Engine Care & Corrosion

January 2013

Assessing the health of your engine as a pilot or maintenance technician takes on many forms. One form often not weighed heavily enough is engine externals. Various uncoated parts of the engine are more susceptible to corrosion than others and if the aircraft is flown or parked in a salt-laden environment, this corrosion may be accelerated.

Engine corrosion is thought of as the owner’s responsibility and is not usually covered by ESP or engine warranty. The best way for an owner to handle this is to adhere to the engine wash schedule that is published in the maintenance manual. When flying in a salt-laden environment, a desalination wash is recommended to be performed daily. Adhering to this schedule along with the preservation schedules for engines not utilized for seven days or more decreases the chance of engine corrosion over the long run. The long run, by the way, is 10 years from date of service, or 11 years from date of manufacture. This is when the engine should be torn down and inspected if it hadn’t been done prior.

Magnesium Corrosion Treatment is recommended to be done following every engine wash. One step is to remove the BOV assembly, wash it and the intermediate case bore then wipe dry and apply corrosion inhibitor. This can be an “area of interest” on these engines. Another area is scoping the engine where air flow through the engine contacts the intermediate case.

For engines that are in normal service, these items are surely a concern. However, when it comes time to sell the aircraft or engines, the routine maintenance of your engines could be a determining factor in the sale.

Duncan Aviation offers Pratt & Whitney engine services, including Hot Section Inspections (HSIs) and engine line maintenance, at our full-service maintenance facilities. Pratt & Whitney Canada (PW&C) operates a Hot Section Inspection (HSI) / Repair facility on-site at Duncan Aviation’s Battle Creek, Michigan, facility offering complete Pratt & Whitney (PW) engine overhaul and repair services.