Mokulele

My Feedback: (9)

I just finished flying and I heard a chirping sound coming from the aircraft as I taxied in. It was coming from my RAM 500. After shutdown I inspected the turbine wheel and NGV. There was evidence of slight rubbing on the NGV. That just ruined a perfectly beautiful sunny flying day as this was the first flight of the day. I opened the engine and found a piece of aluminum burr inside the case. I was stumped as to where the burr came from as I did have a FOD screen. Upon further inspection I found 6 small dings on the intake and rubbing marks on 8 blades of the compressor with some impact marks on the diffuser vanes so I knew the burr originated forward of the intake. I then inspected the front cover and found that the two small holes on the outside surface of the cover which has plastic plugs and is used to gain access to the starter mount bolts were not deburred. This is where the burr came from. You may be fortunate and never have these burrs break free but my advice is to remove the plastics plugs and insure those holes are deburred. The turbine was slightly worn and there was remnants of the t-wheel on the NGV. Fortunately this engine had very close tolerances between the T-wheel and NGV, 55mm wheel and 55.2mm NGV, so I should be able to true the T-wheel blades on my lathe and clean the NGV. I probably will lose a little thrust but it should not be drastic. The bearings were intact but with a slight abrasive feeling and will be changed.