Aeroshell

[ccsmith51]

My local food mart sells a lot of oil to airboaters. They have cases of Aeroshell W100 SAE 50 for $69 per case. Is that oil acceptable for use in my Lycoming O-360? Thanks,

[GLPalinkas]

Originally Posted by ccsmith51

My local food mart sells a lot of oil to airboaters. They have cases of Aeroshell W100 SAE 50 for $69 per case. Is that oil acceptable for use in my Lycoming O-360? Thanks,

Yep. I started using it also about 2 months ago when I switched from mineral oil during break-in period. I also used it in my Taylorcraft for the last 10 years with no problems.

I get mine from my local Advanced Auto Parts and the guy said they sell a lot of it down here.

Maybe someone with more Lycoming experience will correct us if we are wrong....

Hey Chris, just noticed you are from the Dreamland Squadron. Any latest update on the video "Incredible Journey" would be appreciated. Thanks

[Bob Axsom]

Several years ago there was a consumer test type report on aviation oils that said the Aeroshell 15W-50 with the antiwear additive difference was real and it was convincing enough that I changed. Prior to then I use Aeroshell W100 all the time with no problem although I never in 3 or 4 tries made it all the way to TBO without an overhaul. When the Archer II was on leaseback to the flying club we had to start replacing cylinders at 600-700 hours. When I started flying it myself exclusively to work every day and for all our pleasure trips we essentially stopped replacing cylinders (seems like there were a couple in the remaining 17 years we owned it) but we did have to replace a worn out cam shaft. The Archer II used a Lycoming O-360-A4M. I only have ~700 on the O-360-A1A on our RV-6A so too soon to tell (compression is still in the mid 70s).

Bob Axsom

P.S. I like your courage quote.

[Neal@F14]

The Aeroshell W100 Plus is supposed to have the same Lycoming additive (TCP or TPP) as the 15W-50. The W100 (without the "Plus") is only an ashless dispersant aviation oil. The make things further confusing, Aeroshell also make a plain 100 mineral oil without the ashless dispersant in it... for new engine break-in use.

So, there's actually 3 different Aeroshell 100 versions.

[ccsmith51]

Thanks for the input. I can also get this oil locally.

http://www.neucodistributors.com/aviators100.html

Is the Lycoming spec referred to the one that applies to the O-360?

Thanks,

[Neal@F14]

Looks like the Castrol S100 is straight mineral oil, for new engine break-in.
Their AD100 looks to be Castrol's Ashless Dispersant oil.

In an already broken-in Lycoming, you want to run at least the Ashless Dispersant oils. If you also run oil that has the Lycoming additive in it, theoretically the cam lobes and lifters may last even longer. The Lyc Additive is mandatory for those oddball O-320-H2AD engines that Cessna put on certain 172's in the late 1970's thru the 1980's which had skinny cam lobes and a bad history of early cam and lifter problems that could lead to catastrophic engine failure.

The "normal" Lycoming engines (e.g. O-320, IO-320, O-360, IO360, etc) don't mandatory require the additive and can live and run just fine on regular ashless dispersant aviation oil (like the non-Plus Aeroshell, or Phillips "Blue Bottle" X/C 20W50), but the Lyc additive has definitely been known to help better prolong the cam lobes and followers/lifters lifespan in the long run, so it is a good idea to use it.

[ccsmith51]

Thanks for the catch, Neal.. My mistake, I meant to attach the flyer for the AD100. I didn't know if it had the Lycoming additive.

[Neal@F14]

Trying to find info about the Castrol aviation oils isn't as easy on the web as the others. But I did find one website (http://www.chrysanindustries.com/cas...gine-oils.html) that says the AD series of their oils contain the Lycoming additive LW-16702 which is usually a formula containing tri-cresyl phosphate (TCP) and/or tri-phenyl phosphate (TPP). The MSDS for Castrol Aviator AD100 oil (http://www.chrysanindustries.com/ima...ad100_msds.pdf) mentions it contains 1 to 5% by weight of tri-aryl phosphates which is a chemical family name that includes TCP and TPP. So yep, it looks like Castrol aviation oil of the AD### series does contain the right additives.

Castrol aviation oil is pretty rare and even Aircraft Spruce stopped selling it. Our airport owner got a few cases of it for his planes for a promotional price a few years ago and it seemed to be pretty decent stuff, but has almost disappeared as quickly as it came on the scene a few years ago. I've got a feeling that it would've been a good alternative to the established brands, but was never marketed strongly enough to be a commercial success.

I wonder if the place you found selling it cheap, is just liquidating old stock of a discontinued product, because I can't seem to find any major vendors currently selling Castrol aviation oil anymore.