Loose Cylinder Head
03-25-2005, 03:47 AM
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Loose Cylinder Head
Has anyone had the cylinder head come loose on their BT-50 during flight?
I had reinstalled a Fuji_BT50 that I had sent in for warranty repair which included a new cylinder. Needless to say, during the second flight of my GP Patty Wagstaff Extra 300 last Sunday, the engine died during landing but I was able to land the plane. I restarted the engine, and let it run for a few minutes to see how it was going to act. The engine ran fine at mid to high range throttle, but was a little harder than usual to start. The low end was a little rougher than I thought it should be, but increasing the throttle trim a couple of clicks helped. I took the plane off and flew a few minutes and when I started a low turn to get into landing position, the engine died, this time sending the plane nose down into the ground. Not only did it destroy the plane, the crankshaft got bent. I discovered after removing the engine that all 4 cylinder head bolts were loose and the head was loose. I can't say for sure that the engine died because of the loose head, but it sure seems like the culprit.
Anyway, I would suggest checking the cylinder head screws periodically.
I have had nothing but problems with this particular engine since I bought it so maybe I was just had a bad engine from the get-go.
I had reinstalled a Fuji_BT50 that I had sent in for warranty repair which included a new cylinder. Needless to say, during the second flight of my GP Patty Wagstaff Extra 300 last Sunday, the engine died during landing but I was able to land the plane. I restarted the engine, and let it run for a few minutes to see how it was going to act. The engine ran fine at mid to high range throttle, but was a little harder than usual to start. The low end was a little rougher than I thought it should be, but increasing the throttle trim a couple of clicks helped. I took the plane off and flew a few minutes and when I started a low turn to get into landing position, the engine died, this time sending the plane nose down into the ground. Not only did it destroy the plane, the crankshaft got bent. I discovered after removing the engine that all 4 cylinder head bolts were loose and the head was loose. I can't say for sure that the engine died because of the loose head, but it sure seems like the culprit.
Anyway, I would suggest checking the cylinder head screws periodically.
I have had nothing but problems with this particular engine since I bought it so maybe I was just had a bad engine from the get-go.
