ShawnM

I agree, those were great upgrades to the old and discontinued 2007 avionics installed by the factory. As for the idiotic legal nonsense just because you don't like the rules doesn't mean you don't have to follow them.

Hi Bill, I'll try to sum this up the best I can and no, that doesn't look legit at all but to the untrained eye it may. There are so many things wrong with that log entry. It's clear this A&P who did the work knew absolutely nothing about light sport and what's required by the manufacture to make changes to a special light sport aircraft. I'm not surprised as many A&P's have no business working on light sport aircraft. There are other A&P's who have light sport training, knowledge and understand what they are doing when it comes to light sport. Most, simply do not, as in this case. This is why I always stress using a LSRM when doing maintenance on light sport aircraft, not an A&P. This is simply my opinion on repairmen, take it at face value. That said, since that is the Garmin 335 it's allowed per the SB issued by CSA in 2018, not an issue. The lackluster log entry by the A&P should have referenced the SB since a change was made to a S-LSA aircraft and it has to be approved by the manufacturer in writing. Which this change is. The Aera 660 is not allowed as there is no authorization from the manufacturer, CSA, to be installed into a S-LSA SportCruiser. There has also never been a SB for it's installation. It's simply not allowed in a S-LSA SportCruiser. The GTR-225 is also not allowed for the same reasons. To my knowledge the GTR-225 has never appeared in any documents from CSA. The GNC-255 is allowed and is documented in the manuals from CSA. The 225 is simply not allowed in a S-LSA SportCruiser either. Those two pieces of equipment legally void your airworthiness certificate. A thorough and knowledgeable DAR should know this and not complete the conversion to E-LSA. A thorough and knowledgeable A&P should have also known this and not installed that equipment in the plane. Here's my reference for what I tell you, please have a look at your "operating limitations" for N855JD. In that document issued by the FAA allowing you to operate the S-LSA aircraft legally it states this or something very close to this verbiage: "Noncompliance with these operating limitations will render the airworthiness certificate invalid. Any change, alteration or repair not in accordance with the manufacturer's written instructions and authorizations will render the airworthiness certificate invalid and the owner of the aircraft must apply for a new airworthiness certificate under the provisions of 14 CFR 21.191 with appropriate operating limitations before further flight." Hopefully this helps explain what I mean. Please read your operating limitations and let me know what you find.

Welcome Bluesky15, please share a pic or two of your SportCruiser. Maybe some of you "left coast" guys can get together.

Hello and welcome. the parts list for each SB is listed in the SB and should be included in the "kit" if you purchase it from CSA or one of it's dealers. Getting parts quickly is a whole other issue. Good luck with the upgrades. Please share a pic of your SportCruiser, we'd love to see it.

Thanks for the panel pics Bill. Great looking plane with the traditional six pack. I’ve seen it before on a few occasions. As for going E-LSA, your gonna have to find a DAR who will accept the changes already made to your S-LSA without any authorization from the factory. The Aera 660 and, assuming that’s a GTX 345 transponder since you said you have ads-b out, we’re both installed without a LOA from the factory and technically void your airworthiness certificate. A simple inspection of your POH and logbooks by the DAR could signal alarms with him/her. It’s very important you read your operating limitations on changes. That said, going experimental and getting my LSRI certification were the best things I could have done for my SportCruiser. It’ll allow you to legally make real nice upgrades to the plane to lessen your workload and make the plane safer to fly.

Lockwood is in the “sales” business so they would rather sell you a new engine. Rotax engines go “on condition” when they reach TBO if it’s not being used in a flight school for instruction. Most LSRM’s will gladly work on your airplane/Rotax. Lockwood would rather sell you one. Stay away from the big shops who just want you to leave them a blank check.

Welcome Steven and glad you could join us. Please share a pic of your beautiful SportCruiser. How long have you been an owner?

Hi Tony, welcome and thank you for your service to our country. The SportCruiser is the best looking LSA on the market. Seems odd you'd consider a "flying sperm cell" over a beautiful SportCruiser. If I had to buy a high wing I'd look at the Remos or a Tecnam. Remos being the affordable high wing and the Tecnam breaking the bank. There are of course many in between. Good luck in your search.

