Piper Turbo Arrow/Dakota Enigne

meritflyer

Well-Known Member
What is this "A" engine and "B" engine question one should be apparently asking when looking at these planes?

It sounds as though maybe Piper had two different engine variations. Perhaps, due to an issue?

EDIT: I love the fact that I spelled engine wrong.
 
Wellllll, if its like the Cherokees, the Cherokee 6s and Saratogas have different engine numbers after IO-540 because of the fuel pump types. K1A5 is the Cherokee 6 pump, for some reason I can't remember what the saratoga's is.
 
Not sure about the Dakota, but the Arrow should have an -FB engine with a VAR crank. The intercooler and auto-waste gate STCs are a must. I'd find one with a run-out, priced accordingly, and plan on a core exchange for a TCM reman. Get a JPI fuel totalizer and 4 pt EGT/CHT with the ITT -- another must have.
 
What is this "A" engine and "B" engine question one should be apparently asking when looking at these planes?

Hmmm, the Dakota has a Lycoming and the Turbo Arrow has a Continental, according to Aviation Consumer. Why should these engines have any problem in common? As for the Arrow, Aviation Consumer says the engine has been very unreliable, due in a large part to poor cooling.
 
The Turbo-Dakota has a Continental TSIO-360, I would assume it's the same engine the turbo-arrow has.

VAR stands for "vacuum arc remelt" it's a process TCM used to make crankshafts and I believe there is an AD calling for removal from service of any non-VAR crank.
 
Not sure about the Dakota, but the Arrow should have an -FB engine with a VAR crank. The intercooler and auto-waste gate STCs are a must. I'd find one with a run-out, priced accordingly, and plan on a core exchange for a TCM reman. Get a JPI fuel totalizer and 4 pt EGT/CHT with the ITT -- another must have.

Wouldn't you want a 6 point EGT/CHT gauge? The TSIO-360 is a 6 cylinder engine, so, I think you'd want one for each cylinder.
 
I reverted to the Lyc mindset for the 360. You are correct.

Its ok. For a while, I guess I just assumed that an IO-360 was always a 4 cylinder engine. Until somebody showed me a continental IO-360, and I was like, uhhh, what?

But back to the question. It would appear that depending on the vintage of Turbo Arrow, it could either have a TSIO-360-F or TSIO-360-FB engine. Turbo Dakota only came with the -FB variant, according to the TCDS.
 
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