funvee

I verified with my AME today that he did verify the base gasket when we did the first oil change. Looks like that isn't it. Today, I took it out for a 1.5 hr flight and it burned a little less than 1/2 qt total. That is much better than it has been but no idea why it would be different today. He's expecting his wobble tester around wednesday so that may be the next one we'll do. Thanks Shawn

Hmmm... That is a new one. Nobody mentioned that. I will ask my mx if he can verify it. Thanks Shawn

Ya, the new lines and cooler location have changed at least one thing... The cooler is quite warm to the touch but still has temps hitting 240 on the gauge so I guess that alone didn't lower my temps.... bummer. Next up is the wobble test, and we are hoping to find that is the problem. My AME can swap new guides in at his shop so that would be cool. One thing that I was wondering if someone knows is in regard to the vernatherm... Does anyone know if it should "fully" extend at 180 or should it "start" extending at 180? I am wondering if the new vernatherm is not fully extending until my temp is 230ish instead of 180. Thanks Shawn

So far, plugs have been clean but it might be worth pulling them after the next run just to be sure... We haven't done that on the last number of flights. Thanks Shawn

We did the Oil cooler relocate. We did the Lasar cowl mod to block the bottom opening under the spinner. I took it out for 2.5 hr flight. Condom over the quick drain was dry after. Catch can over the pressure relief tube was empty of oil and just had signs of moisture. After the flight I seem to be down approximately 2 qt but we don't see any sign of it anywhere. My AME is waiting for a new Valve Wobble tester to see if the valve guides could be the problem but with the good compressions we had, I don't know how likely that might be.

I thought I'd start a dedicated thread for this to get the best chance of success... I am doing the oil cooler relocate stc from lasar but want to do the dual landing light mod at the same time. I've seen the kit advertised on swta but I called them and they don't sell it anymore and he said lasar was the maker. I talked to lasar and they said they don't do it because of paperwork issues getting it approved. If you know someone that sells a kit to mount a second landing light in the blanking plate that comes with the oil cooler relocation kit, please point me in their direction. Thanks! Shawn

We started the oil cooler relocate project last night. We left the cooler and hoses connected together so we could see how much oil was in it and how easy it flows... Wow, there was less than a cup of oil in the hose/cooler combination. Also, it was very hard to blow through the assembly (by mouth) both with oil in it and empty. When the old hoses were blown through without oil or oil cooler, they were very restrictive. Quick related question... Does anyone know how much oil the cooler should be able to hold? Also, does anyone make an stc'd kit to add a second landing light in the opening where the cooler vacates ? I will update the progress after we test the new cooler location. Thanks

My pleasure. I can rescan it again if you need higher resolution. I thought I did it pretty high though so if you see quality issues, it might be the brochure itself. Let me know what your after and I'll do what I can. Shawn

Congratulations!!

Sorry I haven't updated... I was booked to write my commercial exam yesterday so I've been studying every spare minute I had. I was out at my Mooney today getting setup .... I bought the oil cooler relocation kit from LASAR so now we are getting things ready for that change. I was told that if the cooler has cold spots when the sump is all warmed up, that means I have an air bubble in the cooler where it is cold. Since my whole cooler stays cold, I am guessing the whole thing is one big bubble. Since the relocate puts the cooler on its side that takes away the possibility of bubbles since the outlet is on the top this way. I'll update y'all as soon as we get it done and test that part. I also put a condom over the quick drain to see if anything is coming out of that and put a small catch can on the breather line out so I can see if it is oil or just moisture coming out. Thanks, Shawn

Earlier I posted that I had my questions about whether the 8432L was a correct cooler for the F. The people down at Aero Classic confirmed that the L was just an older model. He also sent me the layouts for the 2 coolers that their site lists as appropriate for the F. I'll attach them in case anyone else has an interest. 80001694Print.pdf 8001689 Rev A.pdf

I have a screw on filter, yes. We removed that complete oil filter adapter and gasket. We also verified that the seat where the vernatherm contacts looks good with no ridge. Now, having said that, you bring up a good point... We put it all back together with the gasket and hoses just as it was before but I never asked my mx if it was correct or if we where just putting it back that way because that was how it came off. hmmmmm makes me wonder. If anyone has a picture of the correct layout for the gasket and the hose connections, I would love to see them. We also checked the new vernatherm to verify that it opened when heated but I don't know if he did specific temp testing or just did the boiling water thing and had it open fully.

Here is my temporary catcher that I will try on my breather tube to see what is coming out. I am changing the zip tie to a band clamp. it has aluminum tape covering it for heat now but this is the last pic i have.

yes, my belly looks like it was in a canola oil wrestling pit... (if there is such a thing). Clean as a whistle but yet still dirty as can be. (no, or very little black oil or carbon down there) The piper I used to park beside has a black belly and yet he only burns 1qt / 3-4 hrs.

