Oil Consumption Concerns?

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bullojm1
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Oil Consumption Concerns?

Post by bullojm1 »

I have recently noticed my oil consumption increasing on my IO-360, and I would like some help in figuring out what to do! Here's some background on the engine history. When I was first flying the RV, I would fill it up to the 6QT mark and it would always settle to the 5.5 QT mark on the dipstick - anything above 5.5QT was going out the breather. For the first 100-120 hours, everything was fine - very low oil consumption, and all of this time running straight mineral oil (Aeroshell W80 or W100, depending on summer/winter flying). About a year ago I switched to Aeroshell 15W50. I figured my engine was broken in, and I could take advantage of the additives and multi-grade features of this oil. I don't know if my oil consumption issues started then, but recently I have noticed I used about 1/2 qt every 2-3 hours (Oil goes down to the 5Qt line now). I don't know of a reason why it would start settling lower. Plus I haven't been taking any short trips to see how low it will go. When I'm flying 300-400 mile days, I don't want to do any experimentation on running too low on oil.

I understand 1/2qt every 2-3 hours is still acceptable, but I don't know what changed to cause this. Is the multi-grade oil more susceptible to go out the breather? My compression on all 4 cylinders in January were spectacular. I suppose I should do another compression test to see if anything changed.

Whatcha think?????
Mike Bullock
http://www.rvplane.com
RV-7 | Superior IO-360 | Whirlwind 200RV
Garmin GTN650 | GRT Dual Sport SX EFIS
Status: FLYING!

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hydroguy2
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Joined: Mon Sep 10, 2007 11:13 pm
Location: Townsend, Montana

Post by hydroguy2 »

different power settings? I know my consumption goes up the higher I run the RPM
Brian
Townsend, MT

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