The right magneto on the right engine on the 340 shit the bed. Found it on the runup before taking off from Buffalo Minnesota. Switching magnetos and one was completely dead.
Taxiied back to parking and called the mechanic. We had hoped that it was just a bad magneto…but no, that isn’t the way my life works.
The impulse coupling for the magneto came apart, putting bits of metal into the engine….. we have all but a dime sized piece of metal and a quarter sized piece of rubber. Draining the oil pan found lots of bits of metal.
Engine has 164 hours on it. Just a bit over 10% of the expected service life.
There were small bits of metal in the oil filter element. Not a lot, but some, more than what was in the filter after the first oil change after 10 hours. So it is new metal, not just wear metal./break-in bits. When the oil pan was drained through a screen, most of the missing metal seemed to be found in the oil, albeit in tiny pieces
RAM Engine (the folks that rebuilt it in 2023) is being kinda asinine to try and get out of the liability for the warranty.
The engine was SHIPPED in June of 2023. It was installed and returned to service in August of 2023…..They claim the 2 year full repair/replace warranty clock began when the engine was shipped, not when it was installed and in service. Therefore the full warranty expired on 6/6/2025. Kind of cheap and weasely of them, really
I think they are shirking responsibility for a failure of a part that they supplied. Either way, it is what it is.
Ram Engines wants me to have the engine oil pan flushed and do high power runups until there is no delectable oil in the filter…The Mechanic/AP wants a full teardown and IRAN. I can see both sides.
On the one hand, all the oil goes through the filter, so the filter should have caught any bits of metal before it made it’s way into the rest of the engine and props………..right? .
On the other hand, it appears at least one piece of metal from the magneto drive coupling (maybe) went through the drive gears. leaving bits of metal in the oil pan. Did it hurt anything while being chewed up?
Teardown and IRAN is covered 50% but will take 8-12 weeks…and cost a fair bit of money….
Grr. My luck sucks. Decisions decisions
ETA:: I called two different engine builders (competitors to RAM) and asked their advice…..
While they felt that RAM was being asinine about the warranty, they also, after reviewing some photos of the filters and the broken part all agreed that the solution suggested by RAM was a valid one, at least to start. They did not feel that the thin, small piece of soft steel would cause any issues going through the drive geartrain, nor was the amount of oil in the filter excessive nor were the pieces excessively large.
So that is the direction we are starting.
You are in a tough situation—mechanical best practices against legal/financial posturing by RAM. I’m not an expert in aviation mechanics but a failed impulse coupling shedding metal is no minor event—it’s a mechanical grenade in a high-precision engine.
It’s true that all oil passes through the filter after circulating the engine once. If metal entered the gear train, the damage may have already occurred before the oil reached the filter. The system is not closed-loop in that sense. The oil bypass valve will allow unfiltered oil to circulate under high pressure or cold-start conditions—another reason why even small debris can do damage before being trapped.
The metal in the filter and screen is already a bad sign. If even one gear tooth or bearing is spalled or cracked from ingesting metal, the consequences could be catastrophic later in flight. Metal debris can get embedded in soft bearing surfaces, increasing long-term wear or leading to sudden failure.
The warranty dispute doesn’t smell right and at the very least, that it doesn’t start at the point of delivery appears to be in bad faith, even legally debatable. It’s inconsistent with most reputable aircraft part suppliers (esp. for engines). Lycoming and Continenta begin warranty on return-to-service or first flight, not shipment date. Plus, FAA guidance and industry norms generally support warranty start at installation or first flight, not just crate delivery. RAM pushing this line when their supplied part failed at 164 hours (10% of TBO) doesn’t look good on them. That may give leverage in escalating the matter to FAA or industry groups like AOPA, or filing a legal complaint.
Again, I realize you’re in a tough situation but I’d be leary of following RAM’s “flush and fly”. That puts liability back on you if the engine fails later.
I wouldn’t let them off the hook easily. If you’re a member with AOPA legal services you might file a claim or FAA’s Aircraft Certification Service Designee.
And lastly, document everything- photos of the metal found, magneto failure report, logs, shipping/installation dates, and RAM’s emails.
Best of luck.
That sucks !!!!!
Good Luck, I hope the less time consuming and expensive attmept is successful and the bird is back in the air soon.