Partial engine fail in flight / boost pressure drop

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wolfvoador
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Partial engine fail in flight / boost pressure drop

Post by wolfvoador »

Last weekend, flight back from MYEF Exuma to MYNN Nassau, my base, upon reaching 8500 cruise, after 4 minutes a sudden yaw to the left, immediately Autopilot off, right rudder, right power, as trained. Reading power down to 45% despite cruise throttle, RPM down to 1900. LE ECU FAIL A and B. Reduced left power to idle, ECU FAIL gone, up to about 40%, if throttle pushed further, ECU fails came on again. Oil press, temp, all other engine indications in green. Decided to push it to Nassau rather than land at some deserted island below. Flying with 1 and 1/2 engine, light rudder trim to right, and hand flown to an uneventful landing in Nassau.
Plugged the AE300 wizard in, and the outcome is attached. Boost pressure had sudden drop (still don't know why A and B have 2 minute gap, must be a missynchronized clock on one of them?) from 2300 to 900hPa.
Premier is analyzing it. But did any of you experience a similar failure? I am just lucky I think that this didn't happen when I crossed the South Atlantic .....
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Boost pressure reading
Boost pressure reading
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dgger
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Re: Partial engine fail in flight / boost pressure drop

Post by dgger »

I have experienced something quite similar. In a rental DA42 in Hungary from where I diverted into DAI at Wiener Neustadt.

Long story short, it involved a faulty EPW valve that could not keep up the boost pressure. As a result I lost a significant amount of power. I like to recall that I lost all but about 15% of power (according to the notes I took after touch down), but the engine logs suggest it was less than that. Unlike you, I decided to shut down the affected engine while it would still feather. It happened twice. The first occurrence started with a combined ECU A FAIL and ECU B FAIL. The second announced itself with a (luckily false) ENGINE FIRE alert followed by a dual ECU FAIL. Happy to send you the logs for Sam to compare, if you PM me your email.

Good luck with the repair!
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1911Tex
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Re: Partial engine fail in flight / boost pressure drop

Post by 1911Tex »

Holy Moly, I wish I understood all that jargon......I never did get an electrical/mechanical engineering degree, only a BBA. Glad I fly a simple DA20-C1.
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Steven
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Re: Partial engine fail in flight / boost pressure drop

Post by Steven »

Congrats on safely handling the situation.
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wolfvoador
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Re: Partial engine fail in flight / boost pressure drop

Post by wolfvoador »

Ok, just feedback, Sam came over from FFL, and the repair lasted exactly 5 minutes! A clamp had popped from the actuator (see pic). With the actuator lose, the wastegate was just left wide open, and caused insufficient turbo pressure.
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neema
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Re: Partial engine fail in flight / boost pressure drop

Post by neema »

Good outcome!

How do I go about becoming a [Austro] wizard? Never got my invitation from Austro to Hogwarts ;)

I'd love to see more than what I can pull from the G1000 SD cards.
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Re: Partial engine fail in flight / boost pressure drop

Post by CFIDave »

neema wrote:How do I go about becoming a [Austro] wizard? Never got my invitation from Austro to Hogwarts ;)

I'd love to see more than what I can pull from the G1000 SD cards.
Austro Engine can supply the special USB hardware adapter that attaches to the engine diagnostic cables that dangle beneath the right side of the instrument panel, and they can provide access to Wizard software for installation on a Windows laptop.

Generally these items are only made available to technicians who have attended Austro's training course (not given at Hogwarts ;) ), and the USB adapter must be purchased. Since the hardware/Wizard software combo can also be used to install new Austro engine software, they must be used with care.
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dgger
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Re: Partial engine fail in flight / boost pressure drop

Post by dgger »

neema wrote:How do I go about becoming a [Austro] wizard?
Dave gave the correct answer, I guess.

The "special adapter" looks like you might be able to find an OEM USB CAN bus adapter that does the trick for about $1,000 less than the genuine part. The files you can pull with it will not make much sense, however, unless you have the Austro software to view them. So, even going down this route, would not get you a result, I am afraid.
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FTEJerez
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Re: Partial engine fail in flight / boost pressure drop

Post by FTEJerez »

The Austro software can be obtained from this site:
http://austroengine.at/en/service/service-bulletins1
(requires you to be a registred user)

Becoming an Austro wizard:
1. know how a diesel cycle turbocharged engine works
2. read the manual provided by austro for the actual software (also called Austro Wizard!)

Good luck!
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Re: Partial engine fail in flight / boost pressure drop

Post by wolfvoador »

Hello, a short but important post-mortem on this issue: Austro heard us/me, and just published a new Revision, basically replace the rod all 250 hours. 5 minutes, and a couple of Dollars, and can save you a lot of trouble. Good stuff!

We would like to inform you about a mandatory service bulletin (Waste Gate Rod) for the AE300.
• MSB-E4-022-r2
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