o-233

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Brumby

Filing Flight Plan
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Mar 2, 2014
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Don
G'day all,

My first post on your forum from Australia.

Has anyone had trouble with the electronic ignition on this engine?

Had one quit on a brand new LSA before it left the factory!
 
Hi from Launceston

I have seen it a few times on the various aftermarket cdi ignitions for 4-cyl lycomings. All electronics have some rate of infant mortality. Personally I prefer to keep the 2nd source as an old fashioned magneto.
 
Brumby said:
G'day all,

My first post on your forum from Australia.

Has anyone had trouble with the electronic ignition on this engine?

Had one quit on a brand new LSA before it left the factory!
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Should be under warranty.
 
Trouble is Lyc said they had no spare to send us, so had to return the

complete unit to the States - from Oz

That was a month ago.
 
Brumby said:
Trouble is Lyc said they had no spare to send us, so had to return the

complete unit to the States - from Oz

That was a month ago.
Click to expand...

Oh that is serious crap!! I feel your pain. If Lycoming wants to have a reasonable chance of competing with Rotax, they need to do better than this!
 
Dav8or said:
Oh that is serious crap!! I feel your pain. If Lycoming wants to have a reasonable chance of competing with Rotax, they need to do better than this!
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There is no chance of that, too heavy. Also heard the ignitions take over a month to get replacements. :lol:

Can you say Skycatcher?
 
Geico266 said:
...Can you say Skycatcher?
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Unlike the Continental O-200D in the Skycatcher, the Lycoming 233 doesn't appear to have found an OEM partner that will do even the Skycatcher's low sales volume.

The response of the legacy aircraft engine companies to Rotax's assault on the market has been extremely disappointing. There seemed to be a strategy to repackage decades-old leftover technology, and compete by declaring the Rotax 9xx to be "descended from snowmobiles" and "not a real aircraft engine."

When such a lame approach fails, it's almost gratifying to watch.
 
PW_Plack said:
Unlike the Continental O-200D in the Skycatcher, the Lycoming 233 doesn't appear to have found an OEM partner that will do even the Skycatcher's low sales volume.

The response of the legacy aircraft engine companies to Rotax's assault on the market has been extremely disappointing. There seemed to be a strategy to repackage decades-old leftover technology, and compete by declaring the Rotax 9xx to be "descended from snowmobiles" and "not a real aircraft engine."

When such a lame approach fails, it's almost gratifying to watch.
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Well put. :yes:

FYI to all, the Rotax 912 & 914 are purpose built aircraft engines. :yesnod:
 
Thank you all for your replies, but it doesn't tell me how many ignition
failures there have been in the States.
Maybe they just send the crap ones downunder?
Heard of three now!
 
I am not sure how you expected to get an accurate number from POA. Its not like every plane flying with a o-233 in America has a representative on here, and there is no database of part failures that I know of.

Good luck with the replacement!
 
PW_Plack said:
Unlike the Continental O-200D in the Skycatcher, the Lycoming 233 doesn't appear to have found an OEM partner that will do even the Skycatcher's low sales volume.

The response of the legacy aircraft engine companies to Rotax's assault on the market has been extremely disappointing. There seemed to be a strategy to repackage decades-old leftover technology, and compete by declaring the Rotax 9xx to be "descended from snowmobiles" and "not a real aircraft engine."

When such a lame approach fails, it's almost gratifying to watch.
Click to expand...
Who is Rotax?

BRP-Powertrain GmbH & Co KG (until 2008 BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co. KG), commonly known simply as Rotax, is an Austrian engine manufacturer, owned by the Canadian Bombardier Recreational Products.

If it shi=s thru feathers, waddles when it walks, and has yellow webbed feet, it's probably a _______.
 
Tom-D said:
Who is Rotax? ...owned by the Canadian Bombardier Recreational Products.
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Who better to design and manufacture the leading powerplant in recreational Light Sport Aircraft? The 912/914 series is not based on any snowmobile engine. It is a purpose-built aircraft powerplant which has proven its TBO claims and delivers class-leading fuel economy and power-to-weight ratio.

Also true: Textron, the parent company of Lycoming, manufactures E-Z-Go golf carts. For some reason, Rotax proponents don't feel compelled to bring that up.
 
Tom-D said:
Who is Rotax?

BRP-Powertrain GmbH & Co KG (until 2008 BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co. KG), commonly known simply as Rotax, is an Austrian engine manufacturer, owned by the Canadian Bombardier Recreational Products.

If it shi=s thru feathers, waddles when it walks, and has yellow webbed feet, it's probably a _______.
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Yes, in 2003 they split off from the parent company that made snowmobiles like this;
799px-Delta_Bombardier_20071027.jpg
 
My experience with the O-233 is pretty negative overall. My opinion is that I wouldn't fly one. I would go with either an O-235 or an O-200/240 in that relative class.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
My experience with the O-233 is pretty negative overall. My opinion is that I wouldn't fly one. I would go with either an O-235 or an O-200/240 in that relative class.
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Seriously, what airplanes have this O-233? Just certain experimentals and certain LSAs. What airplane did you fly where you got this negative opinion? Was it carbureted , or injected? It is a rare engine to encounter in the field indeed.
 
Brumby said:
Thank you all for your replies, but it doesn't tell me how many ignition
failures there have been in the States.
Maybe they just send the crap ones downunder?
Heard of three now!
Click to expand...

Who is the manufacturer of the ignition? I doubt it's Lycoming.
 
Champion - although they keep it pretty quiet.
 
Dav8or said:
Seriously, what airplanes have this O-233? Just certain experimentals and certain LSAs. What airplane did you fly where you got this negative opinion? Was it carbureted , or injected? It is a rare engine to encounter in the field indeed.
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maybe he encountered them when he built them at the factory
 
JHW said:
maybe he encountered them when he built them at the factory
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Mmmm... OK... so you say he worked at the factory? Still, why does he think they suck? I was trying to expand on an otherwise lame and useless post. Dropping into a thread and saying- "I think those engines suck." with nothing to back it up, or support your position makes for a lame post. If he does have intimate knowledge of this engine's short comings, it would be interesting to hear.

Otherwise, on the surface of it, the IO-233 sounds to be a pretty interesting and intriguing little engine for experimental applications. A light weight direct drive engine that can run LOP with a constant speed prop in an airframe like the Lancair 235 could be a real efficiency king. It may be too heavy for LSA, but what about the rest of the aviation world?
 
Electronic ignition built by the same folks that also build sparkplugs that routinely are faulty out of the box. Interesting.
 
Dav8or said:
Mmmm... OK... so you say he worked at the factory? Still, why does he think they suck? I was trying to expand on an otherwise lame and useless post. Dropping into a thread and saying- "I think those engines suck." with nothing to back it up, or support your position makes for a lame post. If he does have intimate knowledge of this engine's short comings, it would be interesting to hear.
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When a person leaves a workplace they often carry with them umpteen non disclosure and noncompete etc obligations. You aren't going to get a detailed written expose from people who have inside knowledge. I spent a little time in engineering at BMW. There are certain configs and years of 5-series I wouldn't take as a gift. Why? Because they suck. That's all I'll say. Is the lyc 233 a poor engine ? Beats me, but if Ted doesn't like it that's good enough for me.
 
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