July 19th on my way home from the Darington Blue Grass Festival with my son Patrick in the right seat and my wife Ellen in the back, I had an engine failure. We were an hour and 30 into the flight. We had crossed the Cascade Mt range at 9500 and were 45 miles from Spokane when we started our decent. We pulled the power back 200 rpm and started decending at 200 fpm when we got a rough engine. Carb heat and mixture did not help. We then got some ugly clunks and grinds and the oil pressure went to zero. We were talking to Seattle Center and they advised that Davenport Airport was at our 6 o'clock and a mile and a half. With the engine out we spiraled down and to a text book landing. We suspect the gearing on the prop at this point but will let you know the cause once the engine is torn down.

We had just had 51E up to Merritt BC for a few days earlier in the week with no indication of any problem.

So, I need a new engine and I need some advice about what to buy.

Here is a picture of the engine http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/aeiM8...feat=directlink

Jack Miller
N6551E

Happy to see that everything when good for emergency landing ASAP, just had a look at your picture and doesn't look pretty bright

Your enroute altitude gave you time to react promptly and i guest ATC controller in that case were helpfull

Norman

Jack, I could not tell what engine you had, but I have a lycoming o360 conversion in my 175 and really really like it...it has 2200 hr on it, runs strong, 1 qt oil every 10 hrs
oil analysis is consistently good. Good luck to you

Lenny,

Could you tell me who did your conversion and about how much and how long it took? I am looking at a beautiful summer day here and no airplane. My wife is not to happy with the idea of using another GO-300.

Jack

Jack am doing the Stoots Aviation conversion with IO-360 200Hp but you could also do the conversion to the 180 HP with C/S or fix pitch

Norman

Jackie,

Great, responsible emergency landing. Here are some threads you might read in deciding on a new engine conversion.

Avcon Conversion Installation

Need a new motor

Franklins Topic

O-470 small topic

IO-360Cont vs. Lycoming

I highly recommend the IO-360 Continental 6 cylinder from the performance and and character standpoint. I have one in my plane.

The O-360 Lycoming is very popular due to its familiarity and reliability.

If you have alot of money and want to spend it fast on an IO-360 Lycoming or IO-390 Lycoming 4 cylinder then David Stoots with Stoots Aviation has a good reputation for delivering his products in a timely fashion. You can get other conversions alot cheaper but also alot slower.

I would have recommended you contact Jim Canfield (a member) at Rogers, Arkansas, to see who he got his rebuilt GO-300 from, as he is very satisfied with it, but if your wife says no to the GO-300, thats the end of the conversation.
If you go with the Lycoming O-360 conversion, you will need to go with the constant speed prop to get anywhere near your cruise speed with the GO-300. I have the Del-Air conversion with fixed pitch (cruise), and it climbs like a rocket but only 125 IAS, compared to 135 IAS with the GO-300. I would not do the Del-Air conversion again. I had previous posts here about my problems with Harry Dellicker (Del-Air).
You will pay an extra $10,000, for the constant speed STC, propeller and governor. I know where you can buy an IO-360, complete with CS prop and everything. It came off a Mooney, and is being used in an experimental that the owner is parting out. I think it can be bought fairly reasonably. I don't know what STC calls for that engine, but you can do a little research and find out.
Good luck, and if I can be of any help, give me a jingle.
Bob Young

Jack, mine was a bush conversion out of N.J. in late 70's prior to me purchasing her. at that time they did a complete firewall forward, and modified the cowl for the lycoming.
Now there are several conversions out there,,,the Franklin appears to be good but I do not know how it will compare to a lycoming. There is a place on the internet, can't remember
what the site was called, I just started looking for 175 conversions and it came up, but it has all the conversions and stc s for 175 and the companies that does them.

sorry I could not be more help but good luck to you and I am glad you all made it safe...
lenny

Thanks to everyone who made suggestions. I am busy reading everything I can find and looking into all the options I can find with the intent of getting the aircraft back in the air as soon as is reasonable. In the mean time here is a link to the last flight of N6551E.

http://picasaweb.google.com/miller.jrm/Las...feat=directlink

Jack

Jackie,

I toasted my GO-300 on take-off almost three years ago (three cracked pistons) when a hole burned through one piston and ran metal through the lower end bearings. I decided to take my time, and I have crunched the numbers about every way you can and it does not look pretty unless you have another engine waiting in the wings and a lot of patience.

Installing a used GO-300 is still the cheapest option out there, but I too lost faith in these engines unless you know exactly who rebuilt it (properly) and how it has been operated and maintained. I would install new ECI/Titan cylinders & pistons even then.

