Getting engine to run again

Quote: "Rotax have gone crazy on the costs of many of their service parts."

Rotax has come down on many parts prices. You'll just have to check and see which ones.

Roger Lee wrote:

Quote: "Rotax have gone crazy on the costs of many of their service parts."

Rotax has come down on many parts prices. You'll just have to check and see which ones.

Oh Roger!

If you charge $60 for an item, that likly cost you less than $10, ( +500%) you may just be charging a little over the top.

There may be some justification for Certified items, that have a paper trail incurring a much higher administration cost.

It seems to me that Rotax have, over the years, moved away from pilots being able/encouraged to use after market service items (eg oil), to Rotax branded items (eg spark plugs). With this move has been a marked increase in OM cost.

The above policy has followed what has happened in the automotive and industrial machinery, world where manufacturers have sought to "capture"  the dollar value of on going service/maintenance of their brand of machinery. They offer all sorts of rational for this move but in the end it's about the financial bottom line.

For those living in "The Land Of The Free" this should be a danger flag, as it severely limits the freedom of the homebuilt/experimental aircraft pilot to do his/her own thing.

Hi all

In regards to parts prices.  For sure some items are much higher than similar aftermarket ones.  if the owner wants to assume the risk they can use whatever they want.  The examples however of oil and spark plugs are not good ones to sight in my opinion.  There are literally many hundreds, perhaps in the thousands, of oil brands and with different chemistry.  We suffered for many years with bad automotive oils and saw many failures of the gearboxes and other parts due to deficiencies in oil quality.  I for one was very happy with Rotax finally listening to a number of us in the network to come up with a branded oil (approval of one specific oil) that satisfied the design needs.  We have not changed anything until the new 916 which presented many new challenges and another oil was developed to solve those issues.  

The spark plugs were never an issue until NGK pulled the plug on supply, it was not something Rotax wanted to do.   The only way any plug supplier would deal with the low volume of plugs and risk was for Rotax to assume the liability and brand the plug "Rotax".  

I am pretty sure that Roger has seen his fill of aftermarket oil filters also, some are pretty scary in how they are made and the quality of the filters.  Some, like Fram for example, are just junk in my opinion.  Others like the stainless steel Challenger filter with its washable element are more inline with a product better suited to the back pages of a old hot rod magazine that sold stuff via J.C. Whitney, loaded with wacky gadgets for your car.  (now owned by Car Parts .com.....more of the same) Indeed in the early Rotax days many of the kit aircraft OEM would by a lot of parts for the kits from JC back in the day.  (think of the large radiators used in Rans and many kits from the 1980 well into the late 1990s, oil coolers as well at that time) 

We however all understand that experimental have the freedom to use whatever parts they want.  As long as the owner proofs it and verifies it suits his needs that is just fine.  The downside is if there is an issue they cant go back on Rotax for help.   If you slap on those big bore cylinders and jam up the gearbox, you are on your own.  If that damages the crank, same answer.  But it is your toy and you can if you want.  

One last thing.  The distributors have been pushing for lower retail on many items.  As Roger noted a lot of very expensive parts have come down a lot.  I is a good idea to check to see what the actual prices are before you buy, sometimes the newer part may be lower than last year.  For the USA the prices are getting a bit better due to exchange rates also, this however may not be the case in all regions.

Cheers

Cheers

Sean Griffin wrote:

"I have spent $20 just for an o-ring on the oil reservor tank."

What O-ring?

From (aged) memory the only routinely replaced item on the reservoir tank, is the "copper" crush washer on the drain plug.

Oil filters

I use the Rotax supplied & branded ones, despite the horrific mark up. If I was fitting this to almost any land based engine, I would risk an alternative, from a reputable brand, at probably less than 1/5 the cost.

Rotax have gone crazy on the costs of many of their service parts. If you have the inclination to do the research and its permitted for your aircraft, considerable saving can be made by purchasing from reputable aftermarket suppliers  eg Gates for oil/fuel/coolant hoses (be sure that whatever you purchase meets/exceeds Rotax standards)😈

I took the entire oil reservor tank out and cleaned the bottom of it. It seems that only rubber piece on it is an o-ring that is under the top cover and the tank barrel (where you clamp everything together). It is a pretty big o-ring, and $20 seems to be an OK price. I am not complaining.

By the way, I have replace the drain plug with a valve. So I don't need to worry about the crush washer anymore.

(Second sending)

"I took the entire oil reservoir tank out and cleaned the bottom of it. It seems that only rubber piece on it is an o-ring that is under the top cover and the tank barrel (where you clamp everything together). It is a pretty big o-ring, and $20 seems to be an OK price. I am not complaining".

My apologies - .In all the years/hour of operating a Rotax 912 ULS, I have only cleaned the tank once (many many years ago) so forgot about the seal (O ring) under the lid - FYI I found the tank did not actually need cleaning, probably because I use only ULP (mostly 98 RON) and change my oil every 50 hrs.

"By the way, I have replace the drain plug with a valve. So I don't need to worry about the crush washer anymore."

I have heard of people doing this, never seen it. I hope there is some way of securing the valve to prevent inadvertent opening. I will stick with the drain plug, safety wired in position.😈