Do you change your own oil?

[PilotDerek]

How many of you change your own oil? Is there a reason why you do or don't? Do you always send a sample out for analysis? As a new owner I'd love to hear the different approaches everyone takes to their aircrafts oil cahnges.

[jetdriven]

We do mostly because we are cheap and also to look for trouble.   Mainly that magneto clamp.   Also we do oil analysis with every change and use  camguard.  Some folks on beechtalk pay 350$ for an oil change.  We are at 65$ including oil analysis.    

[PTK]

Yes. I change oil and filter every 25 hours. I send sample out twice a year and I let my MSC clean screen at every annual. Costs me about 60$ for oil and filter. Use Aeroshell 15W50 year round.

[jetdriven]

Every 25 hours is a waste.  Plus you start up your engine with an empty filter every 25 hours.  Cowl fasteners get cycled and things get disturbed twice as often. We have oil analysis at 55 hours that shows the oil is clean.   Also google aero shell 15w50.   Most lycomings that have cams fail were running aero shell 15w50.   Synthetic blend oil has no business in a lycoming.   

[PTK]

Byron you are not the first who has told me this! You are probably right. I'm just very nervous to go longer. Is it harmful you are saying?

[jetdriven]

Its no more harmful than filling the tanks and then pumping ten gallons on the ground after.  Just unnecessary.  Check out VAF forums and beechtalk.   It's been covered many times.  25 hours is a holdover from the days before oil filters.  Engines only had screens which clogged with carbon.   

[PilotDerek]

Mike Busch recommends 50 hrs or every four months from his column on AvWeb.

[PilotDerek]

Quote: PilotDerek

Mike Busch recommends 50 hrs or every four months from his column on AvWeb.

[PTK]

I will do some reading. I just have to develop a comfort level to be able to go longer. How do you feel about the 4 month interval?

[Becca]

Quote: jetdriven

We do mostly because we are cheap and also to look for trouble.   Mainly that magneto clamp.   Also we do oil analysis with every change and use  camguard.  Some folks on beechtalk pay 350$ for an oil change.  We are at 65$ including oil analysis.    

[rbridges]

I've been doing it every 35, and mine has a filter.  I may stretch it to 50hrs or 4 months.

[OR75]

I change the oil and filter myself. Twice a year (at annual and sometime in between annuals) and that makes it about every 40 to 50 hours. 

 But, your mileage may vary: type of flying you do, what level you run at (6qts ? 8qts ?), how dry the engine is (how much top off ??), etc ....

Always a good idea to see what the oil looks like and to open the cowling frequently (whatever that means) and see if all looks Ok.   

The oil and the engine will talk to you before yelling at you (don't let that happen !!!). 

 

[jlunseth]

I change every 50 hrs. unless there is a reason to go shorter.  I fly 250-300 hours per year and as much as 50 hours a month in the summer, so it would be too much messing around to change at 25, and the reason for changing at the shorter interval is lack of frequent use.  The oil mfrs. and Cont. are fine with 50 hrs.  I have used Camguard, but there again the primary reason for it is to keep the metal surfaces lubricated when the engine sits for a week or more and the oil drains away.  My aircraft does not sit that long.  In the winter when I fly less I generally use Camguard.  Reminds me it is time to put some in the aircraft. 

[201er]

I like to have my mechanic change the oil not only to get it relaced but also because it gives me a chance to have my engine looked over by an expert. I pay for the oil to be changed but I get a virtually free look over of the state of the engine while I'm at it. Besides, I usually have a list of minor squawks to take care of by the time 50 hours comes around.

Same on the car. I'll change the oil myself only every other time, that way the mechanic can top off the fluids and take care of the stuff I'm not supplied on.

[Jeev]

Quote: jetdriven

Every 25 hours is a waste.  Plus you start up your engine with an empty filter every 25 hours.  Cowl fasteners get cycled and things get disturbed twice as often. We have oil analysis at 55 hours that shows the oil is clean.   Also google aero shell 15w50.   Most lycomings that have cams fail were running aero shell 15w50.   Synthetic blend oil has no business in a lycoming.   

[Parker_Woodruff]

I just schedule the oil change so it's convenient for me to be in the shop...generally somewhere around 50 hours.  I typically fly enough so that I don't have to worry about time from a calendar perspective.

