oil quick drain

[kris_adams]

Hi Everyone,

I was at the airport changing my oil and filter this morning.  I don't have a picture of my quick drain, but it looks just like this:  http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/eppages/safOilDrainValves.php

Once the oil pretty much stopped dripping I shut the valve but it continues to slowly drip.  I didn't add any oil as I was concerned that I'd find 6 quarts of oil on the hangar floor tomorrow.  Couple questions:

1) Does everyone still use the quick drains?  I take my upper and lower cowling off when doing an oil change so I don't see a big benefit for me.  The dripping and other stories of quick drains malfunctioning are a little concerning.  If I keep a QD can I replace an O-ring or do I need to order a new entire unit ($91) linked above?

2) if I wanted to get rid of the quick drain, what do I order to eliminate it?  A QD was on the plane when I bought it so I don't have anything else.

Thanks!

Kris

[slowflyin]

Mine dripped once..trash..flushed it out and good as new. Run a little avgas through it. Open and close repeatedly while it's flowing. Just poor it in the oil filler tube. Won't hurt a thing. Alternatively you could have a bad oring. Either way, easy fix.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[DonMuncy]

You can take out the QD and replace it with the standard plug. But I think they are safety wired, and removing and replacing it each time you change the oil, is a nuisance. The QDs are generally trouble free. I would take it out, clean it and check the O-ring.

[StevenL757]

Correct.  Both standard plugs and QDs need to be safety-wired.  Kris, suggest you leave the QD in place, and to help, here's some tips that have worked for me on an O-320 and 2 big-bore Continentals so far...

1. After you drain the oil, wait a few days if able...you'll get a significantly greater amount of oil out.  Fly the airplane, then drain oil immediately while the engine is still hot.  Punch a couple of 1/8" (approximate) holes in the top of your oil filter before you start draining

2. After draining and removing the filter, close the drain plug and remove residual drippage by rolling up a piece of paper towel and sticking it up inside the drain hole a few inches.  Do this a few times until you get only a small staining (or less) of oil on the paper towel.

3. Put a large tie-wrap around the inner shaft of the QD, such that, the tie-wrap will not allow anything to push in on the QD in flight, hence, inadvertently dumping your oil

If you do find the QD still leaks, order new internal rubber gaskets, and you'll need a new crush gasket for when you reinstall the QD.  Any questions, give a shout.

Regards, Steve

[Guest]

Here is the O ring application guide for Saf Air drain valves.

http://www.saf-air.com/oilvalves.html#Replacement

Likely a simple cleaning is in order, but once removed you may as well replace the O rings.

Clarence

[StevenL757]

Agree.  Cheap insurance and a good practice.

[jetdriven]

Those quick drains are spring loaded closed. Idk if a tie wrap is such a good idea, unless you're collaring it like a CB, but you'd have to put pressure on it to hold it completely closed, which may wear out the O-ring faster unless the tie wrap stack was exactly the same width As the space between the movable and fixed part. 

[N201MKTurbo]

Has anyone ever heard of a quick drain inadvertently opening and dumping the oil out? I haven't.

[neilpilot]

8 minutes ago, N201MKTurbo said:

Has anyone ever heard of a quick drain inadvertently opening and dumping the oil out? I haven't.

Only one case I know of, in a Cherokee, and it had some help .....NTSB report FTW97LA113

[Guest]

1 hour ago, N201MKTurbo said:

Has anyone ever heard of a quick drain inadvertently opening and dumping the oil out? I haven't.

I've never experienced it personally, however there is an AD affecting Piper Arrows.

http://wwwapps3.tc.gc.ca/Saf-Sec-Sur/2/AWD-CN/documents/US81-11-02R1.htm

Clarence

[carusoam]

One MSer has had oil blow over board by something stuck in the oil drain.  Landed successfully at an airport.

He detailed what happened around here somewhere...

Best regards,

-a-

[jlunseth]

On June 5, 2016 at 10:38 PM, carusoam said:

One MSer has had oil blow over board by something stuck in the oil drain.  Landed successfully at an airport.

He detailed what happened around here somewhere...

Best regards,

-a-

That would be me.  Quick drains are a problem and not to be taken lightly.  In my case, we saw a drop of oil on the nose gear before a flight over Lake Michigan and Canada, so out of an abundance of caution I had an A&P inspect it before the trip.  Knowing our route of flight, he said that it was just normal for quick drains to drip sometimes and it would not be a problem.   We blew virtually all the oil out of the engine in about 2 1/2 hours, very fortunately we had made the eastern side of Lk. Michigan when the oil pressure registered at 14 lbs.  Declared an emergency, made an emergency dive from 19k through IMC to land at London, ON.  A sliver of plastic that looked like it might have been one of the little fingers off the ring under the cap of a plastic oil bottle had been swimming around in the oil.  It was about 1/32nd of an inch thick and about 2/3rds of an inch long.  It entered the oil drain, but was too long to pass through the drain.  When the A&P closed the drain, it prevented the drain from completely sealing.  When the engine runs, that generates pressure in the crankcase, and that pressure blew the oil out.  What saved the engine, we speculated, was that a larger piece of rubber that looked like the rubber that can be sheared from a gasket when a new head is installed, had been swimming around in the oil also, and it appeared to have blocked the quick drain inlet once the oil level got to about 2 qts., preventing all of it from leaving.  