Ugh, if the starter disengages on it own then more than likely it's the sprag. This is the first time you mentioned this. There are several factors than can lead to a damaged sprag like a weak battery, bad plugs or a bad carb sync. All these lead to hard starting and these take their toll on the sprag. This is why you are not getting the RPM needed to start, the starter and sprag. We can talk this weekend when we both are at our respective airports.

Also Kevin I forgot to mention about your comment on getting enough RPM's. The engine should start in the first couple of rotations which is also the first few seconds of cranking. Seriously, if you have to crank the engine for more than 3-4 seconds then something is wrong. I assume it's this way for everyone but in the 9 years I've owned my plane it has started in the first few seconds of cranking.....EVERYTIME. The only time it didn't start was when my ignition modules went bad. It may be different for those of you in colder climates, not sure. I do agree with Dave and Tpazara1 about the battery and cables. They must be clean and tight. The Odyssey is a powerful battery and can spin the engine very fast. If it's installed you have plenty of power to start you just need to make sure all that power is getting to the starter. When your ignition modules were going bad I'm not sure how long you kept the starter engaged trying to start the engine but maybe it's possible you could have damaged the starter or windings. Rotax states in the manuals that you should not crank the engine for more than 10 seconds at a time. If you do you have to let the starter cool for 2 minutes. Do you notice anything different in the sound of the starter? Again with the PC-680 it should spin very fast when starting. Maybe take a video of the prop the next time you attempt to start and share it with us. I'm going to the airport this weekend and I'll do the same for comparison. Check your private messages also.

I forget what it's called but there's this thing under the cowling that stores energy that rotates the starter when you turn the key, oh yeah, the battery. Silly me. Did you install the PC680 that you bought? The battery is the only thing that'll keep you from getting the RPM needed to initiate a spark from the coils. Never, never attempt to start the 912 with a weak battery, it'll end very badly with a very large repair bill. Did you try the hot/cold test yet on your old module? My money is on the old ignition module is also dying. I also have my two old modules but I don't know which one is the bad one or I'd send it to you. I guess I need to take them to Lockwood on my next trip down to Sebring for breakfast.

Nope, I've heard of no issues ever with wiring since they are plug and play and all wiring for them is internal to the engine. The only outside signal is the start signal from your key switch/start solenoid. It's very rare they go bad but of course it does happen, we're both victims of this. Let us know what you find.

Hi Kevin, I assumed you bought two new modules not just one. I know they are not cheap but I would have bit the bullet and replaced both with new. Buy once, cry once. I do know the Czech modules allow for remote mounting but where they are isn't the issue. There are tens of thousands of 912's flying around with the ignition modules in the same location. Heat buildup under the cowling is an aircraft specific issue as some engines are cowled much tighter than others. My temps strips have not even darkened the first dot and I'm in sunny Florida. It's certainly possible they they were both either bad on on their way out. They are old and you don't know the history on them. It may have checked out when Lockwood tested it as time and temperature made it work for some reason when they arrived here in Florida. Is the new module on the top or bottom of the stack? If on top try the heat and/or ice bag trick again on it and see if it starts. Remember it can take 10-15 minutes for the temps to reach the core of the module as they are potted solid inside. As for grounds, all wiring is in the Molex connector and I don't know if the SB shows which one is ground. I've never heard of a ground issue with them. They either work or they don't, I'm sorry and wish I had a better answer for you. If this were my plane I'd try the hot/cold trick again and see if it starts. If it does you have your answer.

You can order them here Kevin. Mine are temp range 3 and I have one on each ignition pack and one on my Silent-Hektik voltage regulator. All 3 components can be damaged by heat. https://www.thermometersite.com/thermax-6-level-mini-strips-irreversible-labels There have been many owners with damaged taxi/landing lights because of the poor choice of location by the factory. It's really couldn't be in a more harsh environment.

The PC-680 is awesome and given that the SportCruiser has a slight aft CG the 3 extra pounds you’ll gain are beneficial. You’ll just have to cut back a few less pizza slices a month so you’ll make up the difference for than 1/2 gallon of fuel you’ll have to leave behind. Im fortunate enough to have my landing/taxi light in the pilot wing so I don’t have the light in my cowling like the newer planes. My plane has a standard PAR36 LED lamp. There are many options for replacement and far more for you being experimental. Search the forum for “taxi light” or “landing light”. Just be sure to go with LED. The mounting location of your light is in my opinion the worst place for it. It’s crazy hot in that location and the vibration from the engine is sure to shorten the life span of anything you mount there.

