigel_graham(at)m-tecque.co.uk) wrote:

     

      	  Quote: 	
		                

Pete,

              

Jonathan is probably still asleep as he didn't get to bed till         so late  so I hope he doesn't mind me jumping in.       

The company is "Carmo"

         Rooseinndestraat 54a

         5705BV

         Helmond

         Netherlands

         

         [url=Tel:+31]Tel:+31[/url] 492 565 220

              

Contact is Kevin ( kevin(at)carmo.nl (kevin(at)carmo.nl)         )       

Web:         https://www.carmo.nl/index.php?main_page=about_us&zenid=2ehjm35bincu889agim2s56jt0

         

         I've not heard a bad thing about them - good prices and very         fast turn-around.       

Nigel       



              

       On 07/05/2016 07:12, Pete Lawless         wrote:

       

        	  Quote: 	
		                    

         Hi Jonathan

         

         You don't happen to know what the "address in           the Netherlands" is do you?

           

           Thanks

           

           Pete

           G-RMAC Classic #109

           

                  On 07/05/16 03:39, jonathanmilbank           wrote:

         

          	  Quote: 	
		              	  Quote: 	
		  --> Europa-List message posted by: "jonathanmilbank" <jdmilbank(at)yahoo.co.uk> (jdmilbank(at)yahoo.co.uk)

A couple of people including a good friend have sent their little black box ignition control units (solid state) to an address in the Netherlands to be rebuilt seemingly with improved electronic components. It cost my friend about £350 from the UK for both units including delivery etc. He is delighted with the result, claiming that his engine feels much smoother. So no need to throw away your old faulty CDI's.

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JonathanMilbank

Joined: 14 Apr 2012
Posts: 391
Location: Aberdeen area

Posted: Sat May 07, 2016 1:38 am Post subject: Re: Rotax Engine Troubleshooting

Hi Pete,



This is the contact info given by my friend



https://www.carmo.nl/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=671_2711_4731



However what you were given above may possibly be more correct or up-to-date.



Jonathan

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pete(at)lawless.info
Guest

Posted: Sat May 07, 2016 4:01 am Post subject: Rotax Engine Troubleshooting

Thanks Jonathan



Always good to have alternatives to the ridiculous prices now being 

charged by Rotax.



Regards



Pete



On 07/05/16 10:38, jonathanmilbank wrote:

 	  Quote: 	
		   



 Hi Pete,



 This is the contact info given by my friend



 https://www.carmo.nl/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=671_2711_4731



 However what you were given above may possibly be more correct or up-to-date.



 Jonathan





 Read this topic online here:



 http://forums.matronics.com/viewtopic.php?p=455947#455947

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