Although supplies are limited, Teledyne Continental said this week that it’s beginning to ship replacement valve lifter units to replace several thousand faulty units installed in O-240, O-360, O-470, O-520 and O-550 engines. TCM says “an issue” with a vendor component required the recall of those defective lifters under MSB09-8. The affected lifters are subject to excessive rates of wear. The company says airplanes should be grounded until the lifters have been replaced. The part numbers are PN657913 for exhaust valves, 657915 for intake valves and 657916 for either exhaust or intake. Look here for a list of affected engines. TCM CFO William Read told AVweb, the company is trying to get rebuilt lifters to everyone currently affected by the AD. The FAA has approved the use of rebuilt lifters in new, overhauled, rebuilt and repaired engines but supply is limited.
“To date, over two-thirds of the affected lifters have been located and the owners have received lifters to support inspection and potential replacement” Read said. “Unfortunately, there is no visibility as to when we might be able to supply lifters to the general repair and overhaul community for new work.” AVweb will continue to update this story as new information becomes available.
