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Anyone ever had a mechanic steal parts? Mag questions.....

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killrocks

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As some of you may know, I've had trouble with my Cherokee after installing a set of OH cylinders.

The mechanic who I now share a hangar with, and who has been working on it for me recently, pulled the RH mag because it had a bag mag drop which was part of the issues, and had me take it to a shop who tested it, cleaned it, and retimed it. Then pronounced it OK.

However, the date code indicates that this mag was built in 2013. My logs do not indicate any magneto installation between 2013 and now. The last entry pertaining to magnetos was a 500hr. magneto inspection in 2010. I blew it off at the time, as it wouldn't be the first time someone neglected to make a log entry.....although, you would think that a new mag in 2013 would certainly add value to the plane and be something you would want to note in the logs.

I also noticed that all the high tension leads have blue lettering, and I recall that the high tension leads the airplane had on it when I purchased it and did the annual last year, had faded white lettering. I remember this because the shop that the airplane was stored at repaired one of the spark plug terminals for me before we picked it up, and I remember inspecting the work.

I checked my 8130s today and they list a totally different serial number for the right mag, the 4370. So it did indeed get magically swapped somehow.

Now, I have no way of knowing who or how, since the hangar I was renting, had a number of people who had access, many of them also airplane mechanics. But I guess my point is - trust but verify. Keep track of who has access to your airplane!

The left mag is a 4271 lag 20 that matches the 8130 serial number.

For my next question: is a 4271 lag 20 a correct magneto for a O320E3D?
 
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