Engine Ticking?

How to keep the Cessna 170 flying and airworthy.

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jrhoa2
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Re: Engine Ticking?

Post by jrhoa2 »

This may sound silly but, is there any chance there was a seatbelt or a purse strap hanging out of the door? That happened to me once while flying a 120. On climb out, I thought that I may have heard some kind of ticking. I swore it sounded like a light engine tick. Like you, I decided to abort the flight.

When I pushed the nose over and started building airspeed, the slipstream must have changed and that seatbelt started slapping the heck out of the side of the fuselage! It scared the crap out of me, it sounded like the airplane was coming apart! It took me about 30 seconds to realize where the banging was coming from. I simply reached over, opened the passenger door, pulled the belt back in, and continued my flight.

It is amazing how hard it is to locate a light ticking sound in a noisy cockpit. I swore my sound was coming from the engine...
James
5729E '59 150TD "BarFly"
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mit
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Re: Engine Ticking?

Post by mit »

As the years go by I don't hear, I feel engine noise.................. :cry:
Tim
ppoeppelman
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Re: Engine Ticking?

Post by ppoeppelman »

Today I went out and flew the airplane. Circled up over the airfield to stay within glide range. Everything sounded and felt good. After 30 minutes went out to the aires to do some steep turns and stalls, all accomplished normally. So after that went back to the airport and all was normal. Maybe we were just hearing things. Still going to be cautious, but hopefully all is well with the bird. Appreciate everyone's input.

Phil
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N2625U
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Re: Engine Ticking?

Post by N2625U »

Next time you hear the ticking reach down touching the button on the end of the flap handle. Had a ticking noise on my 172 when I first bought it and finally figured that is what it was. The button in the end of the flap handle was vibrating. Little tape took care of that.
Keep your speed up, Blackhawk on final behind you.
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Brendalam0tt
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Re: Engine Ticking?

Post by Brendalam0tt »

N2625U wrote:Next time you hear the ticking reach down touching the button on the end of the flap handle. Had a ticking noise on my 172 when I first bought it and finally figured that is what it was. The button in the end of the flap handle was vibrating. Little tape took care of that.
Thanks for the add. Heard this today and confirmed it’s in the handle. What kind of tape and how applied?
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N2625U
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Re: Engine Ticking?

Post by N2625U »

I've got a '63 172 with the Johnson bar for flaps. When I first got this plane 15 years ago I kept hearing a ticking sound. Eventually I found it was the button in the flap handle. A little tape around the button in the end of the Johnson bar and it shut up.
Keep your speed up, Blackhawk on final behind you.
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MoonlightVFR
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Re: Engine Ticking?

Post by MoonlightVFR »

Ticking sound

Johnson Bar in 100 series

Don't think so. Johnson Bar is usually associated with landing gear and is longer than the flap handles on 100 series Cessnas. 170's have fixed gear no need for a Johnson Bar.

I did have a C 170 passenger admit that he was nervous at first landing because he did not "hear" the landing gear extend on final approach. On subsequent flights as I turned final I would immitate the sound of gear extension in the intercomm mike. That pacified him.

Vodka martini at the Johnson Bar. Stirred not Shaken..
gradyb, '54 B N2890C
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johneeb
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Re: Engine Ticking?

Post by johneeb »

Grady the below information is a cut and paste from the "always" reputable Wikipedia! And they think at least the Cessna 140 has a "Johnson Bar".
A Johnson bar is a hand lever with several distinct positions and a positive latch to hold the lever in the selected position. The latch is typically activated with a spring-loaded squeeze handle on the lever so that only one hand is needed to release the latch, move the lever, then re-engage the latch in a different position. This is an American English term; in British English, the lever is named for its function.

Many steam locomotives have valve gear controls which are set using a Johnson bar as referenced in Fred Eaglesmith's Back There: Hey Porter, tell that engineer, tell him this train's too slow. Tell him to let go that Johnson bar. I got places I got to go.

Many trucks and buses use a hand brake which is controlled with a Johnson bar. These are sometimes called "Johnson bar brakes".

Truck drivers call the lever control for air-operated trailer brakes "Johnson bars".

On Caterpillar tractors, the forward/reverse lever is also called a Johnson bar.

Some light general aviation aircraft (including Piper Cherokees, Beech Musketeers, and some early model Cessnas – such as the Cessna 140) use Johnson bars to actuate flaps and wheel brakes. The Cessna 162 Skycatcher uses a Johnson bar for flap operation. A small number of older aircraft (including the Mooney M-18 and some older M20s) also have landing gear actuated by Johnson bars.

On the Boeing 707/720 aircraft, the Johnson bar was used to manually extend the nose landing gear. This was only used if the normal gear extension failed.
John E. Barrett
aka. Johneb

Sent from my "Cray Super Computer"
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cessna170bdriver
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Re: Engine Ticking?

Post by cessna170bdriver »

I’m with you John, I’ve never before heard that Johnson bars were limited to landing gear. I don’t remember the source, but I have read that some aircraft used a single “Johnson bar” as a brake lever, and the rudder bar (or pedal’s?) position determined the pressure split between the left and right brakes.

All that said, I usually just call mine a “flap handle”. :wink:
Miles

“I envy no man that knows more than myself, but pity them that know less.”
— Thomas Browne
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GAHorn
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Re: Engine Ticking?

Post by GAHorn »

Some of the 172 series used a plastic button in the flap handle. Some of the early airplanes using a metal button had a plastic circular-rim (trim-piece) on the end of the flap handle to take up the looseness of the button. When that plastic rim disintegrated ...the metal button was free to rattle.
'53 B-model N146YS SN:25713
50th Anniversary of Flight Model. Winner-Best Original 170B, 100th Anniversary of Flight Convention.
An originality nut (mostly) for the right reasons. ;)
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ghostflyer
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Re: Engine Ticking?

Post by ghostflyer »

Jeez...I thought it was my wife making that noise.
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GAHorn
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Re: Engine Ticking?

Post by GAHorn »

Regarding the flap handle.... Jamie and I were heading toward St. Louis convention and she opened a can of Planters Mixed Nuts for a snack. I never allow eating in the airplane because we hangar it in the country where field mice will search out any scrap or crumb of food.... so I cautioned her about it ...and she replied that she'd be careful.

The very next minute the entire can was tossed out of her lap and about half of the contents slipped down between the flap handle and the tunnel-carpet and beneath the floorboards. I scowled. And she smiled cutely.

We were landing at Mena for a fuel stop and lunch with Del Lehmann anyway so I mentioned it to Del... who had a local upholstery shop fabricate a leather "boot" similar to a automobile gear-shift-boot to seal that area off. The brown leather matches the rest of my interior. It is attached by slipping the edges beneath the carpet-edge, gluing and using PK screws to the tunnel sheet metal. (The hardest part was vacuuming out all those loose nuts. The ones beneath the floor.)

I recommend this interior trim addition. (and it may also aid in preventing air exchange between the cabin and aft fuselage.)
'53 B-model N146YS SN:25713
50th Anniversary of Flight Model. Winner-Best Original 170B, 100th Anniversary of Flight Convention.
An originality nut (mostly) for the right reasons. ;)
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