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Oil change through the filler neck?

flightlogic

flightlogic

Well Known Member
Patron
I like to change my oil pretty frequently... but not a fan of complete cowl removal. Have tried to reach the quick drain... but it is a stretch and hot down in the cowling.
Has anyone pumped the warm oil up out of the filler neck? It is SOP for my boat, since you can't get to the bottom of the engine anyway.
Thanks for any input.
 
i change oil every 25 hrs and filter every 50. with no filter change i suck the oil out of the filler tube. i do this immediately after a flight with hot engine.
better than just changing it every 50 and i think lots do that.
 
I de-cowl at every opportunity. I can not imagine going 50 hours without a look under the hood.
 
JonJay said:
I de-cowl at every opportunity. I can not imagine going 50 hours without a look under the hood.
Click to expand...
+1. It takes a bit of a mindset change, but removing the cowl is not a chore, it is an opportunity to find something starting to go haywire under the hood before it bites you. It only takes 15 minutes or so to give it a good once over. Put a wrench on every fluid fitting, check the big wires for tightness, look for anything rubbing where it shouldn't, oil leaks, exhaust cracks (paint a little Mouse Milk on the slip joints while you're at it.) You get the idea. Early in my RV's life I found a loose fuel fitting on the engine driven pump by doing this. You know, the one right above the exhaust pipes. When the wrench turned on the fitting that I knew was tight, it made a believer out of me.
 
Agree that inspections are a good thing. I suspect I burn through 50 hours MUCH faster than the average RVer. I use the bird for work every week.
It just isn't in the hourly time budget to pull the cowl down each time.
Aside from closer inspections.... any reason not to do what the poster mentioned.... just suck the oil up and out????
 
I can add a vote for de-cowling. You never know, you might find something - and less than "10 minutes off / 10 minutes on" is pretty cheap insurance.

I pulled the cowl 2 days ago for something completely unrelated and discovered a loose exhaust hanger. I considered that as 20 minutes well spent.
 
I thought you are supposed to remove & clean the oil screen on the accessory case at each oil change, and the oil suction screen in the sump @ every annual condition inspection? (25 hour, no spin on filter)
 
No screen on mine. With the top cowl off... I can spin the filter and drop it in a baggie. New filter, safety wire. Fill with 7 quarts and camguard... on my way.
Now, that darned lower cowl. Way more than ten minutes with this fumble fingered owner. And no helper in sight either....
 
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Well, I do remove the top cowl only sometimes. A good light & an inspection mirror are helpful. They can't verify tightness, but can reveal cracks, leaks, unusual soot marks, chaffed hoses, bad clamps etc.
Removing the bottom cowl is a sort of drill, with the rubber baffle seal at the front and the air filter assembly in the scoop, (non IO-3xx). Still, you only need to do it a few times then it goes pretty quick.
I did make a removable air scoop to ease the process. then I can pull out the air filter element and drop the lower cowl (after futzing with the front baffle rubber)
This time I found some looseness in the throttle arm connection to the throttle shaft. That zig-zag joint that lets you index the arm to fit your cable arrangement. Just needed a snugging up, but absolutely worth finding.
 
Hey Nick - I like your signature line that starts "Flying is dangerous...." And the truth is, a LOT can happen under the cowl based on hours used - not calendar time. Vibration can wear holes, chafe wires, break baffles - no matter if you do fifty hours in a month or a year.

Pullign the cowling is a great way to make flying safer....

Paul
 
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I really like to have a look at everything under the cowl every oil change, especially the exhaust system since it endures so much vibration. It only takes a few minutes to remove both halves of the cowl on my plane and a few minutes more to reinstall it when I'm done. Cheap insurance for the peace of mind and I have found a broken exhaust hanger during an oil change that if left alone would've resulted in the tailpipe rubbing into the exit area of my lower cowl.
 
All the votes appear to be in....
I am giving up my lunch recess time each oil change to drop that lower cowl.
If I don't, and something comes loose... I will never hear the end of it.
Good thoughts offered by all. great forum and lots to learn.
 
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Agree but ( mityvac 2.3 gal)

I agree with all the above. I like to do inspection frequently and SEE too BUT.
Since last year with the 3rd boy.... i don'T fly as often as i wish and i don'T have a lot of free time to do frequent oil change.

I am meticulous in my inspection. but i don't want to pass 3 month when the plane don't fly often without an oil change because of the humidity in the oil. ( canada , maritime)

With the 3 blade prop, the cowling don'T come off so easy when i am alone.
and if it's too much trouble i may not do the oil change. Somethime there is only 10 hre in the 3 month.

So i bought the MITYVAC 2.3 gal 7201. I will try it for the first time soon ( a am doing my annual) I will empty it with the vac and see how much oil it remain to drain after. If it's good, i may use it to do oil change more frequently but still take the cowling off each 25 to 50 hre. It's just for bonus oil change that may not happend otherwise
 
FWF inspection!

I have to agree with the crowd here. Removing the entire cowling is just as important and possibly more so than doing the oil change itself.
 