I just purchased the relocation kit but I didn't do it to hide the problem... I did it because it comes with two brand new hoses to replace these old fabric ones, and the cooler in that configuration is sideways so apparently there is very little chance of an air lock issue. I am still trying to find my oil loss issue but I thought this would be a sound investment in my sanity. I have nitrite cylinders.

I don't know if anyone might be interested in a PDF on oil overheating issues but this one is kinda cool (pardon the pun). http://www.yeeles.com/Reference/Hi-Temps.pdf The part that I have a question about is the page 5 tips about air in the cooler blocking the flow... Does anyone have an easy way to get the oil cooler and lines filled with oil? Taking the cooler off and filling with oil is fine for the cooler but when you reconnect the hoses (assuming all the oil leaked down out of them), they just refill the cooler with air again no?

Cool trick. So is 80mph equivalent to a specific psi? I was wondering what pressure the relief valve should be opening at if it is working correct. I'm pretty sure I've never seen higher that 85 or 90 on my OIl pressure gauge.

This one has totally slipped through without notice... Never even thought of it! I'm going to get it looked at ASAP. I don't have an oil seperator so I shouldn't be building pressure due to a blockage there. I just discussed it with mx and we agreed I would try the condom trick over the quick drain to see if its letting oil out.

I would LOVE those numbers! Nice solid pressure and comfortable temperature!

If I start out at 7, I loose that first qt pretty quick too. I have been using 6qt as a start for all our tests lately because of that. I am starting to wonder about the new vernatherm and my cooler and my hoses.... Just because it was a new VT, I don't know that we can be sure that it is actually working properly. Also, on my cooler, just because the mx that did the first annual on it sent the cooler out to get redone, doesn't mean it is the correct one. On the side of it it says it is an 8432L. I can't find that L model anywhere in reference to a Mooney so I don't know if that is ok or if that is incorrect. I see the 8432R and S listed for the M20F but I don't know the difference between the L, R and S. I'll ask my mx later but if anyone here know's that would be cool I'm not sure if there is a flow direction on the cooler but both connections are at the bottom so that made me think back to the vapour lock idea that someone mentioned. The hoses to/from the cooler look old and they seemed to be covered in oil after flying so I am also wondering about their health. We did blow through them to see how they flow but air is obviously easier to blow than oil. If I do the oil relocation, that will come with new hoses so it would take that out of the equation. Thanks!

I'll talk to my mx about it and see what he thinks. I thought that would show up in a compression check but if not, it sure would be hard to spot that one. Has anyone here done the SB M20-182? If so, how much does the kit cost and where do you buy it? M20-182-1 is the kit number I see.

I really appreciate all the help and ideas everyone! Keep 'em coming Thanks! Shawn

I was out there flying tonight and had planed to do that exact thing, thinking that the pressure might have been why the condom failed and then I forgot to bring one . I am planning on putting a piece of hose sticking out the top of the condom and then securing it so the pressure can get out easy but oil should pool for inspection after flying. That lower ring (the scavenger ring) with the coil in it is the one that had failed on the one cyl that had the low compressions... We were sure that was the original problem but the oil loss didn't go away even after the compressions where restored with the new set of rings. My mx used a bore scope to look into the cylinders and said they looked good. I was hoping he'd bring it out again when I'm there so I can look too. If nothing else, I'd be cool! On the oil all over the bottom part... I think the problem here is that the oil has been changed so often lately and is so clean that the bottom of the plane doesn't "show" like it is covered but when you look close, there is a fair bit of oil on the bottom... It's just really clean oil and maybe some dirt from taxiing. No black oil here. If the OAT gets warm here, I was hoping to take out a pressure washer and clean it spotless so I can see exactly what is new on the bottom after a test flight. Thanks

I'll bring it up with my mx to see if he thinks that could be the problem. Thanks

I normally run 15w50 but we have tried 50w on one oil change to see if it made a difference but it wasn't noticeably better. I've never had it keep dropping past 30psi but that's because I always find and airport to put down at if it gets that low. Usually it's down around 2.5 qt when the pressure gets that low. If the temp gets over 240 and the pressure starts dropping but I get down on the the ground in an hour or less, the pressure will come back up once the temperatures drop when it is on the ground idling at 1200rpm or less. (assuming I haven't lost more than a Qt or 2 from the start of 6qt.) It is 4000tt and 700 smoh right now. I will go look at AS for a seperator now.... I tend to think I might have 2 issues, one blowing out the breather and possibly a valve guide problem that might be letting oil enter the combustion chamber directly through the valve. Thanks