Although I anticipated it, when I throttled the engine back and pushed the nose over to make the dive, the OP fell to 6 lbs. and from there to 4.  Not enjoyable.

Every year at annual I have the A&P remove the quick drain and let the oil drain out of the big hole.  That gets rid of swimmers.  The drain gets cleaned, and every couple of years a new "kit" gets installed (new seals).  

My oil "consumption" has dropped from a high of about 1 qt. every two hours, to about 1 qt. every 20-30 hours.  We have done some other things to the enging that have helped, but by far the biggest contributor was that "dripping" quick drain.  I no longer have oil on the belly.  It shouldn't be there.

Edited June 11, 2016 by jlunseth

[carusoam]

Thanks again, JL.

Best regards,

-a-

[jlunseth]

Well, I am happy to tell the story if it stops the next guy from having the same adventure.  It sounds like an adventure now, sitting in my easy chair watching the Twins play.  I guarantee it was not so at the time.

[jetdriven]

7 hours ago, jlunseth said:

That would be me.  Quick drains are a problem and not to be taken lightly.  In my case, we saw a drop of oil on the nose gear before a flight over Lake Michigan and Canada, so out of an abundance of caution I had an A&P inspect it before the trip.  Knowing our route of flight, he said that it was just normal for quick drains to drip sometimes and it would not be a problem.   We blew virtually all the oil out of the engine in about 2 1/2 hours, very fortunately we had made the eastern side of Lk. Michigan when the oil pressure registered at 14 lbs.  Declared an emergency, made an emergency dive from 19k through IMC to land at London, ON.  A sliver of plastic that looked like it might have been one of the little fingers off the ring under the cap of a plastic oil bottle had been swimming around in the oil.  It was about 1/32nd of an inch thick and about 2/3rds of an inch long.  It entered the oil drain, but was too long to pass through the drain.  When the A&P closed the drain, it prevented the drain from completely sealing.  When the engine runs, that generates pressure in the crankcase, and that pressure blew the oil out.  What saved the engine, we speculated, was that a larger piece of rubber that looked like the rubber that can be sheared from a gasket when a new head is installed, had been swimming around in the oil also, and it appeared to have blocked the quick drain inlet once the oil level got to about 2 qts., preventing all of it from leaving.  

Although I anticipated it, when I throttled the engine back and pushed the nose over to make the dive, the OP fell to 6 lbs. and from there to 4.  Not enjoyable.

Every year at annual I have the A&P remove the quick drain and let the oil drain out of the big hole.  That gets rid of swimmers.  The drain gets cleaned, and every couple of years a new "kit" gets installed (new seals).  

My oil "consumption" has dropped from a high of about 1 qt. every two hours, to about 1 qt. every 20-30 hours.  We have done some other things to the enging that have helped, but by far the biggest contributor was that "dripping" quick drain.  I no longer have oil on the belly.  It shouldn't be there.

you shouldnt have "swimmers" in your engine, I'd start with the absolute prevention of that.  You can't allow oil cap rings or the blue seal under the lid of camguard go into your engine any more than a nut or washer. Something can clog a main bearing passage and cause an engine failure for example. The other stuff is extra work to offset the "swimmers".  I'd do less of both.

Edited June 11, 2016 by jetdriven

[jlunseth]

I will certainly agree with that Byron.  Part of the issue with quick drains is that the entrance hole is not very large.  As I recall, it is about the diameter of a pencil on mine.  So there is a fair amount of stuff that won't exit at oil change time.  That is why, now that I know about the problem of swimmers, I have the oil drained out the big hole once a year.  My engine was 7 years and 600 hours old at the time and had been under prior management.  Stuff just gets in there.  I don't pour oil in straight out of the bottle anymore, that is how the little fingers from the ring cap can find their way in.  I use a cheap, screw on spout that keeps that "finger ring" away from the oil pipe.  Apparently, there is a rubber gasket where the push rods come through, and if a new jug is not carefully lined up when it is installed, some of it can get sheared off, so a mechanic had apparently made that misstep before I bought the plane.  I don't know, I have never put a jug on an air cooled engine, that is what the mechanic in Canada guessed the bigger piece of rubber was, about the size of your thumb.  That is my program now, keep the swimmers out and keep the drain maintained.

 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, bluehighwayflyer said:

Based on this thread I just bought an oil sump drain plug for my Lycoming IO-360. My quick drain has always dripped a little bit and it won't bother me safetying the plug two or three times a year anyway. 

Can anyone give me a part number for the oil plug crush washer?  I'd like to order a supply of them. Thanks!

Jim

No gasket required, just thread sealant(not Teflon tape) a torque wrench and safety wire.  The plug is 1/2" NPT plug.

Clarence