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Very minor oil leak...

Ironflight

Ironflight

VAF Moderator / Line Boy
Mentor
I pulled the cowling off the Val on Saturday morning to change spark plugs, and for the first time, I saw evidence of a minor oil leak. There was a thin line of oil (probably not more than a few drops in all, but it really spreads!) across the inside of the top cowling, behind the baffles, and above the accessories. I checked everywhere for a source, but couldn't find an actual drop. The obvious thing was that it seemed to be a line that had been "flung" from the SD-8 alternator that is mounted on my vacuum pump pad. I cleaned everything thoroughly, and ran another couple of hours on Sunday, and sure enough, I had another thin line. Still there.

I wrote to B&C (the makers of the SD-8) to see if they thought oil could be coming through the alternator itself, and the response was that yes, if the oil was getting past the oil seal in the vacuum pump drive, it could migrate up the shaft, and then be flung by the rotating housing. This sounded exactly like what was happening. My next question was "could I change the seal without removing the accessory case?"

For this, I sent a note to Mahlon up at Mattituck. I got another very fast response saying that the seal is not a problem to replace - it is actually in the vacuum pump drive adapter, and if I pulled the SD-8, the adapter slides right off. He then offered that if I took it off and sent it to him, he'd take care of replacing the seal and send it right back. Really nice! Of course, that, would necessitate the Val being out of service for several days (even with overnight shipping), so I asked how hard it would be for me to change the seal in the field. "Not a problem...pry the old one out, press a new one in" was the response "I'll drop one in the mail for you!"

So once again, as I have found many times, great response from the vendor's that support our avocation! Good technical info, and great customer support! I assume I'll get the seal in a couple of days, which should make everyone in Texas rejoice, because then I'll want a rainy day to do the change-out, and the weather being what it is, that will assure clear and sunny for weeks on end.... :D

I'll report back on this thread on the results of this minor surgery...
 
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This is why I plan to buy from them

One of the greatest functions of VAF is stories like this; good and bad experiences. I plan to buy my engine (fairly soon) from Mattituck in large part because of their good attitude and stories like this. I recently 'discovered' SteinAire, Mike Zeller Latches, and others in the same way and have stopped buying as much as I can from others who seem to care less about their customers.

In case anyone wonders why I bother to post this - its because I hope vendors see it and know we respond both positively and negatively to their service and change or continue what they are doing.

If the 'good guys' wonder where my orders are for the next month or so; its 18 degrees out and so 'cotton-picking' cold in my basement shop that I'm currently renovating the dining room and making it airworthy instead :)

Harold
 
Amen

Harold Lanfear said:
In case anyone wonders why I bother to post this - its because I hope vendors see it and know we respond both positively and negatively to their service and change or continue what they are doing.

Harold
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Two excellent posts, guys. The beauty of this is that it not only is seen and read here in the US, but around the world where builders can suggest to suppliers that they might want to...er check out Vansairforce.... ;)

Thanks,
 
Minor Update...

Got a package from Mattituck yesterday. Mahlon thinks ahead - not only did he send the oil seal, but he also sent the appropriate gaskets for both faces of the drive adapter! And I was thinking I'd have to go scrounge those from a A&P friend....now I've got everything I need and can go do the install tonight.

Thanks again Mahlon!

Paul
 
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All Done!

It pays to have a good friend who is an active IA, rents you your hangar, and has his maintenance shop next door with a hydraulic press and that special vacuum pump wrench!

Oh....and an extra spare oil seal.... :eek:

Using that special wrench, it probably took me only as much time to get the SD-8 and vacuum drive adapter off as it did to get the top cowl off - easy. I could see that the input shaft of the alternator was full of oil, so sue enough, the seal was leaking.

Prying out the old seal from the adapter took another couple of minutes. I then pressed in the new seal and should have been ready to go. That's when I let my guard down....I looked at the seal and for some reason thought it needed just a little tap to seat it perfectly (this was after the hydraulic press had nicely bottomed it out....), so I gave it a tap - and the circular spring came off the back side. OK, that ones ruined! What makes us do stuff like that?! :mad:

Fortunately, my friend has a drawer full of leftover seals and gaskets from engine repairs and rebuild kits, so I got to try again - and this time, I got it right. Re-installation didn't take but ten minutes, and I was ready to fly. A nice evening!