I often just remove the top cowl. I can reach the quick drain to hook a hose on from there, sometimes removing the side hinge pin of he lower cowl to give myself a little extra room. I do agree, however, that removing the lower cowl is much better to get a look around.
 
flightlogic said:
I like to change my oil pretty frequently... but not a fan of complete cowl removal. Have tried to reach the quick drain... but it is a stretch and hot down in the cowling.
Has anyone pumped the warm oil up out of the filler neck? It is SOP for my boat, since you can't get to the bottom of the engine anyway.
Thanks for any input.
Click to expand...

Wow, I would consider it an opportunity to take the cowl off. I probably de cowl an average of very 5 hours.

I sleep better.
 
flightlogic said:
All the votes appear to be in....
I am giving up my lunch recess time each oil change to drop that lower cowl.
If I don't, and something comes loose... I will never hear the end of it.
Good thoughts offered by all. great forum and lots to learn.
Click to expand...

That could be more true than you think. I remember the old Cherokee we had and how the whole side of the cowl flipped open to look in. That made inspections at each pre-flight easy.

Im still building and hate taking the cowl on and off and I don't even have my propeller on yet! I am considering making a much bigger oil check door so I could see in better. There were photos and instructions one builder did to split his cowl down the vertical axis that looked like a great way to make removing and reinstalling easier. If I hadn't already put the hinges on mine, I would do that modification.
 
For me it gets easier and quicker the more often I do it. Plus, I got into this hobby because I like messing with airplanes! :)
 
screen

OK, got my attention.... what suction screen?
The O-320 has an oil filter adapter, remote mounted.
In the interest of full disclosure, I took both cowls off this time for oil change.
Found some items that needed attention, so it was good in that respect.
I always seem to struggle with the lower cowl and the three blade prop. The piano hinges that catch on the prop edges are not doing anything nice. :mad:
 
My understanding is that when you fit an oil filter adapter the oil screen is usually removed as it is redundant. tt is on my engine (E2D), same as on my C90 continental on my other airplane.

Full disclosure - an engine expert I ain't. But this is how my mechanic said it is done and it makes sense to me.

sb
 
2 screens in every normal Lycoming. A coarse screen is always in the sump. 2 kinds as stated here previously. Most common is an approx 5/8 dia. coarse screen under a plug facing aft at the rear bottom of the sump. Some small lycs have a big nut in the center of the sump. This screen is somewhat finer and is around an inch dia. It can also be pulled out and cleaned. These are the screens where you find chunks. You won't find chunks in the pressure screen or filter.
 
The oil screen in the sump is the first line of defense against trash going through the pump, and is a great way to investigate what's going on in your engine. If your engine is making chunks, that's where you will find them first. I clean the screen in solvent and capture any particles for further study.
 
removing cowl

One thing I learned during my build (and this is no secret) that sticking closely to Van's plans will save time and yield a very healthy airplane. Any deviation costs extra time and maybe wouldn't have been such a great idea after all. In my case, an unsuccessful fiberglass plenum. However, the one mod that I would do over again was using the Skybolt fasteners for the cowling. Top cowling comes off and on super fast and bottom cowl almost as fast. Skybolt has good support and the fasteners are well made and adjustable. For those that like the clean look that the piano hinges yield then have at it. Like others others I have discovered items under the cowl that were not emergency items but required attention.
 
Different "spin" on this thread

The majority of the comments were about the value of pulling the cowl and inspecting the engine compartment. Agree 100+%

However, being a bit of a neat freak, and having made numerous messes draining oil from a C177RG....

What about removing the cowls and then sucking out the oil? Seems to be the best of both worlds. It's less messy, less chance of burning the hair off your arm, and still gives you the opportunity for a complete inspection.

Thoughts?
 
Draining gets most of the sediment from the bottom of the sump. Suction does not. I'll take draining any day over suction.

Even when I had a boat, I built a pan that would fit in the bilge under the engine.
 
+1 on what Mel said.
Plus, I've had the honor to see the inside of a low - to - mid time O-320 engine sump. It was removed to modify it for an inverted oil system.
The bottom of the sump was covered with crud. The sump bottom is not smooth. I believe the sump is intended to retain crud, to be cleaned out at overhaul, or any time the sump has been removed.
I think the sump suction finger strainer and the little fuel filter in the carburetor inlet are two of the most over looked (and Important!) maintenance items.
 
MITYVAC 2.3 gal 7201 PIREP

I don't want to debate, just want to do a pipe on the MITYVAC 2.3 gal 7201

Today, i began my annual. Did a run-up to heat the oil to test the compression. Took the cowling off and test the compression.

After that i used the MITYVAC TO SUCK THE Oil from the dipstick opening. It took probably 20 min ( i use w100) but it suck all my 8 liter out. Then i open the quick drain for the oil and there was almost nothing draining. maybe 10 ml?.

So yes i will always take my cowling off every 50hre to change the filter and do a oil change. But if i don't fly often and want to change the oil to get rid of the moisture, i will probably use the mityvac.
 
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