Do you need a ferry permit to make the flight? I would assume that the aircraft is not airworthy with an INOP ECU, but don't know for sure. I also suspect a bad connector somewhere. Can you get at them easily to reseat them? Good luck,
Steve
A ferry permit sounds like the way to go. I can get the mechanic to drive up to my airport and try to reseat the connectors. If that doesn't solve the problem, then the plane has to go to him. I guess I need to talk to FSDO to get the ferry permit. What a pain airplane ownership is
An inoperative ECU is a no-go decision. If anything happened during the flight, would your insurance cover you? Probably not. Get the mechanic to come to you. It really isn't worth the risk.
Steve Dewsbery
CPL IR NR
Johannesburg, South Africa
Cary, listen to Steve, who himself experienced an engine failure on departure in his DA42.
I *might* continue with the flight (solo) if it was merely a regular "soft" (resettable) ECU error & after checking the diagnostics log, but in this case you're dealing with an undiagnosed abnormality.
If you've got doubts yourself, then I think you know the right answer...
I used to like computers, but after today I no longer like them
Mechanic came to hangar to download the data from the engine/ecu. He plugged in the laptop but the laptop would not connect to ECU ?!?! He then connected to the right engine and it connected and started looking at the ECU as it should. Could this mean a simple connection problem that can be fixed by unplugging and plugging the ECU connectors. Of course not, that would be too easy. We removed the left engine ECU, plugged it into the right engine connectors, tried the download again but it would not connect. Thus, the left engine ECU is shot. That is probably why I did not get any error messages on the G1000 because the ECU was not sending out any messages. I don't want to even think about how much a new ECU will cost. UGH.
carym wrote:I used to like computers, but after today I no longer like them
Mechanic came to hangar to download the data from the engine/ecu. He plugged in the laptop but the laptop would not connect to ECU ?!?! He then connected to the right engine and it connected and started looking at the ECU as it should. Could this mean a simple connection problem that can be fixed by unplugging and plugging the ECU connectors. Of course not, that would be too easy. We removed the left engine ECU, plugged it into the right engine connectors, tried the download again but it would not connect. Thus, the left engine ECU is shot. That is probably why I did not get any error messages on the G1000 because the ECU was not sending out any messages. I don't want to even think about how much a new ECU will cost. UGH.
I hate to hear that! It's a little bit scary to me that the failure mode won't generate an ECU fail message.
RC7 wrote:
I hate to hear that! It's a little bit scary to me that the failure mode won't generate an ECU fail message.
Yes, I agree. I think this is a defect in the G1000 programming. My MEI was also surprised. We think it should default to failure unless a positive (and normal) response from ECU is received. However, I don't want to suggest this to the FAA because it will lead to an AD and will take forever for Diamond to approve a revised G1000 software.
carym wrote:We think it should default to failure unless a positive (and normal) response from ECU is received. However, I don't want to suggest this to the FAA because it will lead to an AD and will take forever for Diamond to approve a revised G1000 software.
Exactly. On some of the other more complicated aircraft that I fly, this is how the fault checking is accomplished. I'd be interested to see the logic of the G1000's ECU testing.
For those who may be interested, here is the latest. I promise, nothing more will be said by me until everything is working.
Diamond factory does not have anything. Technify will send one for $1892 + shipping. Of that $1892, $650 is core charge so it will be a little less. A new ECU is 3071 Euro. Having just paid $10,000 for prop overhaul, and $5000 for clutch replacement, this ECU replacement is easily chump change
