Oil consumption

[PTK]

I keep tabs on my engine's oil consumption. It stands at 0.1qt/hr or 1qt/10hrs.

I was just curious how this compares with others in the field.

It's the IO360A3B6D running Aeroshell 15W50.

Edit: 705 hours on factory reman.

[gsengle]

I'm almost to tbo on a good running good compressions io550 and probably go through a quart every 4 hours...

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[Two Oh One]

I had a C172S (IO360-L2A 180hp) with almost 3000 SNEW on it when I sold it. It burned about a quart/7.5hr at the time. The freshly overhauled (19hrs) IO360-A3B6D in my J is down to maybe a quart/6-7hr. I keep the dipstick at 7qts for now, which I'm sure increases the figure a bit. Yours sounds good.

[rocketman]

Engines need to burn some oil. Too little or too much is not good. What those parameters are I would need some help from others

[ArtVandelay]

I notice after fresh oil change my consumption goes now, as oil gets old it goes up, anybody else notice that?

[ArtVandelay]

Engines need to burn some oil. Too little or too much is not good. What those parameters are I would need some help from others

Lycoming overhaul manual has some guidelines, IIRC, 3/4 Qt. is the limit for IO360.

[garytex]

TJ, yes

I have never seen an aircraft engine didn't burn more oil later in the oil change interval

[Two Oh One]

I notice after fresh oil change my consumption goes now, as oil gets old it goes up, anybody else notice that?

Yes, the older oil becomes diluted with avgas and byproducts, which burn off much quicker. It shows at the same place on your dipstick when you top off, but it's not all oil.

[Awful_Charlie]

I track my oil consumption too. Normally about 0.15-0.22 litres (near as dammit equal to quarts) per hour. I *think* there might be a correlation in the use of high boost at high altitude (ie running sustained 34" at FL250 will be a higher consumption than 34" at 2000', and likewise 34" at FL250 will burn more than 30" at FL250, the latter is pretty obvious, the former maybe not so). Running Total AeroDM 15W50 with 1 pint of camguard in 20 litres of oil. Also note that the consumption increases (nearly doubles) over the life of the oil

[dcastor]

I haven't been logging oil consumption but .1/10 hrs is very close to what I've seen with my A3B6D once total quantity is down to about 6.5 quarts. Before that it's probably burning through at 3-4 times that rate. I am told this is normal by 2 A&Ps.

Dave

[Ftlausa]

My engine burns 1 quart every 4 hours right before 50 hour oil change, and as others noted above, considerably less right after oil change.  I keep my oil level at 8 quarts, so I am probably also loosing some out the breather tube.   

[MooneyBob]

My engine burns 1 quart every 4 hours right before 50 hour oil change, and as others noted above, considerably less right after oil change.  I keep my oil level at 8 quarts, so I am probably also loosing some out the breather tube.   

If you keep the oil level at 6-6 1/2 it will decrease your consumption to 8hrs/qt. I am pretty sure about that. 

[Bob_Belville]

Midtime IO360A1A: 6-7 hours per quart. (I generally add a qt when level drops below 6. I would add at a little higher level if starting a long, multi-leg trip.)

[cnoe]

After replacing and repositioning the vent tube on my Airwolf mini-sep at annual my consumption has instantaneously dropped from 1 qt every 6-8 hours to 1 qt in 16+ hours and still counting. It's been sitting on 6 qts for hours now using Phillips 20W50 in my ~400 hour IO360.

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[N201MKTurbo]

When I bought this plane in 2003 its oil consumption was practically zero. I never had to add oil between oil changes. Now that it has 1700 hours on it uses about a quart in 10.

 

BTW The engine was a factory reman with 250 hours when I bought the plane. I have an oil air separator.

[Steve Dawson]

I installed rebuilt cylinders 2 years ago and I'm getting 10-12 hours per quart. What I did notice that after take off and establishing a good climb rate I lower the cylinder pressure by pulling back to 25sq and this helped lowering the oil used.

[PTK]

I should add that I change the oil at around 30 hours.

It starts changing color around 20 and by 30 or so I dump it. It's still semi transparent.

I never let it get black.

[DXB]

When I started off, I was filling my O-360-A1D to 7 quarts on the dipstick and getting about 7 hrs per quart, with the first half a quart disappearing in 2-3 hours. Now I'm adding a quart when it gets down to 5.5 and I'm getting about 10 hrs.  I guess it it quickly blows off anything over 6.5.  Is this typical for this engine? 

[ArtVandelay]

When I started off, I was filling my O-360-A1D to 7 quarts on the dipstick and getting about 7 hrs per quart, with the first half a quart disappearing in 2-3 hours. Now I'm adding a quart when it gets down to 5.5 and I'm getting about 10 hrs. I guess it it quickly blows off anything over 6.5. Is this typical for this engine?

Yes, I see this too., I have 1700 hrs on my engine.

[jetdriven]

Factory overhaul engine with 400hr. It's used a quart every 6-8 hours since it was built. Yes we run the oil level around 6

[Hank]

When I started off, I was filling my O-360-A1D to 7 quarts on the dipstick and getting about 7 hrs per quart, with the first half a quart disappearing in 2-3 hours. Now I'm adding a quart when it gets down to 5.5 and I'm getting about 10 hrs.  I guess it it quickly blows off anything over 6.5.  Is this typical for this engine?

I've filled mine to 6-6.5 since I bought it at 186 hours (now 718). With a fresh change, I get 10-12 hours; sometimes I'll have to add a quart in the mid-40s, and it generally lasts about half as long. Right now, I'm just 2-3 hours post-change, and the level hasn't moved on the stick, it's right at 6.5. I put in 7 quarts and a new filter.

[johnbkeck]

I was having higher oil consumption later into my oil change and did not know about clean oil not using as much. I just had an oil change and filter and a total of 7 quarts (one Camguard). My mechanic looked all over the engine and said it was dry and no obvious leaks were there. My next flight was 3 hours and it didn't really use any oil ( dip stick at 6.5) doesn't some go to the oil filter?

I read somewhere that hot days and high rpm will use oil. That was what I was doing. Wide open throttle from take off to cruise and 2500 rpm. Doing that and older oil might have been causing the higher consumption.

John

N201AJ

[jetdriven]

2500 is normal cruise rpm. I do note it seems to use more oil when using higher RPM but the trip takes longer at lower rpm so I do f see any reason to cruise at low RPM.

I think the oil shears down to a thinner viscosity with more hours on it so it uses more then.

[kmyfm20s]

I had an M20 air/oil seperator and I kept getting a big streak of oil on my landing gear door after shut down and what look like fine spray on the belly. I removed the seperator and my oil consumption decreased! Went from 1 quart every 10 hours to ever 12 hours. I still get a streak but it's liquid which is consistent with condensation not straight oil.

[cnoe]

The separators seem to be very finicky about vent hose positioning (detailed in the installation instructions). If it gets too close to a slipstream it will indeed increase consumption. As I mentioned above I cut my consumption by more than 50% by moving the vent a little further away from the cowl flap. The plane stays noticeably cleaner now too.

The downside is that I'm now recycling oil through the separator rather than replenishing it with new (additional quarts). But if you're diligent with oil changes I believe (hope) it's a minimal issue.

+1 for WOT and 2400-2600 rpm depending on altitude.

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