Paul,

    Any chance you will be able to stop by tomorrow afternoon?  I still
    haven't been able to get the engine started but think I've got a
couple    of things to try.

    Thanks
    Randy

    I'll will be there about 1PM.
    Have you checked for top dead center?
    You can get a rough indication by putting a screw
    driver in the lower spark plug hole and turning the
    engine over slowly by hand.

    A better way is modify an old spark plug and attach
    a clear plastic  tube about 3 feet long orientated vertically.
    Than fill the chamber with thin oil and watch the oil go up and down
    in the tube as the engine is rotated by hand.

    The timing should be about 22 BTDC. Mark this on the ring
    gear with white paint.

    Paul Lamar

   I would think you want to use the oil like you would a piston
stop when   degreeing a cam. When you get the chamber full at
approximate TDC,   rock it   back and forth by hand slowly to watch
the oil rise and fall. When   it reaches   the highest level, stop
and mark the flywheel or pulley. Then   continue in the   same
direction for 10 or 20 degrees as the level falls. Then reverse   direction
   and stop again when the level just reaches the highest again. Put
   another
   mark. The difference between them is actual TDC. Repeat to verify.
   Then with a
   degree wheel it is easy to mark the 22 BTDC.
   Before starting, crank it with the plugs out to get the oil out so
   you do not
   hydraulic lock it.

   Dale Davies

   We got it running in just a few minutes. The number 4 wires from the
   battery
   in the aft fuselage were too small for the starter current. Too much
   voltage drop. We jumped the starter directly from a car battery
and   it kicked right off.   There is something wrong with the
Ellison carb as you have to keep   priming it to keep it running.
More on this later.

   Paul Lamar

   Contaminants in the Ellison?  Is there a good fuel filter?  How
   about fuel pressure?

   This is a pretty clever setup. I do wonder how hot the Ellison is
   going to get when heat soaking after shutdown. Will it melt internal
   plastic/rubber parts?

   Matt-

   It is on the cool side of the turbo.
   We rigged up a temporary header tank so there was only about one
foot of   head on the Ellison. I think the pin holes may be plugged
as it sat   around   for ten years with oil in the fuel.

   Paul Lamar

   That was the good news,  after switching carbs to a back up
Ellison I   was able to get the engine started and keep it running.
It was running   very rough though so I played with the throttle and
the mixture to see   if it would make a difference.  A quick check
of the gages showed 1500 -   2000 rpm but no oil pressure, then the
engine stopped as if it had   seized.  This was all in the course of
about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.  There   was oil in the gas and 5 quarts
in the pan.  The engine will not crank,   I can turn it over with a
plug out and a breaker bar but it is very hard   to turn.  I pulled
the re-drive to make sure that wasn't the problem and   I'll pull
the alternator belt tomorrow but I have a feeling a bearing   may
have stuck.  This engine has been sitting for around 20+ years so I
 may have to do a tear down.  Very depressing as it looked like it
was   ready to go.   Thanks for your help today Paul.

   Randy

   Darn. We should have checked the oil pressure. Don't turn it over
   any more. Obviously the rotor and main bearings are damaged.
   You will have to take it apart and swap out the bearing shells.
   The apex and sided seals are probably OK. It is not as bad as it seems.

   It has happened to Finn Lassen except the throttle was stuck wide
open   with no prop. The engine buzzed to 10,000 RPM and then
seized. He   chiseled it apart, put new bearings in and flew it for
600 hours   before crashing in the trees on an unlighted  dirt strip
at night   while trying to land. The guy lived a charmed life as he survived
   unhurt :)

   Make a compartmented box identifying  all three corners of the
   marked rotor
   to store the seals. Put them back in where they came from.

   Let me know when you get it apart and I will try to get over
   there to inspect the e-shaft. I'll be gone next week and
   the newsletter will be shut down during that time.

   Paul Lamar

   Here are some shots of that bearing and turbo mount.

   Randy

   Randy and I took the engine apart today. There was relatively little
   damage from the lack of oil pressure. Rear main and rotor bearings
   appeared to be OK. The front main had some very strange damage but
   I am not sure it was caused by lack of oil pressure. Randy was not
   sure it had no oil pressure to begin with as the engine stopped so
   quickly.

   Has anybody ever seen anything like this? It looks like a poorly
   machined e-shaft to me. Another possibility is incorrect end play.

   We will stick the e-shaft in the lathe tomorrow and check it
   for run out.

   BTW the bare block as you see it here weighs only 116 pounds.
   This is a 12A based one rotor.

   Paul Lamar

  Paul, Regarding the bearing failure.  It appears that the shaft
was not  machined on a taper due to the localized damage.  If the E-
shaft lobe  had run against it there would not be melted bits of tin
on the end of  the bearing shell.  It looks to me that the bearing
shell was staked  with a punch to keep it aligned with the oil feed
port. Most likely IMHO  is the punch was held too vertical and along
with forcing the material  into the lock groove it also pushed down
enough to crush material  towards the bore. This would leave no
clearance and wipe the oil  completely from that area. The tin would
then melt off the shell and  spread in both directions increasing
the length of damage in the bore  and off the outer end of the
bearing.  As for oil pressure being low one  place to ook is where
 the stock oil bypass would be located in the end  of the E-shaft.

  This is a re manufactured E-shaft which allows for an
  error where the bypass seats. Provided the drive chain was on the pump
  the next place to look is where the oil transfers from the front side
  housing to the rotor housing hollow dowel oil gallery.  Might be someone
  put a solid dowel in the hole or one hollow but too short dowel
  through all
  three pieces, Lastly is there a working oil filter relief valve or
is  the oil  all just going thru the filter back to the pan as the
path of  least resistance. You might put it together again with the front
  accessory cover and oil pump drive chain off. Turn it with a 3/8"
  electric drill and see if it builds pressure.

  george grimes

  We are still trying to figure it out. That end was stock so it had
  the stock 12A taper. We had it in the lathe today checking for run
out.

  Supposedly it had run before for 14 hours.

  It could be an end play problem.

  Paul Lamar

Bent eshaft or unbalanced CW on that end would be my first WAG.    Check
bearing clearance and eshaft run out.
That front bearing is protruding a bit,  it may have been pressed too
far or squished out by the eshaft.
Any pics and weights for the front and rear counter weights.
How is the oil routed to the bearings?
There are also some interesting triangular wear marks at the 9-11oclock
position on the back of the front stat gear.

Cheers
Cary



What I find interesting is the "polished" look to the metal in the
counter bore. It is not polished, but the color is like polished compared to
the rest which has the used engine brown staining. Was there an issue with the
thrust bearing assembly, allowing the washer to rotate against the bearing
hub? The heat is localized to the front portion of the bearing with the rest
looking like it was just installed.

Dale Davies

We are not sure. Randy is checking that now.

Randy, mic the rear main diameter close to the eccentric and again
close to the flywheel end and see if there is a taper to the journal.

Paul Lamar