Subject: Europa-List: 914 Ignition Module
From: "Jerry Rehn" <rehn@rockisland.com>
Date: Tue, June 21, 2011 19:14
To: europa-list@matronics.com
Priority: Normal
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I had a bad ignition module which showed up as a very low rpm on the mag check. It was almost 900 rpm difference. Turns out it was the top module which fires the top plugs on the 914. I went thru the Ignition troubleshooting guide (see attached) it pointed me in the right direction. It was not firing the top front two plugs. I could pull the plug wires off and no difference. It was amazing how well the engine ran with just the back two top plugs working when I was testing just the top module. The engine kept running with just one plug firing on one cylinder as I was testing and pulling plug wires off.
The engine has under 500 hours and I cannot get any explanation from any Rotax people as to the cause of failure. They only say that failures are rare, and I might add expensive $950. All is fixed and I had a great flight today to a few of the Islands up here in the Pacific Northwest (looked for Fred on Orcas, didn’t see him:)