Delco starter repair vs replace with Skytec
Posted: Tue Apr 30, 2019 3:36 pm
Hi all,
On Sunday, after a fantastic fly-in weekend where I was admiring how well my plane was performing and how well the weekend had gone, my starter failed after landing and fueling up. Luckily, I was back at my home airport and not stranded somewhere far from home, especially at a fly-in in the middle of East Texas.
Today, my mechanic pulled it apart and found that the clutch gear shattered. He was able to get a large piece of the gear out from there, but there are now missing fragments that are hopefully in the oil pan. This same issue happened to the plane sometime not too long before I bought it, so it's happened 2x in less than 2 years or so.
My questions are:
1) At this point, am I better off having my mechanic repair the starter with a new clutch from Niagra Air OR should I bite the bullet and spend the money to switch to a Skytec starter? Original would be cheaper option now and would keep my plane closer to original, but I could have the same issue again in a short time. SkyTec would reduce the weight a little and give me a more reliable solution.
2) What steps have to be completed to make sure that my engine is okay and that the pieces of shattered gear are not going to cause further damage elsewhere?
Any advice / tips are appreciated!
On Sunday, after a fantastic fly-in weekend where I was admiring how well my plane was performing and how well the weekend had gone, my starter failed after landing and fueling up. Luckily, I was back at my home airport and not stranded somewhere far from home, especially at a fly-in in the middle of East Texas.
Today, my mechanic pulled it apart and found that the clutch gear shattered. He was able to get a large piece of the gear out from there, but there are now missing fragments that are hopefully in the oil pan. This same issue happened to the plane sometime not too long before I bought it, so it's happened 2x in less than 2 years or so.
My questions are:
1) At this point, am I better off having my mechanic repair the starter with a new clutch from Niagra Air OR should I bite the bullet and spend the money to switch to a Skytec starter? Original would be cheaper option now and would keep my plane closer to original, but I could have the same issue again in a short time. SkyTec would reduce the weight a little and give me a more reliable solution.
2) What steps have to be completed to make sure that my engine is okay and that the pieces of shattered gear are not going to cause further damage elsewhere?
Any advice / tips are appreciated!