green oil change

[sleepingsquirrel]

Hey! Is it OK to fly my Mooney near the oil change time and let the oil level go down to 4 quarts?

It is easy to drain into one conatiner, I then use that oil in my lawn mower. Any excess goes into the fuel on my boat after a dilute and settle time.

 

It's what I do.

 

 

[NotarPilot]

I was just listening to a webinar by Mike Busch about oil. He says when aircraft are certified they have to be able to run on half the oil sump capacity. So an 8 quart oil capacity engine has to be able to run fine on 4 quarts. So according to him you should be fine. Additionally he recommends running at 2/3 of your sump capacity as most engines seem to dump less oil out the breather with less oil than full capacity. I've been running at about 6 quarts lately and haven't noticed any issues with oil temp or pressure. Everything seems normal.

That being said, your POH has a minimum oil capacity for flight so although you would probably be fine at 4 quarts you would not be legal since you are not operating your aircraft as prescribed by the handbook.

Here's a link to a link to that webinar...

https://www.savvymx.com/index.php/webinar

[orionflt]

As stated above the engine has been designed to be able to operate at a low oil state, but that doesn't mean it is recommended! Your oil not only provides lubrication, it also provides most of the cooling for the engine. when you run a low oil state your temps will start to increase, the oil will break down faster and the engine wear increases. The occasional low oil state (4 qts) at the end of a long trip will not adversely affect the engine over its service life, but I would not purposely run it low just to save $6 on a quart of oil and be able to fit it into one container. I personally use a 5 gal bucket with a lid that has a pour spout (you can get them from Home Depot for a couple of dollars),I can get two oil changes in it if I forget to dump it after the first one.

Brian

[chrisk]

Doesn't used aviation oil have a lot of lead in it? I wonder what it does when you burn it in your boat? Is it any different than solid lead used for fishing? Not trying to be critical, just wondering if there is a difference.

[Marauder]

Doesn't used aviation oil have a lot of lead in it? I wonder what it does when you burn it in your boat? Is it any different than solid lead used for fishing? Not trying to be critical, just wondering if there is a difference.

The element lead (Pb) is no different than the lead in a lead weight for fishing. The difference is that lead in the oil, as seen in an oil analysis is that it is dissolved lead contained in the oil. It all originates primarily from the 100LL we use for fuel. Again, dissolved in the fuel.

[wiguy]

 I wouldn't run an 0360 rouutinely down to 4 quarts, 5 for a bit maybe. Is the comment of the mower & boat a joke? Yes, any oil is better than no oil, but this is not the ideal mower or boat oil. It doesn't cost that much to just get the right oil. JMHO

[47U]

Squirrel bait?

[sleepingsquirrel]

Squirrel bait?

No! But I could use some of the oil to grease the pole to my bird feeder to keep the squirrels out of it.

[PTK]

No! But I could use some of the oil to grease the pole to my bird feeder to keep the squirrels out of it.

This works?

And I've been shooting those poor rascals all this time!

[yvesg]

I have caught my daughter drive her Toyota (that my wife owns) at a dangerously low oil level. We were away on a camping and all I had in my trunk was Phillips 20W50 for aircraft... I poured that in... was on the expensive side ($8 a litre) but this probably saved the engine. I used aircraft fuel in my lawn mower recently (ran out when mowing the tie down spot at the airport) and used aircraft fuel in my car when I was a teenager and the fuel distributors were on strike for a week (many many years ago)... no issues....

Yves

[1964-M20E]

Not a bad idea to recycle your aircraft oil in your lawnmower or other low cost engine.  At the end of the day you send the oil out to a recycler and he either burns it or refines it into a new blend of motor oil.  Most mowers are really cheap and will run damn near forever burning oil, broken rings or scored cylinders.  About the only thing I have not been able to get them to run with is a broken connecting rod.  I used to regularly abuse my lawnmowers when I was cutting grass putting any oil I had in it.  About the only oil I did not put in the lawnmower was 90W gear oil.   My 2 cycle weed eaters would get any oil I had mixed into the gas at about that ratio with no measuring and it usually ran the best with new or old transmission fluid and would run on WD40 sprayed into the intake port with no carburetor on it.

[kmyfm20s]

4 on the dip stick is close to 5 in the engine.

[jetdriven]

I have caught my daughter drive her Toyota (that my wife owns) at a dangerously low oil level. We were away on a camping and all I had in my trunk was Phillips 20W50 for aircraft... I poured that in... was on the expensive side ($8 a litre) but this probably saved the engine. I used aircraft fuel in my lawn mower recently (ran out when mowing the tie down spot at the airport) and used aircraft fuel in my car when I was a teenager and the fuel distributors were on strike for a week (many many years ago)... no issues....

Yves

My lawnmower and especially my outboard sailboat motor love 100LL Avgas.  This ethanol blend autogas runs too lean in the small engines.  Plus 100LL doesnt go stale for a year or more.

[M016576]

My lawnmower and especially my outboard sailboat motor love 100LL Avgas.  This ethanol blend autogas runs too lean in the small engines.  Plus 100LL doesnt go stale for a year or more.

My snow thrower works well with 100ll too....

[RJBrown]

All oil that comes out of customer cars here gets recycled. I would bet that very little oil removed from any engine at any business does not get recycled. The recyclers fight for your business and pay for old oil. Customers that change their oil are welcome to bring it in to us. Almost any business that changes oil would welcome used oil. The do it your self parts stores accept used oil for recycleing. There is no "green" reason to put our lead filled oil into any other machine and putting it in your boat just adds that much more lead to the atmosphere. Recycle all oil properly, get it back into the refinery it makes a great starting point to make fresh oil. Used oil is easier/less costly/less energy consumtive to refine than "new" crude.

Putting it in other machines is bad for them. Use fresh oil in every machine, they will last longer. Ruining another engine is not green it is wasteful. Burning it is NOT green. The whole premise of this thread is flawed when look at properly. The only thing green about the suggestions are that they are better than dumping it into the gutter in front of your house.

 Bad Squirrel, Bad.

 

 

 

Now for the PC   disclaimer:

No offense intended, just a plea for a better way to protect the enviornment.

After all we all love   the squirrells and only want to do what is best for them and the world we all share.

[sleepingsquirrel]

Hey! I never said who it was green for!

[chrisk]

My lawnmower and especially my outboard sailboat motor love 100LL Avgas.  This ethanol blend autogas runs too lean in the small engines.  Plus 100LL doesnt go stale for a year or more.

I've considered using Avgas for those power items that don't get used to often, like my riding mower, after my wife hired a lawn service.  I've never done it though.  Not because of an environmental issues, but because I never seen to have a gas can with me when I am at the airport.