Lycoming engine overhaul cost: published prices for the O-235, O-320, O-360 and O-540

A Lycoming engine overhaul is the biggest single bill an aircraft owner, partnership or flying club saves up for. Most engine shops quote it by phone. We collected every Lycoming overhaul price we could find printed on a shop's own website, plus Lycoming's factory engine prices as an authorised distributor lists them, on 25 October 2026, and set them next to the hours and years Lycoming itself gives in its Service Instruction 1009BF.

Short answer: two US shops that publish a price overhaul your own O-320 or O-360 for $28,700 to $34,950 (Corona Aircraft Engines and Gann Aviation), an IO-360 for $32,500 to $36,050 and an O-540 for $35,800 to $42,800. A ready exchange engine from a shop costs $33,495 to $39,500 for an O-320-D2J. A Lycoming factory-overhauled engine costs $40,297 for an O-320-D2J and $41,120 for an O-360-A4M, plus a core charge of $29,500 and $30,000 against your old engine; a factory-rebuilt IO-360-L2A for the Cessna 172S costs $60,824. Lycoming's SI 1009BF gives most of these engines 2,000 hours after an overhaul, and every engine a 12-year limit — so an O-360 overhaul of $31,600 is $15.80 per flight hour at 200 hours a year, but $52.67 per hour at 50 hours a year.

What one overhaul costs

Three things decide the price. What you buy: your own engine overhauled by a shop, a ready exchange engine that replaces yours, or an engine overhauled or rebuilt by Lycoming. Which engine: a six-cylinder O-540 costs more than a four-cylinder O-320. What the shop finds: Gann Aviation's prices "are contingent on repairable crankcase, crankshaft and cylinders", and Corona Aircraft Engines makes its price conditional on a repairable crankshaft, crankcase and starter adapter.

What a Lycoming overhaul costs: published prices per engine

Engine	Price	Source	What you get	Core charge
O-235 series	$30,550	Gann Aviation	shop overhaul of your engine	—
O-235-L2C (Cessna 152)	$45,662	Lycoming, via Aircraft Spruce	Lycoming factory overhauled	$30,778
O-320 series (most, flat tappet), overhauled cylinders	$28,700	Corona Aircraft Engines	shop overhaul of your engine	—
O-320-H2AD	$30,500	Corona Aircraft Engines	shop overhaul of your engine	—
O-320 series (+$500 with fuel pump)	$31,650	Gann Aviation	shop overhaul of your engine	—
O-320-H	$34,950	Gann Aviation	shop overhaul of your engine	—
O-320-D2J (Cessna 172P), exchange	$33,495	Corona Aircraft Engines	shop exchange engine	$19,550
O-320-D2J overhauled, exchange	$39,500	Aircraft Engine Specialists	shop exchange engine	deposit, amount not stated
O-320-D2J (Cessna 172P)	$40,297	Lycoming, via Aircraft Spruce	Lycoming factory overhauled	$29,500
O-320-D2J (Cessna 172P)	$52,096	Lycoming, via Aircraft Spruce	Lycoming factory rebuilt	$23,000
O-360 series (most, flat tappet), overhauled cylinders	$28,700	Corona Aircraft Engines	shop overhaul of your engine	—
O-360 series (+$500 with fuel pump)	$31,600	Gann Aviation	shop overhaul of your engine	—
O-360-A4M (Piper PA-28-181 Archer)	$41,120	Lycoming, via Aircraft Spruce	Lycoming factory overhauled	$30,000
IO-360 200 hp	$32,500	Corona Aircraft Engines	shop overhaul of your engine	—
IO-360 200 hp series	$36,050	Gann Aviation	shop overhaul of your engine	—
IO-360-L2A overhauled, exchange	$44,500	Aircraft Engine Specialists	shop exchange engine	deposit, amount not stated
IO-360-L2A (Cessna 172R/S)	$60,824	Lycoming, via Aircraft Spruce	Lycoming factory rebuilt	$26,000
O-540-A, B, E, F, G, H, overhauled cylinders	$35,800	Corona Aircraft Engines	shop overhaul of your engine	—
O-540 series	$42,800	Gann Aviation	shop overhaul of your engine	—
IO-540-K, S	$48,850	Gann Aviation	shop overhaul of your engine	—
IO-540-K1G5 (Piper PA-32-301 Saratoga)	$72,196	Lycoming, via Aircraft Spruce	Lycoming factory overhauled	$36,200

Read what each price includes. Gann's Lycoming price "includes fuel system, magnetos, new harness and spark plugs"; Corona's O-320 and O-360 price of $28,700 is with overhauled cylinders, and $31,900 with new factory cylinders. Aircraft Engine Specialists adds a core deposit and shipping to its exchange engines. The factory prices are listed per engine with a "Core Exchange Charge" next to them. None of the pages lists removing and reinstalling the engine as included, so budget that separately with your maintenance shop.

