AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - December 2019 - 87

P&E

SAVVY MAINTENANCE
Savvy Maintenance coverage
sponsored by AIRCRAFT SPRUCE

OPINION

Hostage situation

FINALLY!
A CARD
FOR PILOTS.

Don't fall victim to an overzealous mechanic
BY MIKE BUSCH

MARK IS THE OWNER of a beautiful Cessna
185 Skywagon based in the San Francisco Bay
area. Awhile back, Mark and his wife travelled to Minden, Nevada, in this airplane to
visit with Mark's mother-in-law. A few days
later, they returned to the airport intending to fly home. But when Mark started the
Skywagon's engine-a Continental IO-520-
he saw just about the last thing a pilot wants
to see: The oil pressure gauge never budged
from the zero mark.
After a brief period of this can't be happening! Mark shut down the engine and
started thinking about what to do next.
It was a Sunday, of course. (These things
always happen on weekends when all the
maintenance shops on the field are closed.)
The only sign of life at this nontowered airport was the presence of a couple of linemen
at the airport's sole FBO.
Mark asked one of the linemen if he
knew of any A&P mechanics in the area
who might be able to help with his predicament. The lineman rummaged around in
the office and emerged with the phone number of an A&P who lived nearby. Mark called
the number, explained his exigency, and the
mechanic suggested Mark have the FBO
tow the aircraft to his maintenance hangar
and promised to meet him there.
Little did Mark anticipate the drama
that would unfold over the next few hours.
THE A&P'S DIAGNOSIS

When the two met up at the hangar, the
mechanic's first few steps were reasonable
and prudent. First, he checked the dipstick to make sure there was plenty of oil
in the sump (there was). Next he verified
the symptom reported by Mark by plumbing a calibrated pressure gauge into the oil
system and starting the engine. Both the
cockpit gauge and the external gauge read
zero, confirming that this was a real lack of

oil pressure and not just an indication problem with the cockpit gauge.
The A&P removed the oil filter, cut it
open, and inspected its contents. He then
told Mark that there was "significant bearing
metal in the filter" and informed him that the
engine would need to be torn down. While
Mark was still processing this unexpected
bad news, the A&P disappeared into his
office for a few minutes and emerged with
a written estimate for the engine removal,
teardown, and reinstallation totaling something well north of $10,000.
Mark was now in a complete state of
shock. He was stuck somewhere he didn't
want to be. Some mechanic he'd never met
before and didn't know whether to trust
was telling him that his engine was toast.
Mark was way outside his comfort zone. He
believed he needed an expert second opinion before approving such a drastic course
of action. He placed a call to my company
hoping someone would answer on a Sunday.
He wound up speaking with me.
MY SECOND OPINION

Mark briefed me on his situation. He sounded
to me like a pretty maintenance-savvy owner.
I asked Mark to send me a couple of cellphone photos of the oil filter media that the
A&P had described as containing "significant
bearing material" so I could assess the magnitude of the disaster. A few minutes later,
I received the several photos of the filter
media, including the one on p. 88.
I examined the photos under magnification and saw only a small amount of what
appeared to be aluminum. It didn't strike me
as being a significant quantity, and it certainly didn't appear to be bearing material.
This didn't seem like anything that justified
the drastic step of tearing the engine down.
I phoned Mark and explained to him
that by far the most likely cause for lack of
aopa.org/pilot AOPA PILOT | 87

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AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - December 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - December 2019