Ignition Modules

H. Paul Shuch is a Light Sport Repairman with Maintenance ratings for airplanes, gliders, weight shift control, and powered parachutes, as well as an independent Rotax Maintenance Technician at the Heavy Maintenance level. He holds a PhD in Air Transportation Engineering from the University of California, and serves as Director of Maintenance for AvSport of Lock Haven.

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roger lee
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Re: Ignition Modules

Post by roger lee »

If he has one of the affected heads that was in the Rotax SB on this then he may have a crack in the porting between coolant and cylinder.
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MrMorden
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Re: Ignition Modules

Post by MrMorden »

roger lee wrote:If he has one of the affected heads that was in the Rotax SB on this then he may have a crack in the porting between coolant and cylinder.
Gah!!! Is he likely to get any relief on that from Rotax? :shock:
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sandpiper
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Re: Ignition Modules

Post by sandpiper »

[quote="Parker) "My goodness, that is disappointing.[/quote]

Yep, that's exactly what I'd have said! :( :wink:
John Horn
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Re: Ignition Modules

Post by Parker »

Initially there was what appeared to be a small amount of coolant on one of the spark plugs, which to them (I refer to the pair as "my guys" since we are developing that intimate relationship that can occur between an aircraft owner and an aircraft mechanic) diagnosed a cylinder head crack. Let's watch it they said. A subsequent check didn't reveal anything, and I, in the meantime, moved into the denial stage, until . . . .
roger lee
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Re: Ignition Modules

Post by roger lee »

He probably can get help from Rotax, but only if he submits a CSIR to them. get it off the Rotax flying and Safety Club sight. Fill it out and get it to them.
Roger Lee
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roger lee
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Re: Ignition Modules

Post by roger lee »

Ignition modules!

I had a talk with Rotax yesterday. Talked about this and a couple other items. (A few minor new things coming next year) They haven't seen any indication of increased ignition module failures.

Do you know why?
Because no one is filling out the CSIR and sending it in and the dealers haven't upped their order quantities. This isn't the distributor's job. It must come from the customer. They are checking right now to see if US distributor orders have been increased, but off the top of their head they didn't think so. Everyone is complaining on the forums which they don't monitor and not filing any Customer Service Reports.
You can complain that it is the distributor's fault, but that isn't the system in place.

The CSIR is the ONLY way Rotax gets any feedback. Without these reports Rotax thinks there are no issues. So the problem isn't with Rotax or the distributor, but with the owners. If you haven't filled out a report and regardless if you have already replaced them please fill out a CSIR from the Rotax Flying and Safety Club website and send it in. It's the only way to fix the problem.


p.s.
The military changes these out every 750 hrs. in their drones.
Roger Lee
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FastEddieB
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Re: Ignition Modules

Post by FastEddieB »

roger lee wrote:They haven't seen any indication of increased ignition module failures.

Do you know why?
Because no one is filling out the CSIR and sending it in and the dealers haven't upped their order quantities. This isn't the distributor's job. It must come from the customer...
I will probably go ahead and report my problem

But...

It reminds me of when iPhone users were having antenna issues and Steve Jobs remarked, "You're holding it wrong!"

He was lambasted for that, and rightfully so - blaming your end users for problems with your product is kinda universally seen as a bad idea.

Similarly, it's now our fault we can't get modules? All we need is the head of ROTAX to say, "They're reporting it wrong!"

Yes, we should all probably dutifully report bad modules when we have them.

But "blaming the victim" is not the right tack for ROTAX to take on this one.
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roger lee
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Re: Ignition Modules

Post by roger lee »

It's the system. Don't shoot the messenger.
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Re: Ignition Modules

Post by CTLSi »

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