TBO for A-65

[mhorowit]

What's a practical figure for a TBO for the A-65? - Mike

[Frank DeBartolo]

I undersand that the A-65 has a 1800 TBO.

How are you going to overhaul the engine? Are you going to use new cylinders or are you going to use the current cylinders? I understand that you can purchase new cylinders with new piston and valves--everything new and all you have to do is connect the piston to the crank. Don't know how pricey those are but I imagine with a setup like that, an 1800 TBO could definitely be feasable assuming that crank cam and case are good at overhaul.

Frank DeBartolo
BC12-D
N43684

[Garry Crookham]

Mike:
Continental states that TBO for an A-65 is 1800 hours or 12 years...this info is available on their website www.tcmlink.com. If you look under bulletins and manuals, it's SIL 98-9A, and gives an explaination of the theory behind the 1800 hour/12 year period.

A practical TBO figure really depends on how regularly an engine is used, along with the type of maintenance that it receives. Engines that are used a lot stand a better chance of making the published TBO. The bottom end of an A-65 tends to hold up well. Cylinder problems usually occur before the published TBO figure. If you are running 100LL, you can expect valve problems every few hundred hours. A-65 engines seem to like auto fuel over 100LL.

Fly often, change oil every 25 to 30 hours or every 3 to 4 months, and keep it clean.


Garry Crookham
N5112M
Tulsa, Ok