# SAIB NE-13-04: Continental Motors, Inc. (CMI) Connecting Rod Piston Pin Bushing Inspection - Type: Special airworthiness information bulletin (advisory, not mandatory) - Status: Current - Revision: 0 - Issued: October 31, 2012 - Products: Continental Motors 6-260-A, 6-285-A, 6-285-B, 6-285-BA, 6-285-C, 6-285-CA, 6-320-B, A-50-1, A-50-2, A-50-3, A-50-4, A-50-4J and 341 more - Product type: Engine - PDF: https://openairdocs.org/files/sha256/9c/c2/9cc2aa5e025acf98098d7e438addeeca0e265ff1ddf94ee615fc7a6d917f9d19 - FAA DRS: https://drs.faa.gov/browse/excelExternalWindow/9A2DB17A406D01AF86257AA800735212.0001 - DRS record last changed: November 2, 2012 - Page: https://openairdocs.org/saib/NE-13-04 ## Text FAA Aviation Safety **SPECIAL AIRWORTHINESS** INFORMATION BULLETIN SAIB: NE-13-04 SUBJ: Continental Motors, Inc. (CMI) Connecting Rod Piston Pin Bushing Inspection Date: October 31, 2012 This is information only. Recommendations aren’t mandatory. Introduction This Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) alerts registered owners, operators, and certified repair facilities of all airplanes equipped with Continental Motors, Inc. (CMI) series engines (all models) of the service instructions to inspect the connecting rod piston pin bushing installation at each cylinder removal or any time piston pin bushing material is identified during routine maintenance procedures. At this time, the airworthiness concern is not an unsafe condition that would warrant airworthiness directive (AD) action under Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR) part 39. Background The issuance of this SAIB is prompted by reports the FAA received from the field of piston pin bushing material being found in the engine sump and oil filter on certain CMI series engines. Piston pin bushings are manufactured from steel-back bronze and are curved on a radius of 0.062". The affected engine models as well as instructions for inspection of the connecting rod piston pin bushing installation are presented in CMI Service Bulletin SB07-1, dated March 19, 2007. Potential factors contributing to bushing failure are the connecting rod pin bore chamfer and positioning of the piston pin bushing split line within the required arc of the connecting rod center line. The connecting rod via a design change was modified to incorporate a less generous chamfer at the connecting rod pin bore. Recommendations At each cylinder removal or if piston pin bushing material is recovered from an engine during routine maintenance, we recommend that you remove all the cylinders, pistons, and piston pins to facilitate access for inspection of the connecting rod piston pin bushings. In addition, we recommend that you inspect the piston pin bushing for condition each time a cylinder is removed from the engine for any reason. For Further Information Contact Anthony Holton, Aerospace Engineer, Atlanta Aircraft Certification Office, Small Airplane Directorate, 1701 Columbia Ave., College Park, GA 30337; phone: (404) 474-5567; fax: (404) 474- 5806; e-mail: Anthony.holton@faa.gov. For Related Service Information Contact Continental Motors, Inc., Factory Service, 2039 South Broad Street, Mobile, AL 36615; phone: (800) 326-0089. ## Registered aircraft it may concern (OpenAirDocs) Registry models matched by make and model, the same way as ADs, most registered aircraft first. - [Continental O-470 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-o-470-series): 12,779 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental IO-520 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-io-520-series): 9,486 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental 0-200 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-0-200-series): 8,790 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental A&C65 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-a-c65-series): 7,967 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental 0-300 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-0-300-series): 6,622 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental C85 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-c85-series): 4,671 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental I0-470 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-i0-470-series): 4,499 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental TSIO-520 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-tsio-520-series): 4,064 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental IO-550 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-io-550-series): 3,077 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental TSIO-550-K](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-tsio-550-k): 2,799 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental IO-550-N](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-io-550-n): 2,772 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental C90 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-c90-series): 2,149 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental TSIO-360 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-tsio-360-series): 1,907 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental IO-360 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-io-360-series): 1,885 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental C145 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-c145-series): 1,828 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental A&C75 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-a-c75-series): 1,504 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental E185 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-e185-series): 1,108 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental E225 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-e225-series): 979 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental GO-300 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-go-300-series): 808 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental TSIO-550-C](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-tsio-550-c): 480 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental IO-360-ES](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-io-360-es): 401 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental GTSIO-520-C](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-gtsio-520-c): 387 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental TSIO-550 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-tsio-550-series): 382 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental IO-550-B](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-io-550-b): 373 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental O-200 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-o-200-series): 329 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental C125 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-c125-series): 322 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental O-200A](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-o-200a): 295 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental IO-470 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-io-470-series): 225 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental IO-240-B](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-io-240-b): 212 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental O-200-D](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-o-200-d): 210 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental IO-550-C](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-io-550-c): 199 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental GTSIO-520 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-gtsio-520-series): 178 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental A-65-8](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-a-65-8): 137 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental IO-346 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-io-346-series): 131 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental TSIO-550-G](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-tsio-550-g): 129 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental IO-550-G](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-io-550-g): 115 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental IO-240 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-io-240-series): 111 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental O-470R](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-o-470r): 107 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental 0-200-A](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-0-200-a): 96 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental IO-520-D](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-io-520-d): 95 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental C85-12F](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-c85-12f): 90 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental C85-12](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-c85-12): 82 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental IO-520-F](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-io-520-f): 80 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental TSI0-470-B](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-tsi0-470-b): 75 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental TSIO-520-M](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-tsio-520-m): 60 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental O-470-U](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-o-470-u): 56 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental C90-12F](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-c90-12f): 54 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Continental TSIO-520-NB](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-tsio-520-nb): 52 registered aircraft (engine model) - [Lycoming IO-520 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-io-520-series): 49 registered aircraft (engine model) - [TCM Cont TSIO-520 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/tcm-cont-tsio-520-series): 49 registered aircraft (engine model) All 384: https://openairdocs.org/saib/NE-13-04/models.md --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.