Of course, the alternator still has residual oil inside from the the original leak, so I guess I'll be cleaning up the little streak until that is all gone. But all-in-all, an easy fix.

Paul
 
Oil left behind

Paul, You may want to look at "Brake Clean" or one of the other "dry with no residue" solvent sprays to remove the oil that is left. Of course it will remove all the oil so you don't want to de-lubricate anything that requires lubrication. The brake cleaning sprays that are out there do not attack rubber but will go after plastics. Leaving any oil will attract dirt. There are similar sprays specifically for electrical equipment I believe. The brake clean and electrical sprays all contain carcinogens (toluene, benzene etc.) but they really get the grease off! :) George
 
Thanks George - always looking for good tips! In this case, the problem is that the small amount of residual oil is internal to the SD-8, having migrated up the shaft and into the "bell", and I don't want to take that apart (no idea how, no drawings....), so I'm just going to have to let it self-clean. If it doesn't stop flinging the residual in a couple of hours, Ill have to think about it more.

Paul
 
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gvgoff99 said:
Paul, You may want to look at "Brake Clean" or one of the other "dry with no residue" solvent sprays to remove the oil that is left. :) George
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Trick learned from the father in law. Home Depot has Mineral Spirits in quart and gallon cans. It looks like solvent, smells like solvent, and works like solvent. He keeps a spayer in his hanger that hooks to a compresser and has a plastic tube that you simply put down into the can of mineral spirits. Turn the compresser on and spray. It evaperates quickly and does a really good job. I do this about twice a year and like the results. Because so much drips initally while cleaning the engine we usally put a piece of cardboard under the engine and then throw it outside the hanger to dry. Each time I do this procedure the inside of the cowls also gets sprayed down . There's no sign that the epoxy has been effected or the Jet Glo Paint.

Best,
 
Need gasket part number

During a pre-flight I found signs of this oil leak on the O-320-EG2 in my Grumman. I located the oil seal and vacuum pump to adapter gasket, but have had trouble finding the part number and a source for the gasket that goes between the vacuum pump adapter and the case.

Any leads would be much appreciated.

Stan

N67SL (reserved)
RV-7A (fuse)
KCCB

N6085L
Grumman AA5
KCCB
 
I hope I'm not moving the topic around too much but from what I can tell Bryans suggestion of using Mineral Spirits to clean oil off surfaces is a valid one.

According to several definitions I have seen Mileral Spirits and Stoddard Solvent are one and the same thing..... Maybe a chemist out there would like to verify.

Larry
 
Mineral spirits will soften scat ducting and RTV, etc. I try to stick with something like CRC electronic cleaner and more mechanical (rags), less chemical. Nowadays I would only use spirits for like a massive oil hemorrhage and preferably outside. Spirits take too long to evaporate and tend to migrate the oil into places like Adel clamps & firesleeves. Too yucky for me.
 
I have had good experiences from Vans too when ordering my Emp and Wing kit. Anne at Vans was very helpful when she heard that I was ill and did everything to make the shipping as painless as possible.

I too, because of the very positive feedback of Mahlon at Mattituck and Mattituck's great products and service will order an IO 320 from them. Stein is another supplier I intend to use again because of the positive feedback and Stein's 2 cents helpful posts on this site.

I am glad you may have found the oil leak issue Paul but if it was me in your situation then I would give further thought to cleaning the standby alt before the journey back to Texas. A little bit of maintenance now could save further bigger maintenance and cost further down the road and after all, those B&C alts are not cheap.

As Stein says, Just my two cents worth. Here in Switzerland that's converted in to two Rappens worth.

Hope you all had a great Californian Christmas. Best wishes for the New Year and safe flight testing in Junior.
 
Guys, the Val is fine....this oil leak was ancient history....look at the original post date (2007). Someone just resurrected the thread for another reason....
 
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