How much oil does your engine use?

[N201MKTurbo]

My plane has an amazingly low oil consumption. It uses about a QT in 50 hours. The problem is it leaks like a sieve. All that oil leaks out and makes a godawful mess of my plane. I just pulled all the cylinders and I'm replacing all the thru-studs.

 

The engine was factory reman just before I bought the plane. I figured it would have a good crankcase. I was wrong! It had two 0.001 oversize studs, one 0.002 oversize stud and one 0.010 oversize stud. I'm replacing them all with new ones.

 

It is amazing how much mess a QT of oil can make in 50 hours.

[Hank]

When changing oil, the dipstick will read less than the amount you put in, because some fills up and stays inside the filter. One quart is typical. I refill with 7 quarts, which reads right at 6, and the engine is happy. Same with the car, except the little Honda & Toyota filters hold a little less.

[DonMuncy]

When changing oil, the dipstick will read less than the amount you put in, because some fills up and stays inside the filter. One quart is typical. I refill with 7 quarts, which reads right at 6, and the engine is happy. Same with the car, except the little Honda & Toyota filters hold a little less.

Does anyone know how the engine manufacturer designates this. It would be easy for them to mark the dipstick so it would read 8 qts when you put in 8 and then pump the filter full. It would be just as easy to have it read 8 quarts when 8 is dumped in and before the engine is started. Do Lycoming and Continental both do it the same. Has anyone checked this very carefully to know for sure.

[jetdriven]

I recently installed an overhauled oil cooler and new lines, and put on a new filter.  those together plus the hoses hold about two quarts total.  the oil level on the dipstick on the IO-360, at least, is the oil in the sump. 

 

So after I drain the oil out I run the engine another minute or two to get all that bad oil out of the cooler, lines, and filter. Then refill.

[jetdriven]

JUST KIDDING    do not do that!

[DonMuncy]

You scared me.

[takair]

I get about 6 to 7 hours per quart, filled to 7. It has been this way before and after overhaul. What would be interesting to know in this survey is if folks have an air/ oil seperator (especially those folks getting better than 10 hours or more per quart). I don't have one. This is not intended to stir up controversy over the seperators.....that is an entirely different subject.....

[N201MKTurbo]

My plane has an air oil seperator from M20 Turbos.

[aaronk25]

1 quart every 5 hours at 2700rpm cruise when filled to 6qt mark. 8-10 hours per quart at 2400rpm.

[Wildhorsesracing]

I have found filling it over 6 qts on the dipstick will simply end up on the belly until it drops to the 6 qt level.  

 

The oil consumption is roughly ~1 qt between oil changes poured in gradually to keep it at the 6 qt level over the 50 hrs between oil changes.

 

FWIW - my A&P fills it to the 7 qt level at oil changes to fill the filter with the extra qt.

[larryb]

Question for those who have the plane use much more when filled > 6qt: How low do you let it go before you add oil? I let it go to 5. However, I find that the dipstick level is not consistent. It can vary at least 1/2 qt. And this is after letting the plane sit for > 24 hours after flight. So maybe it's 5.5qt before one flight, and then a few days later, before the next flight 6.0qt. It goes the other way too, maybe it drops 1/2 qt after an hour flight, only to bounce back a flight or two later. Anybody else see this inconsistency?

 

Larry

[FloridaMan]

When I'm over 7 it ends up on the belly and the windshield. My plane is happy between 6 and 7, but it fouls quickly -- not as badly las when I first got it though. My A&P prescribed 25 - 30 hour oil changes for me, though it seems to be improving. I think that I may have been running it too rich when I first got it, and that 5 hour flight with a bad mag may have contributed to it as well.