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Maintenance costs: ULS vs iS, please

in 912iS Technical Questions 7 years ago
Hi. What is the difference in maintenance cost between the ULS and the iS? If the iS is only a few thousand dollars more expensive, then how come it is not much more popular? (I searched the forums and the net and did not manage to find any answers). Thank you!

  • Re: Maintenance costs: ULS vs iS, please

    by » 7 years ago

    The iS is a good engine, but it takes time to spread around the world.

    The iS engine is new compared to the UL or ULS engine. When the iS engine came out aircraft builders had to redesign the firewall forward of their aircraft. This takes time and a lot of money. The engine is not a direct swap for the ULS. Then Rotax can only make so many at a time. I believe there are about 175-200 in the US and more builders are using it all the time.
    Maintenance cost should be reasonably close between the two. Oil, plugs, rubber change and the annual. The one thing the iS engine needs is a "dongle" and laptop computer to do some maint. and perform diagnostics. The dongle is $1K. At this time there isn't as many people familiar with the iS maint. as there is with the UL series engine, but as time goes on more mechanics will be better prepared.

    Does this help?

    Roger Lee
    LSRM-A & Rotax Instructor & Rotax IRC
    Tucson, AZ Ryan Airfield (KRYN)
    520-349-7056 Cell

    Thank you said by: Andrew Nielsen
      
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  • Re: Maintenance costs: ULS vs iS, please

    by » 7 years ago

    The dongle is a one time expense.
    If you have a mechanic that does your work, he should have his own "Dongle"

    The plus side is that troubleshooting will be less expensive as the engine will be able to tell you what went wrong.
    Intermittent errors are stored in the computer just like your cars OBD2 computer.

    You will also never have to pay to have carburetors Rebuilt, Adjusted or re-Synced.

    Crystal Ball:
    Once the 915 Turbo engine is well in place; I can see Rotox offering only the fuel injected engines for new sales.
    The Carb'd engines will be supported for a period of time and then fade into history much like happened in the auto industry 30 years ago.

    Bill Hertzel
    Rotax 912is
    North Ridgeville, OH, USA
    Clicking the "Thank You" is Always Appreciated by Everyone.

    Thank you said by: Andrew Nielsen
      
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  • Re: Maintenance costs: ULS vs iS, please

    by » 7 years ago

    Those are fantastic answers, thank you.
      
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  • Re: Maintenance costs: ULS vs iS, please

    by » 7 years ago

    I have two planes,
    one with the IS and one with the ULS. Maintenance is slightly cheaper on the IS (no carb syncing) but basically the same.
      
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