High engine oil temps today in friends Skycatcher rental

[ryoder]

My friend flies a Skycatcher rental that I was actually thinking of buying some day in case I decide to drop GA and focus on light sport by becoming a cfi-s. He took off and flew to the coast, about a five minute flight, and kept climbing and the oil temp went into the red and the pfd put a big red x on the screen. He ran home back to the airpark and parked it. When he told the flight school what happened they said that happened to the previous renter and they put it in the shop and they didn't find anything.

So what could it be?

The airplane has seven hundred hours and is maintained and flown regularly. He had it full rich and leveled off and the engine was still hot. It didn't come down to normal temp until he was descending and flying sloe in the pattern.

He is kind of afraid to fly it now.

[aaronk25]

Gauge or sensor could be bad.....

[N601RX]

If the oil temp goes into the red, the oil pressure will drop considerably. If both of these happened then it is unlikely to be the gauge.

[aaronk25]

Good point hot oil is really thin indicating a lower than normal oil pressure, especially at idle.

[carusoam]

Check the color of the oil as well...

If it is getting hot, it's viscosity will decrease and indicate lower pressure.

It may also be smoking when you open the oil fill cover.

If your nose is working, you can smell the oil for a cooked aroma.

Oil can get hot when engine parts are not working properly.

Sensors can fail pretty easily.

Fortunately we have mechanics for this...

Best regards,

-a-