Oil and Coolant

Brad and Larry- I'm just curious- what oil and coolant (Evans?) are you using. Also, what sort of CHT and oil temp readings are you seeing- I'd just like to compare them to what I used to see in the RANS. Thanks, Steve

no to the Evans coolant....unless you enjoy changing it out on a hot tarmac in the Utah desert. Sure the boil point is higher, but it also doesn't cool as well.

Steve

Steve,

Good question. I bought the Shell Sport 4 for oil and the manual says regular Dex-cool. What do you use in your Rans?

I used Schell Sport 4 and Dex cool. My temps have been on the lower end of the acceptable ranges. I hate to give you exact numbers yet because the weather here has been 20 degrees below normal. It takes awhile to do the warm up on the oil temps to get it above 120. I hope for the weather to clear soon. I have only been able to fly 4 different days in the last 3 weeks.

This week end looks good.


Brad

Right now I'm using AV-9 from California Power Supply only because I had some left over from my last 912 plane. When I run out of that oil I'll be switching to the Shell oil. Coolant I used 50/50 Dexcool & distilled water. That reminds me! Make sure you check the coolant with a hydrometer and make sure you are protected below -0F!

My CHT temp have been under 190F. I'll be adding a coolant temp sender and programming the Dynon to accept that sender next spring. Oil temps were 200F for the first few flights then as the engine breaks in a tad they have dropped to 180F and lower. Time to block the oil cooler off a little.

I am very happy to report the cabin heater works good. I'm taking Brad's advice and adding cabin weather stripping here and there and that should help also. Very comfortable heat when the OAT is 30F, but I like flying to -0F, we'll see.

Larry and Brad- Thanks for the info. Larry, those temps are considerable lower than what I used to see in the RANS. I had always used the Evans PPG, and my CHT and oil temps were both about 200-210. I guess I'll be usingthe water mix in the 12. Steve

We use a 50-50 mix of DEXCOOL and distilled water for coolant. No need for Evans since out CHTs are always cool.

Shell AeroSport Plus 4 seems to work well for oil, although the Penzoil motorcycle oil works well and is cheaper. However, if you routinely see oil temps over 230, you need the shell oil since it is a semi-synthetic. It's also compatible with occasional 100LL use.

TODR