Rust on Engine? | TheaterFire

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AvionDrake579@reddit

I live on an island, corrosion like this is to be expected when you're by the ocean. As long as the mechanics are responsible and routinely borescope the engine to ensure rust isn't getting inside, it'll be ok. If the engine is being run regularly it won't rust internally, it'll only be an issue if it sits for a prolonged period of time.

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flyghu@reddit

Rust on the outside isn't a big problem. Rust on the inside is.

If they are being flown regularly there is not really an opportunity for rust on the inside to form. That should be the case with your flight school.

If this plane had been sitting for a while I would start with a borescope and see how the cylinder and valves look and determine a plan from there.

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Shit-Pilot@reddit

While some surface rust on some places of a cylinder like this is not exactly uncommon or necessarily an airworthiness issue, this tells me the flight school probably bought up some ramp mummy’s and is limping them along.

Flight school airplanes generally get enough usage that there simply isn’t enough time for corrosion to form to this level between overhauls. I’m seeing pretty substantial corrosion not only on the cylinder but on the aluminum case half as well. This thing sat for an extended amount of time and with it being a Lycoming engine I would highly suspect there to be corrosion not only inside the cylinders and probably the cam/tappets as well.

I’ve bought airplanes that have sat disassembled or in a barn for 20+ years that didn’t look like this.

If I were buying this airplane I’d consider this engine done and really hope the crank/cam and case would be reusable but would factor my offer based on it all being junk.

If the prop flange looks like that cylinder it is 100% an airworthiness issue, even with what I see here I wouldn’t send it out with students. It tells me the flight school is probably not a reputable one.

With that being said I’ve flown way worse looking stuff to get to a place where I can fix it but I really hope you are getting a smoking deal on the aircraft rental at this place or I would suggest going somewhere that has better maintained airplanes.

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your_mileagemayvary@reddit

yes, what this guys says

It's not the corrosion I see in this pic that would worry me. It's what made this corrosion happen and what the internals look like as a result. Lycomings don't like to sit unused and that corrosion looks like an unused issue.

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TheVillianOfValley@reddit

Just looks like surface corrosion to me. I’d like to see inside with a Borescope tho.

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checksix6@reddit

The real question is where else is there corrosion that you’re not seeing

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AnActualSquirrel@reddit

Out of morbid curiosity, I'd like to know how long that cylinder has been installed.

The crumbling cylinder base nuts give me the most pause.

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No-Brilliant9659@reddit

I’m not a mechanic, but damn that looks rough. Literal flakes chipping off. It would have me worried too. No idea if it’s safe or not though

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rFlyingTower@reddit

This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:

BURNER ACCOUNT🔥
Basically whole fleet of C172s at my 141 flight school have a good amount of rust on the engine cylinders as well as some of the connections for oil pressure gauge and etc. Just wondering peoples thoughts on how much rust is ok/acceptable to have on the engines? For some context the school is in the south and by the coast so warm salty air.

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