Tell Me if there is any major problems with IO-346 Engine in Musketeer. How hard is it to get parts? Can find AP to work on. Who is best shop in Southeast to discuss this engine with. I am looking at purchase 65 c23 with this engine.
Technical Editor:
There are no major problems with the IO346. In some respects, the engine has advantages; the fuel injection versus carburetion is one example.
The engine is considered a “semi-orphan”, as Continental discontinued production of big-bore four-cylinder engines after only a couple of thousand examples; only a few low-production aircraft models were equipped with it. Consumable parts have some commonality with other Continental engines, and have not been a procurement problem to date. For example, Continental offers an approved kit that allows the installation of four IO520 cylinder assemblies on the IO346 (which was designed to be two-thirds of the IO520, as Lycoming’s IO360 is two-thirds of the IO540).
The parts that are now in short supply are cases, crankshafts, and camshafts. We have several overhaulers listed on BAC who work on the IO346. To date I have not heard of any IO346-equipped plane that has remained grounded due to lack of engine parts. We also have one reported example of an engine swap for the later IO360. You can search on “IO346” in the upper right search box on BAC, and again on “engine swap”, and again on “engine overhaul”, to find out practically everything you need to know about these subjects.