AlexPeterson

AlexPeterson

Well Known Member
Greetings all -

I'm curious about what one should expect regarding oil pressure as an engine ages. For example, my oil pressure was around 75 at stabilized cruise when the engine was newly overhauled. Around 5 or 600 hours, it had drifted down to about 70, so I cranked up the regulator to around 75 again. Now, around 1100 hours, it is again down to about 70 and will be adjusted again the next time the cowl top is off. There is a little change within oil change cycles, but is what I'm seeing about typical?

Thanks -
 
Oil Pressure

I would say this was not normal unless your engine is close to 10-15 years old. I would check your oil pressure relief spring and measure the length. Check to see if the tension has decreased. All this info is in the direct drive overhaul manual.
 
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Oil pressure will change with oil temperature and viscosity. Oil pressure will decrease with increased oil temperature and less viscosity. If those are constant and the pressure is going away, you have clearances increasing in the engine making the pressure drop. While increasing clearances is not something we want to see, if you are not seeing any metal contamination in the oil screens/filters, I don't think there can be significant abnormal wear.
Good Luck,
Mahlon
?The opinions and information provided in this and all of my posts are hopefully helpful to you. Please use the information provided responsibly and at your own risk."
 
oil pressure

The regulater is designed to limit the Max oil pressure and kept you from blowing seals. The maximim oil pressure is determined by the restriction with in the engines. Anything within the green is fine. It is possible to increase the pressure on new engines with the regular, but be careful with cold oil. Eventually the regular will have no effect except when the oil is cold.

Sam
RV-A
 
Alex: You might connect a calibrated external gauge into your oil pressure line to verify your onboard gauges are accurate before adjusting. Don B
 
Thanks

Thanks for the replies. I have a backup mechanical oil pressure gauge which agrees with the electronic one. Oil analyses have come back well below normal.

I'll crank in the regulator a couple turns and keep flying. I'm surprised that there weren't more replies from those who have put one or two thousand hours on an engine. Dan C. did mention the same observation on his RV, but I missed the mention of the number of hours.
 
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