Hit 2,000 hours on a single PT6 core this week and I'm still scratching my head

Pulled the last inspection on a King Air 200 that came through our shop in Bakersfield and the logbook showed 2,006 hours on the original hot section. That's almost unheard of for a PT6 that flies short hops in the Central Valley heat. The turbine blades looked more like they belonged in a museum display than a running engine. Customer said he just did oil changes every 50 hours and ran it at conservative power settings. Has anyone else seen a core go that long without a major overhaul? I'm wondering if the newer PT6E engines will hold up the same way.

2 comments

2 Comments

verar2125d ago

Did they change the oil every 50 hours with the good stuff or the cheap stuff?

patriciap5225d ago

Oh boy, that's the million-dollar question right there. If they skimped on the cheap stuff and ran it 50 hours without checking the filter, the bearings are probably shot by now. Good synthetic oil at 50-hour intervals with a filter change can keep those old air-cooled engines running for years, but the cheap stuff turns into sludge way faster in hot weather. The real trick is also changing the filter every other oil change, not just dumping new oil in on top of a dirty filter. I've seen too many guys dump cheap 30-weight in and wonder why their engine seizes up at 60 hours because the filter was clogged with carbon from the cheap oil.