How much does an aircraft cylinder replacement cost? Lycoming and Continental prices
November 7, 2026 · Chris van Eijk
A cylinder replacement is the engine bill that comes between overhauls: a compression check comes back low, or a borescope shows a burnt valve, and one cylinder has to come off. What it costs depends on what you put back — a new aftermarket cylinder, a factory-new kit, or your own cylinder overhauled — and on how many hours the shop takes. We collected the cylinder prices printed on sellers' and shops' own websites on 6 November 2026 and set them next to the labour hours Lycoming itself allows.
Short answer: for the common engines in our table, a new Superior Millennium cylinder lists at $1,563 to $1,846 for Lycoming engines and $1,335 to $2,165 for Continental engines at Aircraft Spruce, and a factory-new Lycoming cylinder kit at $2,099 to $3,279; kits for some other Lycoming models list above $4,500. Overhauling your own cylinder starts at $595 at the one shop we found that prints a flat price, with rings, gaskets and any part that fails inspection extra. For warranty work Lycoming allows its dealers at most 6 hours of labour for the first cylinder and 2 for each one after it. At those hours and $158 an hour, one new cylinder on a narrow-deck O-360-A would come to about $2,511 to $3,141, and all four to about $8,148 to $10,668, before shipping and anything found on the way.
What does a new aircraft cylinder cost?
Two kinds of new cylinder are for sale. Aftermarket (PMA) cylinders are made by another company under an FAA parts approval (PMA), such as Superior's Millennium cylinders, sold for both Lycoming and Continental engines. Aircraft Spruce's listing for the O-360 cylinder spells out what comes in the box: "Complete New Millennium Cylinder Assemblies contain the following new parts: head, barrel, valves, valve seats, valve guides, piston, rings, gasket kit, seals, springs, rotocoils, and rocker shafts. The cylinders will not include piston pins or rocker arms." Factory-new cylinders come from the engine maker: Aircraft Spruce sells Lycoming's as "Factory New Lycoming Cylinder Piston/Ring Assemblies", and Lycoming's own Service Instruction 1037AA says which kit belongs on which engine. Get the deck right: "Engine models that have serial number suffix 'A' or 'E' are built with crankcase configurations for wide cylinder base mounting flanges, and consequently must be assembled with 'wide deck' cylinders." A narrow-deck and a wide-deck O-360-A take different cylinders.
What a new cylinder costs: listed prices per engine
| Engines it fits | Cylinder | One | Full set |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lycoming O-235 | |||
| O-235-F2A, -F2B, -J2A | Superior Millennium SL10302-A20P | $1,846 | $7,384 (4) |
| O-235-C1, -C1B, -C1C, -C2A, -C2B | Lycoming factory new 05K29652 | $3,189 | — |
| O-235-K2A, -K2B, -K2C, -L2A, -L2C | Lycoming factory new 05K23037 | $2,330 | — |
| Lycoming O-320 | |||
| O-320-A, -E, low compression, narrow deck | Lycoming factory new 05K21423-A | $2,195 | — |
| O-320-B, -D; IO-320-B, narrow deck | Superior Millennium SL32006N-A20P | $1,624 | $6,496 (4) |
| O-320-B, -D1A, -D2A, -D2B; IO-320-B1A, narrow deck | Lycoming factory new 05K21101 | $2,131 | — |
| O-320-B, -D; IO-320-B and others, wide deck | Lycoming factory new 05K21100 | $2,229 | — |
| Lycoming O-360 / O-540 | |||
| O-360-A, -C; IO-360-B; O-540-A, -D, -E, -G; IO-540-C, -D, -N, narrow deck | Superior Millennium SL36006N-A20P | $1,563 | $6,252 (4) |
| O-360-A, -C, narrow deck | Lycoming factory new 05K21102 | $2,193 | — |
| O-360-A, -C; IO-360-B; O-540-E, -G, -H; IO-540-AF1A5 and others, wide deck | Lycoming factory new 05K21104 | $2,099 | — |
