Since the initial start of the Platinum IO-550-N installed on N27RM, I have been besieged with an initial oil leak that poured out 2 ½ quarts during the initial 12 minute test flight, then a most difficult and messy small leak at the rear of the engine.  The initial big leak turned out to be one of the studs on the prop governor mounting location.  Had to pull the stud and reseal it, messy but actually quite simple.  

 

The other leak was not so easy to find, as it would not leak on ground run-ups, only in flight.  Even after short flights, the spreading of the oil due to flight made it extremely difficult to pin point.  Several calls to Continental on their 800 number seemed to indicate that TCM was not interested in helping.  I called both the Northwest TCM 800 number, and the Pennsylvania 800 number, and received the same attitude.

 

While at Sun-n-Fun, I stopped by the TCM display and met the nice folks there who got right to the point and told me about the Fairhope Alabama TCM facility.  I was given Ron Humphrey’s name (hope I spelled it correctly).  Ron is the Service Manager of TCM’s facility there, and after the first phone call, I knew I had found my answer.  From the very first contact until the oil leak was found and fixed, my experience with TCM’s Fairhope, Alabama facility was most pleasant. 

 

It took three days and several test flights to locate the small leak, and on the fourth day, after removing and replacing the cowling no less than 7 or 8 times, the leak was finally fixed.  It turned out to be the gasket on the oil pump. Because of the way the pan is made, on the initial oil gusher leak, oil seeped into the tiny crevasses just below the pan gasket where the pan is reinforced, and then would seep down one or more pan bolts (yup, not always the same bolts!)  and get the just the heads of the bolts wet with oil. This gave the impression that the leak might be coming from a location other than the oil pump.  Even after exhaustive cleaning and flushing, this phenomenon would exhibit itself every flight.   

 

For those of you who might be curious, on the Legacy with the 550 mount, the oil pump will not come out without removing the rear plate, then the oil pump gears, so that there is then adequate clearance to remove the pump.  Adding to the frustration is that the rear plate has a silk thread instead of a gasket making it interesting upon reinstallation.

 

However, the nice folks at Fairhope’s TCM facility stuck with it, and finally through deduction, figured out where the leak was coming from.  I simply can’t say enough good things about Ron and his friendly mechanics.  They persisted, staying late on more than one evening waiting for test flight results, and were genuinely concerned and determined to solve the problem. 

 

Fairhope is really a nice place to visit, as the town has interesting history, and a most quaint historic downtown area. The people are very proud of their town, and anxious to share the history. They are building a new runway, complete with an ILS, and the old runway will become the taxiway.  Anyone passing by Mobile should stop and say hello to these nice folks, Fairhope airport is 4R4.

 

Ron