Rotax 912 overhaul cost and TBO: hours by serial number, and what a new engine costs
November 2, 2026 · Chris van Eijk
The Rotax 912 powers light aircraft from the Comco Ikarus C42 to the Tecnam P2002 and P2008 and the Aquila A210. Its overhaul is the biggest bill a club or owner of one saves up for, and it is hard to find a price for. We read Rotax's own maintenance manuals and the distributor and shop pages we could read on 1 November 2026; that is not every distributor in Europe.
Short answer: a current Rotax 912 has a time between overhauls (TBO) of 2,000 hours or 15 years, whichever comes first; older serial numbers can have as little as 600 hours, and the 915 iS has 1,200 hours. We found no shop that publishes a current price for a 912 overhaul or an exchange engine, in any currency. What is published is the new engine: a 912 ULS lists at $23,718 to $24,469, a 912 UL at $20,625 to $21,940 and a 912 iS at $30,092 to $32,098, in US dollars. At $24,469, a new 912 ULS works out at $12.23 per flight hour when the aircraft flies 134 hours a year or more, and $32.63 at 50 hours a year.
What does a Rotax 912 overhaul cost?
Nobody we could read prints that figure today. Ask an authorised service centre with your serial number and hours. What you can use is the price of the alternative.
What a new Rotax engine costs: published list prices
| Engine | Lockwood Aero | Rotech price list | Rotech documents page |
|---|---|---|---|
| 912 UL (80 hp) | $21,940 | $20,625 | $21,940 |
| 912 ULS (100 hp) | $24,469 | $23,718 | $24,469 |
| 912 iS | $32,098 | $30,092 | $31,857 |
| 914 UL (115 hp) | $37,571 | $37,571 | $44,066 |
| 915 iS A (141 hp) | $49,529 | $48,475 | $48,934 |
The new price is the published ceiling for the decision: an overhaul only makes sense below it. The last figures we found for an overhaul come from Aviation Consumer in December 2011, when overhauls were "typically priced at $12,000 to $14,000, depending on what parts are needed" and "a factory-new engine will cost about $17,500" if the old core was worth a couple of grand. That was fifteen years ago, and new-engine prices have since risen, so use it for the ratio and not as a price.
Check what a list price covers. Motive Aero marks its 912 iS "Exhaust & Alternator not included", and Rotech's are "F.C.A. Vernon, BC", so transport is yours. We found no distributor printing a euro or pound price for a whole engine, so a European buyer needs a quote, and should ask what VAT, duty and shipping add.
What does the work around the engine cost?
A UK shop and a Canadian shop do print prices for smaller work. Eccleston Aviation in the UK charges £95 + VAT an hour from 1 November 2026, £600 + VAT to overhaul a pair of 912 UL or ULS carburettors, and from £650 + VAT for a gearbox shock load test. Learn to Fly Canada charges CA$1,140 plus tax for a fixed-price overhaul of a pair of carburettors and from CA$1,199 plus tax for a gearbox overhaul at 600 to 1,000 hours. Such work can fall due between overhauls, so budget for it separately.
How many hours and years: Rotax's TBO
Rotax's Line Maintenance Manual says: "A general overhaul is due after a defined period of operation or after a specified calendar life since initial start of operation (whichever comes first)." The newest serial numbers have 2,000 hours or 15 years. The exception among these engines is the turbocharged 915 iS, at 1,200 hours or 15 years.
Time between overhauls per Rotax engine
| Engine | Newest serial numbers | Older serial numbers |
|---|---|---|
| 912 UL | 2,000 h or 15 years | 600 h / 10 y; 1,200 h / 15 y; 1,500 h / 15 y |
| 912 ULS | 2,000 h or 15 years | 1,200 h / 10 y; 1,500 h / 12 y |
| 912 A | 2,000 h or 15 years | 600 h / 10 y; 1,000 h / 10 y; 1,200 h / 10 y; 1,500 h / 12 y |
| 912 F | 2,000 h or 15 years | 1,000 h / 10 y; 1,200 h / 10 y; 1,500 h / 12 y |
| 912 S | 2,000 h or 15 years | 1,200 h / 10 y; 1,500 h / 12 y |
| 912 iS, iSc, iS Sport | 2,000 h or 15 years | none |
| 914 UL, 914 F | 2,000 h or 15 years | 1,000 h / 10 y; 1,200 h / 12 y |
| 915 iS, iSc | 1,200 h or 15 years | none |
The serial number decides. An older engine can have a shorter limit, and Rotax allows an extension in some cases. SB-912-057UL says that for lower serial numbers a TBO extension "can be effected", but the prerequisite is "accomplishment of all specified and appropriate Service Bulletins as well as modifications", so it is neither free nor automatic. Read your engine's log book rather than assuming 2,000 hours.
A small margin exists. The manual allows: "Extension or exceeding of the TBO by 5% or 6 months is allowed, whichever comes first." That is at most 100 hours on a 2,000-hour engine, and less if six months pass first; on the 15-year limit it is six months. It is a margin, not a plan. What your aircraft's rules allow beyond the TBO depends on how it is registered, so ask your maintenance organisation.
Where it goes. "After reaching this time limit, the engine has to be shipped to an authorized overhaul facility." Rotax counts "Fifteen authorized distributors and 220+ independent service and repair centers worldwide"; not all of those overhaul engines, so ask. CFS Aero in the UK and Franz Aircraft Engines in Germany are two that Rotax lists for overhaul work. For an aircraft flying from Europe, shipping and days out of service are part of the bill.
What to set aside per flight hour
Divide the replacement cost by the hours until it falls due. For a new 912 ULS at $24,469, that is $12.23 per flight hour when the aircraft flies 134 hours a year or more, because the 2,000 hours come first. Below that, the 15 years come first: at 100 hours a year the engine falls due after 1,500 hours and costs $16.31 per hour, and at 50 hours a year after 750 hours, $32.63 per hour. The reserve per year then stays the same, $1,631, however little the aircraft flies.
Engine reserve per flight hour, by hours flown a year
- the 15-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 375 h | $65.25 | $1,631 a year |
| 50 h/yr | due after 750 h | $32.63 | $1,631 a year |
| 100 h/yr | due after 1,500 h | $16.31 | $1,631 a year |
| 134 h/yr | due after 2,000 h | $12.23 | $1,639 a year |
| 200 h/yr | due after 2,000 h | $12.23 | $2,447 a year |
A cheaper overhaul lowers those numbers in proportion, and the calendar limit is what makes them high for a lightly used aircraft. Our aircraft ownership cost calculator plans $24,000 for a Rotax engine at US prices and €18,000 at European prices, allows for price rises, and switches the reserve to per year when the hours fall below the limit, so its figures differ a little from this sum. The cheapest plane to own shows what that means next to the Lycoming and Continental aircraft, whose overhauls are in Lycoming engine overhaul cost and Continental engine overhaul cost.
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; 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 flight hours, in calendar months or both, so a plan can follow both the hours and the 15 years, 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.
Sources
Read on 1 November 2026: Rotax Line Maintenance Manuals for the 912, 912 i, 914 and 915 i; SB-912-057UL (a copy); Rotax global support, CFS Aero and Franz; Lockwood Aero; Motive Aero; Rotech's price list and documents page; Eccleston Aviation; Learn to Fly Canada; Aviation Consumer, December 2011.