[Cruiser]

I change the oil every other time. The MSC does the oil and filter change. I drain and change oil at about 35 to 40 hrs. The next change is by the MSC and they change oil and filter. So my filter is running about 70 to 80 hours. It has worked good so far. MSC says the oil filter is always clean with no contaminents, carbon, metal etc.

[Shadrach]

~50 hour intervals. Blackstone for analysis. We're flexible on calendar time. If the plane has not been flown for some reason, I'd not likely drain 4 month old oil just because it had 10hrs on it.  It's a good time to lookthings over and rotate the plugs.  It get's easier and faster as you gain experience. I get all done soup to nuts in about an hour and a half.

[Awful_Charlie]

Do it myself every 25 hours or 4 months, whichever comes first.  If it comes first on hours, then just an oil change, otherwise oil & filter, and cut open the filter.  AOA analysis most times, but the occasional omission, and as a result of this have just started using camguard and dropped from doing 35 hour changes.  Have just about perfected the technique of draining the oil without removing the cowling, but has involved one very messy hangar floor in learning hiw to get there when it went wrong!  Currently using up my stock of Total Aero, and will look to somthing else when it runs out sometime next year.  Lycoming specify 25 hour changes for the Bravo engine

[fantom]

Absolutely, unless the plane is in for other scheduled maintenance. I'm on a 50h cycle. Total change time (with the quick drain) is <1h, more if I'm doing other stuff.

[MARZ]

For those who do an oil analysis how many know what they are looking at?  Doing it at drain time is too late - the horse has left the barn. 

The real benefit of OA is during the course of the oil's life, you'd be better off pulling a sample at 25 hours to see how things are progressing.  Realistically the oil change interval should be dependant on oil hours with consideration given to the amount of add oil during that time frame combined with the OA results at specified time intervals.  

Oil doesn't wear out - it gets contaminated with particulates - that contamination is the sole determining factor that should drive your oil change interval. 

 

[jlunseth]

Well, now you are going to ask me to cite the source, and I don't remember, but apparently the issue with aircraft engine oil, as opposed to car oil, is that it builds up acids, and those acids can do damage.  Therefore it needs to be changed more frequently than car oil. 

[1964-M20E]

I do my own except when I’m too busy at work.  Cost $216 to have the mechanic change the oil just recently but I’ve only had about two full Sundays off since the middle of September.  I change it every 50 hours +/- and at the annual.  I’ve only used cam guard once.  I look at the filter but do not get oil analysis done.

[MARZ]

I agree on the acidic contamination. 

The point I was trying to make is that the hard and fast 25 or 50 hour rule isn't really that hard and fast. 

Acids build up as a result of moisture, oxides and sulfur in the oil, Oils have additive packages that neutralize that acidity.  An engine that requires little add oil over a period of time will deplete that additive package more rapidly than an engine that requires more add oil.   Additionally a plane flown regularly will be less prone to moisture in the oil. 

Particulates (barring catastrophic failure) are a resultant of ring blow by - a tight engine will tend to have less blow by particulate build up over time than would a "well broken in" engine.  The danger here is that if the owner is set on say 50 hours and their engine is producing particulate contamination such that the oil should be changed earlier say 30, the 20 hours between what should have been and what was is causing exponential wear. 

The best way to determine your oil change interval specific to your engine and your flying habits is to baseline the contamination curve through oil analysis on the oil - over the life of the oil.  It may well be that 25 or 50 hours is the magic time, however it also may be that 15 or 75 may be the number.   

An oil sample baseline (taking a sample every 10 engine hours and changing the oil when the results indicate)  is the best way to reduce costs - whether it be over changing your oil (higher maintenance costs) or under changing your oil (excessive engine wear and possible catastrophic failure). 

Once that base line is determined you should sample the oil at either half or three quarters the time period that has been determined.  If you feel the need to verify you changed the oil at the right time take a sample as you dump the oil - but that's not your best investment. Either way make sure that the OA includes total base number (TBN) or as some call it total acidity number (TAN) to see whats happening with your additive packages.

[Shadrach]

Quote: maropers

For those who do an oil analysis how many know what they are looking at?  Doing it at drain time is too late - the horse has left the barn. 

The real benefit of OA is during the course of the oil's life, you'd be better off pulling a sample at 25 hours to see how things are progressing.  Realistically the oil change interval should be dependant on oil hours with consideration given to the amount of add oil during that time frame combined with the OA results at specified time intervals.  

Oil doesn't wear out - it gets contaminated with particulates - that contamination is the sole determining factor that should drive your oil change interval.