KarkelB;
I have the 914 and have accumulated almost 400 hr. on the engine.
Rotax recommends that unleaded auto gas of at least 92 octane be used in the 914
if possible, however if 100LL is used, oil changes must be at 25 hr. intervals
instead of the 50 hr. interval with the auto fuel. Their reason is that on the
25 hr. cycle the oil will remove some of the lead that accumulates.
For the first 150 hours we were using 100LL Plugs were fouling at about 50 to
60 hr. with lead. At about 100-125 hours we started to have problems with hard
starting, rough running, etc. I took the a/c to Lockwood Aviation which is a
Rotax service center in Sebring Fl. The gear box was taken apart and they
cleaned the lead off the clutches, took both carbs off and cleaned the lead out
of the jets. installed new plugs. After that, the engine ran great and I'm happy
to say that in 250 hours running of auto fuel we have had no further problems.
If we are on a cross country where we have to use 100LL we are using TCP at the
rate of 1 ounce per 10 gal of fuel. This keeps the lead from accumulating in the
engine.
If you will go to Rotax web site at ( www.rotax-owner.com/index.htm )you can
access their service documents for the 912 and also the 914. There is a service
document for the 914 which goes into detail of which oil you should use if
running auto fuel, and also if you are running 100LL
Jim Brown
N398JB
KarkelB@aol.com wrote:
> Hi folks,
> just been reading the march issue of todays pilot magazine.
> There is an article about fuels that just confused me. Read through a
> paragraph that says mogas is unsuitable for turbocharged engines. Previously
> i had read that avgas damages the valve seats on rotax engines. Now whats the
> truth? I think i'll be calling austria tommorrow. Anyone with long term
> experince on either fuels with the rotax engine?
>
> regards Karim.
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