Crack in the starter

you have a large piece of metal with a structural issue that is:
  • attached to something that shakes and rattles
  • mounted roughly above linkages etc that are critical to flight
  • mounted in a location that (by definition) can interfere with the engine flywheel
  • attached to a heavy electrical cable that could start a fire if shorted
  • and is something that could be replaced with an improved version costing the equivalent of maybe 4 hours worth of fuel
And you are looking for an excuse to not address this immediately ?
 
JasonM said:
In reality, this was so hard to see that I just lucked into finding it by shining a light at the right angle. It took me like 15 pictures to get it to show the crack. It looks more like a scratch if you didn't look real close as seen in the picture. I easily could have never seen this. Recently the airplane has had a pre-buy inspection and an annual, and a few other mechanics have been working on her for other problems and this hadn't come up by the experts.
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If it was mine, I'd mark the extent of the crack and keep an eye on it for a while, but as Ron often points out, I'm more risk tolerant than most. I'm assuming you aren't having issues with the starter drive hanging on the flywheel ring gear or seeing any wear marks there.
 
JasonM said:
In reality, this was so hard to see that I just lucked into finding it by shining a light at the right angle. It took me like 15 pictures to get it to show the crack. It looks more like a scratch if you didn't look real close as seen in the picture. I easily could have never seen this. Recently the airplane has had a pre-buy inspection and an annual, and a few other mechanics have been working on her for other problems and this hadn't come up by the experts.
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And you are worried about flying it to the A&P??
 
Geico266 said:
It could fall under owner maintenance. :dunno: :rolleyes:
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Specifically mentioned as owner maintenance is "troubleshooting landing light circuits". If you follow that landing light circuit back far enough, guess where you will wind up?

And no, you DON'T have to take it to an approved shop or A&P to fix it. EIther an automotive alternator specialist OR a good welder might be the solution, although to be absolutely legal, your airframe mechanic needs to sign off the repair in your logbook.

Jim
 
Tom-D said:
Is it safe to fly, "who makes that decision" for 1000
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:D The problem is that I don't understand fully what I can and cant do legally pertaining to such a situation. I understand that me as a owner/pilot is responsible for assuring the airplane is airworthy. Its just that, without any type of failure, am I legal to make the decision that I believe it is safe to fly?

If I scratch the paint, I know I can still fly. If I lose an non essential instrument, I can mark it as inop and still fly. If I get a crack in something attached to the motor and it still works great??????? :confused:
 
Henning said:
If it was mine, I'd mark the extent of the crack and keep an eye on it for a while, but as Ron often points out, I'm more risk tolerant than most. I'm assuming you aren't having issues with the starter drive hanging on the flywheel ring gear or seeing any wear marks there.
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I noticed it and still flew for 3.7 hours and kept an eye on it. It has not changed at all. I did not see any signs of wear marks anywhere.
 
weirdjim said:
Specifically mentioned as owner maintenance is "troubleshooting landing light circuits". If you follow that landing light circuit back far enough, guess where you will wind up?

And no, you DON'T have to take it to an approved shop or A&P to fix it. EIther an automotive alternator specialist OR a good welder might be the solution, although to be absolutely legal, your airframe mechanic needs to sign off the repair in your logbook.

Jim
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Thanks Jim!
 
JasonM said:
I noticed it and still flew for 3.7 hours and kept an eye on it. It has not changed at all. I did not see any signs of wear marks anywhere.
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Well, you have determined it airworthy for 3.7 hrs worth of flights and nothing has changed, nor have an issues become apparent. Why do you now think the situation of airworthiness has changed? My bet is still a built in defect.
 
JasonM said:
:D The problem is that I don't understand fully what I can and cant do legally pertaining to such a situation. I understand that me as a owner/pilot is responsible for assuring the airplane is airworthy. Its just that, without any type of failure, am I legal to make the decision that I believe it is safe to fly?

If I scratch the paint, I know I can still fly. If I lose an non essential instrument, I can mark it as inop and still fly. If I get a crack in something attached to the motor and it still works great??????? :confused:
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It is legal for you to make that decision. (yes) When you do not feel safe flying it …… Don't.

Is this starter going to fail in flight or when you try to start the engine? When it does fail is it going to cost a lot more than it would if you fix it now? Would it endanger your safety when it fails? just a few things for you to consider.
 
Henning said:
Well, you have determined it airworthy for 3.7 hrs worth of flights and nothing has changed, nor have an issues become apparent. Why do you now think the situation of airworthiness has changed? My bet is still a built in defect.
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Honestly, I started to second guess what I was doing. I do want to be a safe pilot and since I am pretty new to all of this, I have been a little confused. Just wanted to throw it out there for discussion to set me straight.
 
Tom-D said:
It is legal for you to make that decision. (yes) When you do not feel safe flying it …… Don't.

Is this starter going to fail in flight or when you try to start the engine? When it does fail is it going to cost a lot more than it would if you fix it now? Would it endanger your safety when it fails? just a few things for you to consider.
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I am 100% sure I want it fixed asap. I am 50/50 on whether to fly it to a service center.
 
JasonM said:
I am 100% sure I want it fixed asap. I am 50/50 on whether to fly it to a service center.
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If you lived around here I'd fly it to the service center for you, this is not going to fall off on your next flight (if ever).
 
Henning said:
If you lived around here I'd fly it to the service center for you, this is not going to fall off on your next flight (if ever).
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If i think about all this without looking at the picture, I come up with the conclusion that I should not fly it to the service center. If I look at the crack in the picture I think its not a big deal and should just go for it. :dunno:

Ron Levy said:
About four hours start to finish, including the paperwork.
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My last trip to the shop seemed like a 30 minute fix and 4 hours of paperwork. I feel bad for that aspect that the A&P's have to deal with.
 
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