| O-360-B, -D, narrow deck | Lycoming factory new 05K21103 | $2,130 | — |
| O-360-B, -D; O-540-B, wide deck | Superior Millennium SL36006W-A21P | $1,608 | $9,648 (6) |
| O-360-B2C; O-540-B, wide deck | Lycoming factory new 05K21192 | $2,129 | — |
| IO-360-A, -C, -D1A; IO-540-K1A5 and others, wide deck | Lycoming factory new 05K21120 | $3,279 | — |
| Continental O-200 | |||
| O-200-A, -B (also C125, C145, O-300) | Superior Millennium SA10200-A20P | $1,335 | $5,340 (4) |
| Continental IO-470 | |||
| IO-470-D, -E, -F, -H, -L, -LO, -M, -N, -S, -U, -V, -VO; O-470-U | Superior Millennium SA47006L-A20P | $1,873 | $11,238 (6) |
| Continental IO-520 | |||
| IO-520-A, -B, -BA, -BB, -C, -CB, -D, -E, -F, -K, -L, -M, -MB, -N, -NB | Superior Millennium SA52006-A20P | $1,997 | $11,982 (6) |
| Continental IO-550 | |||
| IO-550-A, -B, -C (not for the TSIO-550) | Superior Millennium SA52006-A23P | $2,060 | $12,360 (6) |
| IO-550-D, -E, -F, -L | Superior Millennium SA55006-A20P | $2,165 | $12,990 (6) |
On a narrow-deck O-360-A the gap is $630 a cylinder: $1,563 for a Superior Millennium cylinder against $2,193 for a Lycoming factory kit. The wide-deck IO-360-A and IO-540-K1A5 take the dearest Lycoming kit in the table, $3,279, and kits for other models list higher still, such as $4,523 for the 05K21112 that SI 1037AA gives the IO-360-A1A. Not every kit may be fitted on its own: SI 1037AA says some, such as the 05K21423-A for the low-compression O-320, are "Interchangeable in complete engines sets only", and Aircraft Spruce points to Lycoming's Service Instruction 1267D "when replacing one individual cylinder". Aircraft Spruce lists Continental's own factory cylinders too, but that page does not say which engine each fits, so they are not in the table.
What does it cost to overhaul your own cylinder?
Less than a new one, if the cylinder can be repaired. Gibson Aviation in El Reno, Oklahoma, prints its prices: "We can return to service your repairable cylinders for $595". On top come "An additional charge for any valves, springs, rocker arms, rocker shaft, pistons, piston pin, and other related parts which do not meet OEM specs for return to service" and "Rings and gaskets are not included in the overhaul price." It also sells overhauled cylinders in exchange, so you need not wait for your own: "Cylinders start at $695 each plus $ 150 core charge" for a stud cylinder, and a used chrome cylinder is $625 plus the same core charge. "Some cylinders may cost more than the price stated above", among them turbocharged models. The price page carries no date and adds "We reserve the right to change the price at any time."
Precision Air Power in Woods Cross, Utah, prices the same work by the hour instead: "Lycoming Cylinder Overhauls $158 Billed hourly", and the same for Continental cylinders. We found no other shop that prints a cylinder overhaul price.
How much labour does a cylinder change take?
Lycoming publishes the hours it pays its own distributors and dealers when a cylinder is changed under warranty, in its Removal and Installation Labor Allowance Guidebook SSP-875-2 of February 2024: 6 hours for the first cylinder and 2 hours for each additional one on a normally aspirated four- or six-cylinder engine (8 hours for the first on an O-540-J3C5D). They are a ceiling, not a quote: "The labor hours shown in this booklet will be the maximum allowed to the Distributor and/or Dealer for warranty work." A shop working on your aircraft sets its own hours and rate. The one published hourly rate we found for this work is Precision Air Power's $158, where "Engine Repairs are billed hourly."
