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912 Overhaul Pricing


FlyingMonkey

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Hey all...

 

Does anybody have current pricing on Rotax overhauls, both top and complete? I'm planning to buy a CT at some point and want to have a good understanding of what the maintenance costs will be. I think I read that the complete overhaul is basically send Rotax your engine as a core and they send you back a new/overhauled engine, is that correct?

 

For comparison, a complete overhaul on the Jabiru 3300 is about $8K.

 

Thanks!

 

Andy

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Rotax does not due the overhaul. A Complete Rotax overhaul is about $12K. Lockwood has been sellin the short books, but who knows how long that may last. You have two options. If it were me a I would sell the engine for $8K -$10K and just buy a new one when it was time. The engine will then be a zero time engine. A rebuilt engine will never be a zero time engine again and many experimental guys or ultralight guys will buy it. A new engine is $18300 right now. The last thing that would be legal as of now is not even do the 2000 TBO. The FAA has a legal interpretation that Rotax can't force anyone to do it because that means Rotax is setting policy and they have be follow the existing rules like Contenintal or Lycoming. So it's more on condition. Will a legal document be published and when, I don't know, but have read the letter.

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Rotax does not due the overhaul. A Complete Rotax overhaul is about $12K. Lockwood has been sellin the short books, but who knows how long that may last. You have two options. If it were me a I would sell the engine for $8K -$10K and just buy a new one when it was time. The engine will then be a zero time engine. A rebuilt engine will never be a zero time engine again and many experimental guys or ultralight guys will buy it. A new engine is $18300 right now. The last thing that would be legal as of now is not even do the 2000 TBO. The FAA has a legal interpretation that Rotax can't force anyone to do it because that means Rotax is setting policy and they have be follow the existing rules like Contenintal or Lycoming. So it's more on condition. Will a legal document be published and when, I don't know, but have read the letter.

 

I understand. I assumed you'd do an overhaul/replacement when there was some mechanical indication it's needed, not at the arbitrary 2000hr mark. I realize that has been a gray area until recently with the Rotax. The nice thing is that a 912 will prbably make TBO and beyond due to the liquid cooled heads. The Jabiru 3300 I was going to put in my Sonex almost never makes TBO (I don't even know of one that made it), and needs jugs replaced in as little as 150-200 hours. It just runs too darn hot to last that long.

 

Andy

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To the FAA, engine terms have specific meanings. Manufacturers sometimes play fast and loose with the terms. Here is a rather long discussion by the Mattituck people about Lycoming and Continental engine terminology. I'm sure Roger will explain if the references do not apply to engines in LSA. Here is the summary, followed by the citation to the entire article, which is about one page and well worth reading.

 

"Only the manufacturer can currently produce a new or rebuilt engine. Both new and rebuilt engines are made to new limits. A new engine will have all new O.E.M. parts. A rebuilt engine can be produced using a combination of used and new O.E.M. parts. An overhauled engine can be done to new limits or to service limits or a combination of the two using used parts and new O.E.M or new aftermarket parts. An overhauled engine comes to you with it's previous operating history intact and zero hours since major overhaul. A new or rebuilt engine comes to you with no previous operating history and zero hours time in service, even though, in the case of a rebuilt engine, some of the parts used may have a previous operating history."

 

http://tcmlink.com/fiddefault.aspx?cgroup=MATTITUCK&cpagename=OVERHAUL

 

 

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The statements refer to certified engines. That said most is true except the very first sentence. In the LSA category Rotax and the aircraft Mfg's stipulate that only a distributor can do and overhaul. They are also the only ones allowed or given an overhaul manual. Currently in the US there are 3 distributors. CPS, Leading Edge and Lockwood that are allowed to do the work. Remember this is for SLSA. It requires a lot of special and expensive tools. In the neighborhood of $10K or more. The people that can do overhaul have been sent back to Austria for special Rotax training for this procedure.

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To all,

The definitions for overhaul, and rebuilding, can be found in the relevant rules. Specifically, FAR sections 91.421, and 43.2. These rules apply to certificated, and/or non-certificated SLSA aircraft, and therefore , they are applicable here. In summary, as I believe has already been stated, in most cases, only the manufacturer can describe an engine as "rebuilt". If and when they do, the operator may use a new maintenance record for that engine without previous operating history (zero-time in service).

 

As for Rotax only allowing certain organizations to overhaul their engines, by restricting tech. data access, they can effectively control who can perform maintenance (overhaul is maintenence) on their products. It is an age old trick in aviation maintenance. However, other accepted methods, techniques and practices could be employed by any quailified person/agency, to overhaul a Rotax engine so long as the work performed meets the requirements of an overhaul as stated in sect. 43.2.

 

As an aside, with respect to aviation maintenance, the terms "rebuild", and "overhaul" are legal terms with very specific meanings, and requirements. Maintenance records must refrain from using these terms to describe work performed, unless the work performed actually meets the FAR 43.2 requirements, and was performed by an authorized individual/agency.

 

Doug Hereford

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