If rebuild is an option, it will be expensive, but you will know what you have, assuming it is done by someone who knows these engines. There is no smoother or quieter engine out there in my opinion.

There are a wide range of great STC's available, but unless you already have a good engine or plan to fly it till you die, then pass it on to your heirs, you will have more into it than it is worth (resale).

I have a complete case, gear-box and set of rods in good condition if you are interested in rebuilding. The case comes with the Petersen auto-gas STC. I would guess there are plenty of these parts closer to you, finding new bearings is the real challenge.

I ran skis on mine, so my goal is still lighter weight in the nose and lower fuel burn. A straight 180 hp Lycoming would be great, but I have even considered a 160 hp, which makes it roughly equal to a 172-P in performance.

Whatever you do, do not buy a PA-12 to patch up and fly while you figure out what to do with the 175!

Good Luck!

We have found a used GO-300 which will be installed next week but like you I have lost confidence in the engine and will replace it as soon as I determine the best option and then sell the
GO-300 we just bought. I do not consider the airplane an investment and I do plan to fly it and then pass it on to my son so I am interested in the best option not the wisest. The number one criteria is an engine that runs.. Loud clunks and then quiet are not something I want to repeat even though it turned out just fine this time. The number 2 criteria is short field performance and after that the usual wish list of cost, low maintenance, fuel efficiency, smooth and quiet, available parts, useful load, range, etc etc ....

Jack

Jack, I am glad you were able to find an engine..and if you plan on keeping her, then yes I would change out with one of the STCs. Good Luck
Lenny

There is a Franklin 220 HP on ebay that came out of a Maule. There is an STC to install that engine in a 175. It can be bought for under $9,000. It sounds like a good engine with low times, good logs and no prop strike. Bruce Kown in Cartersville, GA. is very familiar with the engine and STC. Greg Lucas, in Pauls Valley, OK used to work on them, but I think he got out of the business. I considered that engine and got very knowledgeable about it. I decided not to use it because I ran across a Lycoming O-360, at my home airport, but it is a good option, and the price is right.
Bob Young

Sure hope it does not go for more than I can afford. Guess the deepest pockets will prevail.

Clay, if you want the engine, it seems to me the buyitnow price (under $7,000) is reasonable. I got more than that for my GO-300. I have seen these things go past the reserve, and then bring more than the buyitnow was. Of course, that's up to you, but, as you know, the bidding gets furious at the end!
Bob

Go get em' Clay!

The engine sold for the BuyItNow price of $6,850. If it was as represented, that was a good deal for the buyer. I hope someone here got it!
Bob

We bought it. I hope it turns out to be as good a deal as it sounds.

Jack

I hope so too Jack. The Franklin is the Boss. Even outperforms my IO-360 210HP. I live very close to Greg Lucas, he doesn't do Franklins anymore because he can't get enough parts. If the polish factory ever gets their act together I fancy he might get back into rebuilding them. We were chatting about that today in fact, but times are tough right now and there are other attractive options for mechanics right now.

Glad you bought it Jack. Good that someone in the club ended up with the engine.

Be sure that you DO NOT use automotive gas in that Franklin. It has very high compression. Auto gas, even blended with 100LL,
will cause detonation and destroy the engine.

Please keep us all informed on every detail of your installation.

Inquiring minds want to know.

We have removed the failed engine and discovered that the two rear engine mounts failed.

Here is a link to a picture of the engine mounts. http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/1vr-h...feat=directlink

We will try to get the "new" engine ready tonight and install it on Saturday if all goes well.

Jack

We installed a used GO-300 last weekend. I still have the left exhaust and the baffling to install and then begin testing. We also have the Franklin 220 on the way. My question is about engine monitors. I am seriously interested in avoiding another engine failure and I see that the INSIGHT GEM G3 is mounted on the engine and has an accelerometer to measure vibration. Does anyone have any experience with that monitor?

Jack

Well it took a little longer than we had anticipated but the GO-300 is in the airplane and is running nicely. I flew it home last night. I did circle the field at Davenport until 8500 msl and then headed north to Deer Park. It was only 34 miles but I am a little over cautious at this point and wanted to be able to glide comfortably to a field if there was a problem on the first flight. No problems noted but it did run 100 degrees cooler on the EGT and a needle width cooler on the oil temp than the failed engine.

The Franklin engine is supposed to arrive Friday morning and I will start a new topic when we start that adventure.

Jack