WW 200 RV leaking grease

cdmiller · #1 11-21-2006, 04:03 PM

I have a WW 200 RV propeller installed on an RV-8 with an IO-360 M1 engine. My propeller started leaking small quantities of oil or grease, which show up as small streaks on my windscreen. The prop was perfectly dry for the first 108 hours and then started leaking a small quantity. At 130 + hours, the leaking has become a bit worse. I think that the grease is coming from the propeller hub because the grease shows up on the part of the spinner directly behind the propeller blade, on one side only.

Have any of you had similar problems? What can I do to fix the problem?

Any suggestions appreciated.

Dan Miller
RV-8 N3TU 132 hours

JACKR · #2 11-21-2006, 04:32 PM

Dan,

I have the same prop on my 7. 165 hours to date in two years (this Feb.), no leakes. I would start with a call to Whrilwind for sure. Good luck, I'll be watching mine and please post whatever you find to be the problem.

RV7Guy · #3 11-21-2006, 05:07 PM

Is it grease or oil?

I had very similar symptoms with my 200RV at 55 hours. I flew about 10 minutes to a local fly in. While taxiing I noticed a light mist on the windscreen. It looked like I had flown through some gnats or something. There was nothing obviously leaking around the blades. I cleaned the the windscreen before leaving. I also thought I may have picked up a drop of oil from a plane I was taxiing behind.

When I got home and landed there was more oil on the wind screen oil dripping out of the spinner. I pulled the spinner cone and oil was pouring out of the two roll pins in the hub. Enough to put about a half inch in a 5 gallon bucket.

The other issue that was going on was surging of the prop. If accellerating quickly the prop would 'grab' then go to the proper RPM. If accellerating smoothly it wasn't noticable. Most noticable was on final approach and adding power. The surge was pretty dramatic.

I consulted Greg at WW. He had me ship the prop in for service. I wasn't too put out since I was taking the plane out of service for painting.

Apparently a seal had been installed improperly during assembly. I now have 165 hours on the plane in less than year. There have been no other issues other than the spinner issue. I've got 30 hours on the engine since I fixed the spinner.

Overall performance has been very good. I'd definitely use them again.

yarddart · #4 11-21-2006, 05:14 PM

I do not think grease streaks are a problem. If small amount.

flynwest · #5 05-01-2012, 04:17 PM

I have 360 hours on my 200 RV and it started slinging grease. I talked to another RV 8 guy with the same propeller he has had his resealed 2 times. Any other guys haveing this problem. Redding propeller has only had a couple in for reseal. Those were at around 450 hours. Wondering if this is going to be an ongoing issue.

RV8iator · #6 05-01-2012, 05:12 PM

My prop slung enough to be a mess on the windscreen after about 500 hours. After the 650 overhaul, it's been pretty clean.

when it's real hot OAT wise, it will sling some. It's hit or miss, but not enough to worry about.

erich weaver · #7 05-01-2012, 05:53 PM

yes, just recently dealt with this problem, and only had 250 hrs on the prop. It was NOT getting better with time. I complained to Whirlwind about this and they fessed up that the grease they used at the time the prop was built was incompatible with the seals, resulting in the problem. They agreed to pay for the shop in Redding to fix the seals, including picking up the prop and trucking it to Redding. Even though I wasnt close to the 650 hr overhaul time, I went ahead payed an extra $200 (appx.) to do a complete overhaul and zero time the prop since it would be off the plane and at the shop anyway. Pain to pull the prop and reinstall, but no more grease slinging. I am a big supporter of Whirwind for taking care of me on this.

erich

flynwest · #8 05-01-2012, 08:10 PM

Thanks for the fast replies. Ameritech picked up my propeller yesterday. I told them to zero time it also so maybe it will be ok. Thanks again for the replies.

tkatc · #9 08-30-2013, 04:33 PM

Anybody have any updates they would like to share? I currently fly behind a leak prone prop (hopefully they fixed it on this overhaul) and as I am approaching a prop purchase for my new RV-8 I am researching other props.

erich weaver · #10 08-30-2013, 11:37 PM

My prop overhaul at Ameritech didn't last. Slinging grease again within a few hours. Pulled the prop again and shipped to Whirwind to do over again. They didn't find any smoking gun so not sure what the issue was, but so far so good after 30 hours. Sure hope that is the end of it. I paid shipping one way, Whirwind picked up everything else.
Erich