582 overhaul?

[steviet]

Talking with a Kitfox owner who says his 24 year old 582 grey head passes annual with flying colors.

Would you fly behind said engine if your mechanic said that it easily passes annual inspection and has less than 200 total hours?

Even though it is below TBO 24 years seems like a long time between overhauls given what I've read about this motor.

[avidflyer]

I would for sure be afraid of it if it never had new seals. Rotax says 5 years, with is probably pretty conservative, but almost 5 times as long?? Air leak will kill a 2 stroke fast. Jim Chuk

[mcomeaux53]

I've heard of one a/p bragging about knocking out 4 annuals in one day with a ink pen. So go figure.....

[napierm]

Engine that old needs a new crank. There is an accident report in England about just such a failure and has pictures and details. The newer crank has larger bearings in the big rod ends. I asked Tom Olenick about it and he said it was common for the early crank to fail around 300 hours. The case he was using at the time was one that he had repaired after a crank failure.

To see if the engine has the newer crank, look into the intakes. The outside of the rods at the big ends will be shiny, not grey. They are machined on the outside to provide clearance to the case. The older big ends are smaller and did not need any machining.

As for the seals, the 1st likely to go are the ones on the water pump/RV shaft. That will be obvious as the RV oil level will *increase* and turn milky.

FWIW,

Mark