Oil Consumption Concerns?
Posted: Wed Jul 31, 2013 7:40 pm
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?????
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?????