SR20 Crankcase Crack (44hrs from previous repair)

Guest Discussion
#1

Hi All,

I have a 2009 Cirrus SR20, with 1300hrs. At 1250hrs I noticed that there was oil appearing on the cowling near the spinner. Investigating I found a crack about 1" long running from ALT1 mounting bracket. This had completely penetrated the casing and was un repairable.

The engine was routed to our Cirrus approved repair centre and a refurbished crankcase was fitted. Obviously this meant a complete rebuild of the engine, with all SB and ADs needed being covered. This was very expensive, and not one which we had budgeted for. All in, with an annual it as about $32,000USD (£26,000).

So our ‘new’ engine back and now 25 hours of running and then an oil change, then another 25 hours until its 50hr check. at 40hrs I found oil again on the cowling, but thinking to myself that this couldn’t be the same issue, could it? SO last weekend (long weekend here in the UK) I took the cowling off to inspect the engine, and you guessed it, another crack! My heart sank. Unlike in the US our warranty rules are different, and although I expect this to be covered there is no guarantee.

Cirrus have the aircraft now, and they have confirmed it is a crack, but they think there may be a repair scheme to cover it, still no idea of costs, I am avoiding speaking about it.

I have searched, but nothing was obvious on the SR20, so I wondered of other people had had this issue? I have attached a couple of pictures. The first is the old crack from December, the other the new crack.

1.jpg

2.jpg

2.jpg

2.jpg

#2

Nick,

Oh My… Been there, done that…

Almost the EXACT number of hours - I had a similar crack - at 1290 hours

I ended up with a factory re-man - or NEW engine.

Mine was $40,000 US - (in round numbers)

I really HATE to here about your 2nd failure - that is HORRIBLE.

But, I was told, they have modified the case, in the new casting.

-J-

#3

Was your crankcase replaced by the updated version or the older crack prone version?

#4

Nick,

That just sucks. So sorry to hear that. There is a improved case for your engine that has that area beefed up. Make sure you get that this time around.

#5

Sorry to hear about your cracked case, I just went through this last year. Same crack, same place. I was going to send it in for repair, but a neighbor at my airpark, that overhauled engines, said the early Continentals put a bigger crankshaft in and just ground out space for it at the front of the engine. (I don’t know if this is true).

Ended up getting a reman, about 40K, it’s working great. Also was told 2 months OTS for repair, but Cont had a reman coming off the line in 2 days. I was only grounded for a week.

#6

Thanks for your replies. They have been on the phone to say that they don’t ‘think’ it is a crack. Its been NDT’d and its not showing a crack there, but to me (an aircraft engineer from a few years back) it sure looks like a crack. So I have at least put a line in the sand for any future issues.

Interesting about the modified crank cases, I didn’t know about those. Do you know if there is a part number change?

#7

There is a PN change

#8

Yes, this is the key question… Mine had the crack at about 900 hours…

IRAN’d…Factory new case with the ‘new’ part/part number.

They had a ‘hidden’ warrantee of sorts where Continental sold is the NEW case for basically the same price as the REBUILT one. About $10k as I recall for the part. So far so good…

David