Metal fatigue in Lycoming engines limiting its TBO?

In rec.aviation.owning Mike Rapoport wrote:
: The parts subject to fatigue (crank and rods) are generally not replace
: during overhaul.

Right. They are inspected (magnafluxed, etc), but not replaced unless flawed.
If they are flawed (read: cracked). A cracked rod/crank/cam is NOT going to live for
2000 hours and then die at 2050 hours. It's going to die much quicker than that. If
it's worn much, it'll show up in the oil.

If the engine isn't abused (long periods of sitting, excessively high temps
cracking cylinders, subject to overly excessive thermal gradients, etc), it should run
for a good while.

-Cory


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* Cory Papenfuss *
* Electrical Engineering candidate Ph.D. graduate student *
* Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University *
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