'62 M20C with spin-on filter - dipstick accuracy

[DaveL]

I've got a question - I just changed the oil on my '62 C which has a spin-on filter on the back of the 0-360 engine. I added six quarts of oil, ran the engine to check for pressure and leaks before safety wiring and re-cowling. I buttoned it up, checked the dipstick and saw the oil level was well below - like a quart below - the '6' mark on the dipstick. I came back the next day and checked again with the same result. I'm guessing the dipstick is calibrated for the engine with a screen only and no spin-on filter?

 

This plane goes through quite a bit of oil - perhaps one quart per two to four hours of flight, and it's worse the higher the oil level is. I've always added oil if it shows below the '6' mark, but now I'm wondering if I can safely run it a little lower and possibly reduce my oil consumption. Any thoughts?

[jetdriven]

The oil dipstick is calibrated to quarts in the sump. If you run it after an oil change the filter holds a 1/2 quart, and the upper engine holds another 1/4 to 1/2 a quart. After a few hours, or overnight, the oil level raises a little as the oil drains out of the engine.

 

A quart of oil in 2-4 hours sounds kind of high, although it does meet Lycoming's guidance for airworthy, if everything else looks OK.

[Bob - S50]

This plane goes through quite a bit of oil - perhaps one quart per two to four hours of flight, and it's worse the higher the oil level is. I've always added oil if it shows below the '6' mark, but now I'm wondering if I can safely run it a little lower and possibly reduce my oil consumption. Any thoughts?

 

When we got our plane we found that it would quickly spit out everything over 6 qts (8 qt capacity).  Messed up the bottom of the plane too.  We now keep it filled to between 5 and 6 qts.  Can't remember which one, but in one of Mike Busch's webinars I think he even says it is quite normal and acceptable to only fill the engine to about 3/4 of capacity.

 

Bob

[piperpainter]

I originally used 100W (red) and avblend in my engine. One day a friend said that the 100W Plus had the additive in it, so I switched it. My Lycoming O-360 A1D hated it and started drinking a quart every 2-3 hrs and it freaked me out. I switched back to 100W (red) and avblend  and it was happy again and I burn about a quart every 4-8 hours depending on what type of flying I am doing. So if you switched oil recently or changed something, change it back. Or maybe move to 100W and the negine will probably be happy again.

[DaveL]

I originally used 100W (red) and avblend in my engine. One day a friend said that the 100W Plus had the additive in it, so I switched it. My Lycoming O-360 A1D hated it and started drinking a quart every 2-3 hrs and it freaked me out. I switched back to 100W (red) and avblend  and it was happy again and I burn about a quart every 4-8 hours depending on what type of flying I am doing. So if you switched oil recently or changed something, change it back. Or maybe move to 100W and the negine will probably be happy again.

 

I use Phillips X/C 20w/50 only because that's what the previous owner used. 100W is a straight 50w? I'm not sure I'd want to use that without a block heater this time of year!

[Hector]

Also use X/C 20/50 and I keep it at 6.5 quarts. It will spit out anything over that. I'll use one quart every 10-12 hours

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[jetdriven]

I originally used 100W (red) and avblend in my engine. One day a friend said that the 100W Plus had the additive in it, so I switched it. My Lycoming O-360 A1D hated it and started drinking a quart every 2-3 hrs and it freaked me out. I switched back to 100W (red) and avblend and it was happy again and I burn about a quart every 4-8 hours depending on what type of flying I am doing. So if you switched oil recently or changed something, change it back. Or maybe move to 100W and the negine will probably be happy again.[/]

Del

[BigTex]

Also use X/C 20/50 and I keep it at 6.5 quarts. It will spit out anything over that. I'll use one quart every 10-12 hours

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

My plane is just like Hector's.  I use X/C 10W50 and Camguard and my plane uses almost no oil if I keep the levels around 6.5 qts.  Anything else is tossed overboard.

[FlyTester]

 

 

This plane goes through quite a bit of oil - perhaps one quart per two to four hours of flight, and it's worse the higher the oil level is. I've always added oil if it shows below the '6' mark, but now I'm wondering if I can safely run it a little lower and possibly reduce my oil consumption. Any thoughts?

 

Our C is just a few airframes older than yours.  The engine is the original O-360-A1D, with 2500 TTSN but 200 SMOH (Penn Yan).

 

We have a remote spin-on filter and for us, 8 Quarts indicates 7 Qts on the dipstick. At 200 SMOH, we burn 1 Qt every 20 hrs.  We do 25-30 hr changes ourselves, service with 8 qt of Aeroshell 15W50 and have analysis done by Blackstone. 

 

Your quoted oil consumption made a few hairs stand up on my neck.  This is an O-360 not a P&W radial.  I would have that checked out. Do you do oil analysis?

 

I had the misfortune once of flying a C-310 that (I later found out) was burning 1 Qt every 2 hrs in the left engine (granted, not an O-360).  We limped into PDX 2 hrs later with a piston rod protruding from the top of the Left engine cowling.  

 

That kind of consumption isn't right.

 

Please let me know when you fly next so I can hide in my basement!

[Guest]

Andrew,

Hide in your basement? Talk about drama!

High oil consumption does not lead to connecting rod failure unless you run the engine completely out of oil and there should be some signs for an observant pilot before failure.

I would be asking Dave L if the plugs foul and cause poor mag drops? I would be looking at the spark plugs and cylinders with a bore scope/ fibre scope. I've seen engines which burn more oil than others and still are quite airworthy.

Clarence

[flyboy]

Dave,

 

  I have the same problem in my M20B. Are you leaking oil or are you burning oil? Is the oil going on the belly of the plane or is the tailpipe lined with greasy black nastiness after spending some time at cruise power with a properly leaned mixture?

 

Oil is cheap.(well,.... sort of)

 

Leaking oil is a positive sign of lubrication, if it stops leaking bad things can happen.,

 

With enough altitude, no one can see how greasy your belly is.

 

Fixing a leak may require that you throw a lot of money at the leak. ( Envision taping twenty dollar bills on the leak until the leak stops )

[Guest]

Oil is not cheap, at $ 6.00 and up per quart it works out to 4 times more than 100LL.

Clarence