About this episode
I inspected another A36 Bonanza recently, and one of the cylinder compressions was too low… lower than the minimum prescribed by Continental using the master orifice tool.
I had two options:
Option One: Remove the cylinder for repair or replacement.
Option Two: Make the exhaust valve seal better and improve the compression result in hopes of saving the cylinder from premature amputation.
I chose Option Two.
It was at least worth a try…
… and the result was stunning!
After lapping the valve in place and installing a new rotocoil, I ran the engine again and rechecked the compression.
It was 75/80!
The lowest cylinder on the engine was now the highest cylinder.
I also lapped the exhaust valve in cylinder #2, and that one improved from 49/80 to 63/80.
If you’d like more info about valve lapping, click here for episode 109.
Another surprise during the inspection was a cracked / leaking exhaust riser.
Here’s a close-up view of the bad area:
Also in this episode, I talked about some other squawks that were repaired during the inspection. Be sure to listen to the audio for all the details.
