Wow, news to me! I dump in a quart before every flight and change the filter every 200 hours or so.
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You must be either a Brit or raised on a steady diet of Triumphs, BSAs and Nortons.
My engine has a predictable trend after an oil change. For a given number of ours the mark on the dipstick that the oil makes shows no movement. Somewhere above 10 hours, but closer to twelve it gets thirsty and consumes oil. It'll rid itself of a quart pretty quickly after this point and when I put one in it will need another in 4 hours or so. I'll put that one in and it'll need another in 4 or 5 hours. At that point there is no need to carry oil in the baggage area or to even check it because it will not move until 30 hours is up and I drain it. My father in laws IO-540 Lyc has a similar pattern. These engines seem to be tough on oil. Anybody else have similar trends?
I run my Lycoming 0360 at six quarts. If I use more, it spits it out. At six quarts, consumption is low. I know of many others that do the same.
L.Adamson --- RV6A
OK, we are flying, we can’t stop on the hard shoulder if we have a problem with the engine and we will probably run harder (more power) than an average car, but we will be adding a lot more new oil, due to the specifics of an air cooled engine. Why are we changing the oil at an equivalent of every 3.750 km (2.350 M)??? Even 30 years ago, the oil in cars was changed only after at least 5.000 km.
After engine break in, I am considering an oil change every 100 hrs, or ones a year. Maybe even more hours but not longer than a year.
Any comments please!
Regards, Tonny
Ditto, from the very first flight. By that I mean that I put in seven quarts after a change and after startup one gets lost in the filter and or cooler?. So six on the dipstick is where I keep it. Are you saying you keep yours at 5 on the dipstick and only put in 6 quarts? Where do others keep their oil on the dipstick?
Keep oil between 6 and 7 on the stick and change oil and filter between 40 and 50 hours depending and when I have the time.
Jamie,I don't understand the obsession with changing oil every 25 hours.......
Oil is (relatively cheap) insurance.
OK, so far nobody goes over the +/- 50 hrs oil change. What if you are burning mogas (what I am planning to do)? There is no lead to accumulate, so 100 hrs should be OK?
Also I wonder if the quality of "car oil" is way ahead of "aviation oil"?
Normally the exhaust valves of a Lexus will never be touched, but because I am running LPG (Liquified Petroleum Gas) in my RX300 and this burns a lot hotter than gasoline, the valve gaps have to be set at an interval of about 40.000 km. When the garage was doing this, I had a chance to look inside the engine: looks like brand spanking new after 280.000 km! The oil that was in there for over 20.000 km looked exactly the same as the new oil they put in. (they say I should have it changed every 15.000 km!.... yeah right because they make more money that way!) Actually I am thinking of never changing the oil again, till the car quits. let's see how long that will take.
Still looking for people that dare to go longer than 50 hrs, and their comments. I have no idea what the price of aviation oil is, since I have not had to buy any, but throwing away 6 or even 8 liters (quarts) of perfectly good oil (if it is still good after 50 hrs) seems to me like a waste and bad for the environment.
Regards, Tonny.
Question for those that have their oil analized.....if it can be answered.
When you changed your oil, what percentage of life did the oil still have?
For example....if changed at 50 hours, the oil still had ## percentage of life left. My wife's car has a % meter on it for oil and tells us when it should be changed. The mileage varies between changes.
I'm wondering if there is a bit more of a scientific way of knowing instead of just changing by the clocked hours.
The computer on your wife's car is not all that scientific. It simply looks at the way you drive. i.e. short trips vs. long trips, etc. If used mostly for long trips where the oil has time to get good and hot, the oil can go longer between changes. It does not analyze the oil.My wife's car has a % meter on it for oil and tells us when it should be changed. The mileage varies between changes.
I'm wondering if there is a bit more of a scientific way of knowing instead of just changing by the clocked hours.