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That time a simple oil change turned into a full engine teardown
Last Tuesday at the regional airport in Boise, I found metal flakes in the filter during a routine 500-hour check on a Cessna 172, which everyone else in the hangar said was probably just break-in wear from the recent overhaul. I insisted on pulling the oil sump and found a cracked piston skirt, forcing a full engine removal and a two-week delay for the owner. Does anyone else think we're too quick to write off initial metal in oil as normal?
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keith1946mo ago
Honestly sounds like you wasted two weeks and a ton of labor over some normal break-in glitter lol. Gotta trust the overhaul process sometimes.
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hayes.michael6mo ago
Exactly, and that's the gamble you take. You either spend those two weeks tearing it down to be sure, or you button it up and risk a much bigger failure later. For me, finding any glitter after a fresh overhaul means stopping until I know exactly where it came from. The extra labor now is cheaper than a new engine later.
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the_max6mo ago
Ever seen what happens when you ignore that glitter and try to save time?
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viola_garcia565mo ago
Ugh, been there. I did the full teardown once and found a tiny piece of sealant that got past the screen. Annoying, but way better than the what-if.
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