Service difficulty report · Exhaust Valve · Cirrus SR20

Difficulty date
November 30, 2011
Submitted
January 19, 2012
Operation
General aviation
Aircraft
N592PU
Make and model
Cirrus SR20
Aircraft serial
2053
Aircraft time
641 hours
Engine
Cont IO360ES
Engine time
641 hours
Part
Exhaust Valve
Part number
655866
Condition
Binding
Part time
641 hours
Component
Cylinder · Cont
Component part number
655479
Stage of operation
TX
How discovered
O
Nature of condition
R, E
Precautionary procedure
E

As reported to the FAA. Reports are unverified, and codes are left as the FAA publishes them.

What was found

AFTER NOTICING THAT THE ENGINE RAN ROUGH DURING TAXI PRIOR TO TAKEOFF, THE PILOT RETURNED TO THE RAMP AND REPORTED THE PROBLEM TO A MX TECH. THE MX TECH VERIFIED THAT THE ENGINE WAS RUNNING ROUGH AND WAS UNABLE TO MAKE TAKEOFF POWER. THE TECH ALSO NOTED LOW EGT ON CYLINDER NR 4. THE CYLINDER NR 4 EXHAUST VALVE ROCKER COVER AND EXHAUST VALVE SPRING WERE REMOVED, AT WHICH POINT IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT THE NR 4 EXHAUST VALVE WAS BINDING AND COULD NOT BE MOVED FREELY BY HAND. AFTER PERFORMING A BORESCOPE INSP ON CYLINDER NR 4, IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT THE EDGE OF THE EXHAUST VALVE HAD CONTACTED THE TOP OF THE PISTON, LEAVING A SHALLOW EYEBROW SHAPED MARK. THE EXHAUST VALVE ROCKER COVERS AND EXHAUST VALVE SPRINGS WERE REMOVED FROM THE REMAINING CYLINDERS AND IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT THE EXHAUST VALVES ON CYLINDERS NR 1, NR 3, AND NR 5 WERE ALSO BINDING. AFTER PERFORMING A BORESCOPE INSPECTION ON THE REMAINING CYLINDERS, IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT THE EDGE OF THE CYLINDER NR 3 EXHAUST VALVE HAD ALSO MADE CONTACT WITH THE PISTON, LEAVING A SHALLOW EYEBROW SHAPED MARK. NO EVIDENCE OF EXHAUST VALVE CONTACT WAS FOUND ON THE REMAINING CYLINDERS. IAW TECH SUPPORT INSTRUCTIONS, CYLINDER NR 1 (S/N: AC10FA220), NR 3 (S/N: AC10FA240), NR 4 (S/N: AC10FA217), AND NR 5 (S/N: AC10FA446) WERE REMOVED AND SENT TO AN AUTHORIZED SERVICE CENTER FOR WARRANTY REPAIR. NEW REPLACEMENT CYLINDER ASSEMBLIES AND NEW CYLINDER NR 3 AND NR 4 PISTONS WERE SUBSEQUENTLY INSTALLED.

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