o-360 oil consumption

EricWH · #1 09-10-2013, 01:33 PM

Hi all,

I'm new to the RV community. I just bought a used RV-4 this last weekend and flew it home to Oregon from Texas. It seemed to run and fly great except we had to add about 2 qts of oil to it over the duration of the flight (about 6-7hrs) to keep it at 6qts. This doesn't not seem right at all. Does anyone have any insight or experience with this?

A little more about the engine. Its an 0-306 A1A with ECI cylinders and an Airflow Performance Fuel injection system. It also has a Christen inverted oil system. Its got less than 400hrs SMOH and has a CS prop. I had a pre-buy and condition inspection before I purchased it and everything seemed fine. It has strong compression.

Thanks,
Eric

rocketbob · #2 09-10-2013, 01:39 PM

It all has to do with the condition of the cylinder walls and how the engine was broken in AND/OR if it has been run hot where oil oxidizes on the cylinder walls causing glazing. I just had an extreme case of glazing I dealt with (ECI cylinders, 301 hours since new). Rehoned the cylinders myself and put new rings in, now oil consumption is back to normal. So A. you either live with the oil consumption or B. pull the cylinders and have them honed and new rings and NEVER,EVER,EVER let the cylinder temps go above 400.