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.