What unfortunate news. Making enquiries over here it sounds like it only happens to engines made between 2005 and 2008. The crank, pistons and crank case are often damaged but the gearbox and timing cover end are often OK.
If the pistons were OK then a short block might be an option.
Unless it is in warranty then Rotax are unlikely to be helpful. It seems that there are more occurrences of this over in the UK for some reason.
Unfortunately I suspect that most don't bother reporting this back to Rotax since they know that they are not likely to get much support. It's a bit of a catch 22, if Rotax were more helpful (or at least appeared to be so) then they would receive more feedback about what happens to their engines.
If Rotax really wanted to find out what was going on then they could contact the various well known Rotax repair centres. They would then have the data on different failures.
It would be really nice if a manufacturer published a full snag list of their product showing the various failure rates. They could then offer a 'repair kit' at a reasonable price to upgrade or remedy that fault. So for example they could offer an upgraded set of tappets for engines made between 2005-2008 to address this particular problem. An owner could then decide whether they want to take the risk of keeping what they've got or paying some money to guarantee that they don't suffer a failure.
I suppose the trouble with this would be that it would be seen as an admission that the product was faulty and they might open themselves to litigation. No product is ever perfect but the current system is far from ideal.
I guess I'm just one of the "lucky" ones on this failure mode.....
I'll send in the Customer Service Information Report, but it sounds as though I should not hold my breath waiting for any help from Rotax on a new engine.
Today I had sudden onset rough running in my 912ULS powered Kitfox Vixen (with Ivo three blade ground adjustable Ultralight prop). Mag checks were okay, temps all around seemed okay however there was a decidedly very rough mode. I made a precautionary landing at the nearest airport (after considering I may have to come down wherever necessary). Propeller looked okay, I took off top cowl to look for signs of what it may be. Could find nothing out of the ordinary. In the meantime a RV 6 pilot showed up & parked next to me. Turns out he also had a Kitfox Model 4 back home with an 80 hp Rotax 912, so he was very interested and helpful. The reason for his stopping at this airport was to have supper with an old friend (arriving in a car). His friend showed up and the three of us looked & discussed ideas (plugs, CDI failure, bad ground, contaminated fuel, carbs suddenly out of synch?). My new RV/Kitfox friends friend noticed that one of the three stainless steel leading edge tapes was missing. We were guessing this may have caused an out of balance situation, I peeled off the other two leading edge tapes and did another runup. Things were much better vibration-wise, so I did a lap around the pattern and flew home with things running just fine. Now, to clean up the blades and put some tape back on. My RV friend had been more than willing to fly me home (about an hour’s trip). What a guy.
hello, i believe i have just had the same event with my engine last thursday. exactly the same description and symptoms in flight and was luckily able to limp back to my home airfield safely.
my issue now is that i live and operate in Laos. i never new how remote i was until i tried to find support from Rotax. ha ha!
i have tried to contact my nearest rotax rep, hong kong, but no reply at all. my engine is very new (60 hours total time since new) and i believe it is still under warranty. so i have not touched it yet in an effort to preserve the evidence and hence my chances in making a warranty claim.
could anyone help me contact a rotax certified mechanic who might be willing to come to Laos and help me do the teardown, repair and warranty claim? any leads or contacts would be super helpful.
thanks for your help,
brad
Aeroprakt 22LS, new since November 2017
Rotax 912 ULS, 60 hours total time since new
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