Thread: VERY IMPORTANT NOTICE

FYI,

I would HIGHLY recommend that all CT owners make sure their inspector's (RLSM-M or A&P put a wrench on the Rotax ring engine mount bolts (4) at every inspection. I have heard from different parts of the country that these become loose on a regular basis. You will probably find 2-3 are loose. 29 ft/lbs or 348 in/lbs if your mechanic is not checking them each inspection. This is an FD Service Bulletin #8 dated Jan. 2006. If it were me I would check mine before the next few hours. I doubt many are being checked unless the engine feels loose. You will need a 6" extension for 3 of them and a 6" (ball end) Allen wrench for the top left one.

This is important and I would check them soon.

The FD SB is attached.

It is interesting that this SB has a June 2005 issue and is for all planes up to the May 2005 build. The interesting part, to me, is that my Jan. 2007 build came with 2 or 3 loose bolts and one was about to fall out. I picked up on this at my 25 hour inspection.

It only takes a few minutes to check so follow Roger's advice - do it.

Hi Roger:

The CT in our club's fleet on which I'm learning has had a strange rattling sound during taxiing. We've also been experiencing low oil pressure. We had been told the low pressure was probably the sensor, not the pressure itself. In any case, the plane was taken down to the center in Connecticut, and today one of our instructors told me the oil pressure really was low--it wasn't the sensor. Also, the mystery rattling was, he said, due to . . . a loose engine mount!!

Mark

The last time I had the oil changed on my CTSW, the mechanic, who had no previous experience with light sports airplanes, casually tested the bolts and found that two were a little loose. That came as a surprise to me.

If a mechanic has no previous experience with light sport then he probably has no rotax experience and has not completed the rotax training. Since our FD maintenance manuals defer to rotax, and rotax requires the training, where does that leave the owner who has work done, and log book entries, by a person without the rotax certification?

I only have one question. Why in the hell aren't they safetywired? If the ASTM standard does not require engine mounting bold safety wire, it's negligent. If it does, FD is negligent.

The bolts were originally torqued to 22 ft/lbs and are now up to 29 ft/lbs. These are supposed to be checked every inspection and shouldn't be a problem. This is why you are supposed to check and print out the SB's on the FD and Rotax website. If your inspector doesn't do this then it is not only his fault, but technically yours. That's why it is important to use a Rotax certified and hopefully a knowledgable person on CT's or light sport aircraft to have your CT inspected. Most A&P's are not up on either and are used to GA aircraft and GA engines. You can not treat the light sport group of aircraft like a GA plane they are not the same in certain areas. It's like an auto mechanic or a doctor. You should shop around a little and ask a few questions. Personally I won't let anyone touch my engine unless they have been to Rotax school and if you read section 2.2 in the Rotax manual that is what they pretty much say. Nothing about safety wiring in either manual. They don't need to be because you are supposed to check them each annual or every 100 hours. In that amount of time it isn't a problem. The mechanic should be putting a wrench on all the engine mounting bolts all 14 of them.
This is no different than any item on an inspection check list. What's the difference in inspecting these bolts compared to inspecting the axel knuckle? If the knuckle is cracked and your mechanic didn't check it, can it not cause you a serious problem on landing?

Have your mechanics print out all the SB's for your aircraft for engine and airframe, it's the right way to do things.

Sorry Roger, but we'll have to disagree on this one.

It's my humble opinion that any critical fastener on an aircraft should either be a locking style fastener or be safetywired.

The bolts can't very well be safety wired, but a good substitute would be NORD lock washers. These have not been approved or recommended by Rotax, but just my opinion I don't believe you are supposed to use any Loctite here as it may cause damage to the aluminum bolt threads in the engine. Right now the only thing you can do or that is approved to do is check the torque at inspection time.

Hey guys,

FYI... My CTLS has safety wires on the 4 Allen style engine bolts! Looks like holes drilled/EDM'd thru the head & internal hex.