Steve
The ridge is always at the bottom, not the top.
I am starting to think that You are correct about the quality of parts, thirty years back it was common for an O-235 to make TBO + 20% with a top end overhaul at half life.
The worst I have had is piston pin plugs at 290 hours and impending camshaft failure at 400 hours ( found at a shock load inspection).
Have Lycoming now found a very good income stream by producing poor quality parts ? I am not quite as cynical as you and think that the quality has gone down due to the pressure from the environmental legislation as some of the processes required are not very environmentally friendly. Add the pressure to keep costs down from the PMA parts suppliers and you have great pressure to go down market.
It has been demonstrated to me that Lycoming genuine parts no longer show any advantage over PMA items but are more expensive, I have run my business in the belief that quality is the best policy and I am more than happy to pay a premium for reliability but if I am not getting this reliability then Lycoming are driving me into the arms of the PMA market.
An own goal by Lycoming I think.
Last edited by A and C; 22nd October 2012 at 07:38.