Lycoming itself publishes no price list on its website, most of the other engine shops we checked quote only on request, and a few shop sites refused our crawler, so they are not in the table either. Prices are in US dollars: we found no European shop that prints a Lycoming overhaul price.

How many hours and years: Lycoming SI 1009BF

Lycoming's Service Instruction No. 1009BF, dated July 20, 2026, is the schedule of recommended time between overhauls (TBO). Most engines in the table have two numbers: 2,600 hours for the first run after a factory-new or factory-rebuilt engine, and 2,000 hours after any overhaul. The O-235 in the Cessna 152 and the O-320-H in the Cessna 172N have 2,400 hours in both columns. On top of the hours, "All engine models are to be overhauled within twelve (12) calendar years of the date they first entered service or of last overhaul."

Time between overhauls, in hours, from Lycoming SI 1009BF

Engine	Used in, for example	First run after factory new or rebuilt	After an overhaul
O-235 (except -F, -G, -J)	Cessna 152 (O-235-L2C)	2,400 h	2,400 h
O-320 (except O-320-H)	Cessna 172P (O-320-D2J), Piper PA-28-161 Warrior (O-320-D3G), Robin DR400/140B	2,600 h	2,000 h
O-320-H	Cessna 172N (O-320-H2AD)	2,400 h	2,400 h
O-360 (except O-360-E)	Piper PA-28-181 Archer (O-360-A4M), Robin DR400/180	2,600 h	2,000 h
IO-360-L2A	Cessna 172R and 172S	2,600 h	2,000 h
IO-540-K, -L, -M, -N, -T, -V, -W	Piper PA-32-301 Saratoga (IO-540-K1G5)	2,600 h	2,000 h

Notes in the SI move the hours. Note 15: "A 200-hour extension to the listed TBO can be applied to Lycoming Factory Overhauled engine models", and to a field overhaul done only with genuine Lycoming parts and procedures. Note 11 adds 200 hours for an engine in frequent use, defined as at least 120 hours in every rolling 90-day period. Other notes cap some versions lower. Which limits apply to a particular engine, and under which rules it may run past them, is a question for its maintenance organisation; the sums below follow Lycoming's schedule.

What to set aside per flight hour

Divide the overhaul by the hours until it falls due. For an O-360 overhauled by a shop for $31,600, that is $15.80 per flight hour when the aircraft flies 167 hours a year or more, because the 2,000 hours come first. Below that, the 12 years come first: at 100 hours a year the overhaul falls due after 1,200 hours and costs $26.33 per hour, and at 50 hours a year after 600 hours, $52.67 per hour. The reserve per year then stays the same, $2,633, however little the aircraft flies.

Engine reserve per flight hour, by hours flown a year

• the 12-year limit comes first
• 2,000 hours come first

Hours a year	Hours until the overhaul is due	Reserve per flight hour	Reserve per year
25 h/yr	due after 300 h	$105.33	$2,633 a year
50 h/yr	due after 600 h	$52.67	$2,633 a year
100 h/yr	due after 1,200 h	$26.33	$2,633 a year
167 h/yr	due after 2,000 h	$15.80	$2,639 a year
200 h/yr	due after 2,000 h	$15.80	$3,160 a year

That is why a low-utilisation aircraft pays more for its engine per hour flown, and why a partnership or club that sets its engine reserve per hour has to check it against the calendar too. Our aircraft ownership cost calculator switches the engine reserve from per hour to per year when the hours a year fall below the calendar limit, for 33 aircraft types; how much it costs to own a plane shows what that does to the cost of a Cessna 172S, and how much an annual inspection costs covers the other big maintenance bill. Both together, per flight hour for a Cessna 172P, are in aircraft maintenance cost per hour.

Collecting the reserve in a club or partnership

A group that flies its engine to overhaul pays for it either from a fund or by a share of the hourly rate. In Pilot-Next the engine reserve can be a second hourly rate on the same aircraft, shown as its own line on the flight invoice, so every member sees what goes towards the overhaul. Every aircraft also gets maintenance plans with an interval in flight 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 share the bill is set out in the aircraft partnership agreement guide, and our free aircraft partnership spreadsheet carries the engine reserve as part of the hourly rate.