What a cylinder job costs on a narrow-deck O-360-A: parts and labour
- cylinder or overhaul
- labour at $158 an hour
| Job | Parts and labour | Total | Parts | Labour |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Your own cylinder overhauledGibson Aviation; rings, gaskets, rejected parts extra | $1,543 | $595 | $948 | |
| One new Superior cylinder6 hours labour | $2,511 | $1,563 | $948 | |
| One Lycoming factory kit6 hours labour | $3,141 | $2,193 | $948 | |
| Four new Superior cylinders12 hours labour | $8,148 | $6,252 | $1,896 | |
| Four Lycoming factory kits12 hours labour | $10,668 | $8,772 | $1,896 |
Put together for a narrow-deck O-360-A at those hours and that rate: one new cylinder comes to about $2,511 with a Superior Millennium cylinder or $3,141 with a Lycoming factory kit, at 6 hours of labour. Overhauling your own comes to about $1,543 plus rings, gaskets, any rejected parts and shipping both ways, and the aircraft waits while the cylinder is away. Replacing all four takes 12 hours and comes to about $8,148 with a Superior set or $10,668 with four Lycoming kits. Shipping, a core charge if you take an exchange cylinder, and whatever else the shop finds once the cylinder is off come on top.
When does a cylinder have to come off?
Usually after a compression check. Lycoming's Service Instruction 1191A, Cylinder Compression, compares cylinders with each other: "a difference of 5 psi is satisfactory; a difference of 10 to 15 psi indicates an investigation should be made." And on the reading itself: "If the pressure reading is below 60 psi or if the wear rate increases rapidly, as indicated by appreciable decrease in cylinder pressure, removal and overhaul of the cylinders should be considered." It adds that "Unless the pressure difference exceeds 15 psi the investigation should not necessarily mean removal of the cylinder": a valve often reseats itself, and a recheck should follow within the next 10 hours. These figures belong to Lycoming's differential test at 80 psi supply pressure.
Continental's service document index (X33000, issued 15 July 2024) lists the old bulletin SB03-3 as superseded by its Standard Practice Maintenance Manual M-0, which we could not read online, and still lists active cylinder documents such as MSB09-1B, Cylinder Replacement. Whether a cylinder comes off is a decision for the aircraft's maintenance organisation, against the engine maker's current instructions.
A cylinder job is a fraction of an overhaul, which runs into tens of thousands of dollars: see Lycoming engine overhaul cost and Continental engine overhaul cost. What a magneto overhaul costs covers the other engine accessory with its own schedule, aircraft maintenance cost per hour shows how such repairs add up per flight hour, and the aircraft ownership cost calculator puts maintenance next to fuel, insurance, hangar and the engine reserve.
Paying for a cylinder in a club or partnership
A cylinder between overhauls is the kind of bill a group either pays from a maintenance fund or splits when it comes. In Pilot-Next a reserve can be a second hourly rate on the same aircraft, shown as its own line on the flight invoice, so every hour flown puts money aside; a member with a personal hourly rate is billed only that rate, so build the reserve into it. Every aircraft can have maintenance plans with an interval in engine hours, in calendar months or both, and each plan shows OK, Due Soon or Overdue against the aircraft's Tacho reading (its Hobbs if it has no Tacho) and today's date — see aircraft maintenance tracking. How co-owners split a one-off bill is in the aircraft partnership agreement guide.
Sources
Read on 6 November 2026: Aircraft Spruce product pages for the Superior Millennium cylinders (O-235, O-320, O-360/O-540 narrow deck, O-360-B/D and O-540-B wide deck, O-200, IO-470, IO-520, IO-550-A/B/C, IO-550-D/E/F/L) and the Lycoming factory cylinder kits (prices as in each listing's structured data); Lycoming Service Instruction 1037AA (July 29, 2025), SSP-875-2 (February 2024) and Service Instruction 1191A (September 28, 1998); Gibson Aviation, cylinder overhaul and cylinder prices; Precision Air Power; Continental's service document master index X33000. Prices change; check the seller's page before you order.