Throttle Adjustment Effort

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boydbischke

Filing Flight Plan
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Mar 31, 2015
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Boyd
I just got my Turbo Lance back from it's annual. It needed to have it's wastegate replaced. Then I flew it across the country to a place with 2000ft less elevation. All of a sudden the engine was idling at 1500RPM.

I had a mechanic take it in to adjust, thinking it would be maybe an hour or so effort.

After taking it in he said "I made numerous adjustments. 7, actually on the relationship from the fuel servo to the waste gate and from the throttle control to the servo. Also on the indexing of the servo arm.
Also the idle mixture was excessively rich. I leaned it 38 clicks."

He said it took him 4 hours. I called my normal mechanic and he said this should be a 1 hour, 2 max job.

I will likely need to negotiate with the mechanic that did this work, but I'd like some additional opinions. How much time should it take to adjust a throttle to not idle excessively fast?

Thanks in advance.
 
he earned his $ next time fix it yourself, than negotiate with yourself
 
if you cant wrench it yourself ,than complain about the cost you cant afford to own a aircraft .sorry just the way it is in 2017.
 
Lol "an hour tops." Just R&R the cowling and ground runs is an hour. Do that a couple times trying to get it set just right and there is your four hours.
 
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Sounds like you'll save that money easily in fuel after a few flights.
 
Sounds like money well spent if it was as far out of whack as the mechanic told you it was.

I have seen someone try a quick idle mixture adjustment on a turbocharged, fuel injected Continental. It created a problem with max fuel flow and made the aircraft unflyable...maybe the full fuel setup was the thing to do in this case...
 
hotprops said:
if you cant wrench it yourself ,than complain about the cost you cant afford to own a aircraft .sorry just the way it is in 2017.
Click to expand...

I see a lot of responses like this. The assumption is that you either need to pay top dollar for everything or you can't afford to own an aircraft.

I just had to replace my wastegate. Through Lycoming that part is $7,500. I worked with my mechanic and found another part for $1,500 that was a "overhaul". In reality it was an essentially new part. That $6,000 is 60 hours of flying.
 
Clark1961 said:
Sounds like money well spent if it was as far out of whack as the mechanic told you it was.

I have seen someone try a quick idle mixture adjustment on a turbocharged, fuel injected Continental. It created a problem with max fuel flow and made the aircraft unflyable...maybe the full fuel setup was the thing to do in this case...
Click to expand...

Thanks, that's helpful.
 
bnt83 said:
Lol "an hour tops." Just R&R the cowling and ground runs is an hour. Do that a couple times trying to get it set just right and there is your four hours.
Click to expand...

That's helpful, thanks.
 
boydbischke said:
Thanks, that's helpful.
Click to expand...
A diligent mechanic is sorta in a tight spot on something like this. He knows the owner wants it done quickly. He doesn't know the history on the engine and his ticket is on the line because a bad fuel setup can cause detonation at high power settings. The safest thing for him to do is go through the setup and make sure everything is right.

I've learned that I really don't want a mechanic trying to "wing it" on a turbocharged, fuel injected engine. I'm not to the point that I'm buying calibrated gauges and making hoses so I can set fuel trim myself. Close, but not there yet. I do watch fuel flow closely and the engine is not "green" for take-off unless it's getting proper flow.
 
boydsi,finding real replacement part for a good price is important part of what I called WRENCHING on aircraft
 
My only ? to OP is if your "normal mechanic" says 1 to 2 hours tops, why in the heck did he sign off the annual with this so screwed up.
I'd be looking for a new normal.
 
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