Happy Thanksgiving to you as well. A healthy spark can make all the difference in the world when starting. You probably had one going bad for a while and didn't know it. You just wondered, why it this thing so hard to start? As you now know, it's not. I've always had mine start within the first rotation after I installed the new modules years ago. A good battery is also key to a good start. I highly recommend the Odyssey PC680 when it's time for a replacement. A more expensive battery but it'll out last and out crank any battery on the market. Hopefully you'll get the breakers sorted out and labeled in case you ever need to use them.

No worries at all, just curious as to what you find. Have a great Thanksgiving.

That's what I figured, you'll never get a high enough RPM from the starter alone to get any spark. Glad they had them in stock and they are on the way. Any progress on the circuit breakers? This is not a pressing issue I understand.

Definitely turn everything on and pull the unmarked breakers and see what they control and label them. You'd need to know in case of an emergency. When we design your new panel you can clean up the "birds nest" and remove unused dead weight.

I see the switch and the two wires on it are for the light in the switch. It the AP works all the time then the GMC305 and servos could be wired through a circuit breaker only and they are powered up when the master is turned on. I see the additional aux circuit breaker panel under the copilot panel, are those new breakers for the G5's, GMC305 and other items? There are also two breakers in the panel also not labeled, what are those? This is a test. As long as you can pull the breakers and power down the servos and the GNC305 it's safe enough. This is not how I would have wired it but it must work. To be safe in the event of an electrical fire or short you should be able to power down all components by pulling breakers or shutting off switches. If you can do this I'd feel better. Of course, as long as you have the smoothing cap installed on the voltage rectifier, you can simply shut off the master and power EVERYTHING down and still fly the plane. As long as you don't turn the key off (or run out of fuel ) the engine will stay running no matter what. That said, I would have wired the power for the AP breakers (GMC305 and servos) through that switch so you can power off the AP if it's not needed. Especially when doing tests or service on the ground with the master on you don't need the AP powered up. Make sense?

You removed both screws, correct? You should be able to then rotate the handle and body and remove it. If not then try spraying some liquid wrench or WD-40 on the inside and using the red tube on the spray cans get some inside the tube. Mine came off and I didn't have this issue. Wish I could be of more help.

That's what happened to mine, one tested bad. I of course replaced both as mine were 2007 modules without the advanced "soft start" feature. I don't know of anyone who has been able to get the engine started with one ignition module. I've heard it can be done but don't know anyone who has been successful at it. You'd need a very strong battery to turn the engine over fast enough to get any spark. This is the first time I've heard of the new modules going bad. Yours are over 13 years old so maybe this is the life span of these modules. They do take a lot of vibration and heat in the location they are mounted. Consider adding a Thermax heat strip to them like I did to monitor their temps. Back to your heat/cool attempt to get it started. I'm not sure how long you tried the ice or heat on your modules but you have to apply either for about 10-15 minutes as all the components inside are fully potted and it takes a while for the heat or cold to reach the board and components. Maybe you gave up too soon. Either way the riddle has been solved. Be sure you're sitting down when Lockwood calls with the total of the bill for new modules. I was lucky enough to find the "2 for 1 special" deal when Rotax was offering this when they first came out with these soft start modules. I had to order from the UK as they were sold out in the US but it was worth the wait. There are aftermarket versions out there but I wanted piece of mind with the OEM Rotax ones. You'll be back in the air in no time.

Great, thank Kevin. Fingers crossed that's all it is. Wont be cheap but it's a simple fix for sure.

Did you happen to brainstorm with the techs at Lockwood about your issue? I chat with Dean from time to time and he's forgotten more than I've learned about the 912. A wealth of knowledge just a phone call away.

The black wires coming out of the connectors in the photo with the blue zip tie are the wires that were added and should run to the start solenoid. This is what activates the advanced start feature. After the engine starts, approximately 4-8 seconds later the rpm should increase slightly and the engine smooths out. This is the soft start feature working. I've personally never heard of the new modules going bad but there's a first time for everything. Maybe our resident Rotax guru Roger has some insight.