The...first oil change!

[SuperchargedRS]

Hey guys,

It's time for the first oil change on my new 185F amphib (IO520D)

The old owner did not fly the plane too much and ran aeroshell 15-50 in her.

I'm thinking of switching over to Phillips 25-50 with camguard, and changing the oil every 25hrs, filter at 50hrs.

Currently our temps are around freezing, summertime it gets into the 70s, ideally I'd like a all year oil

Thoughts?


Also I was looking to do the oil quick drain upgrade, any suppliers recommended for the drain?


Thanks!

[TeePeeCreeper]

Wolf. W100.

[Blakey]

Teepee,

Check PMs.

Blakey

[iflyforpie]

We call multi-grades 'the leak finders'... .especially on Continental engines.

People wonder how our engines stay so clean even over TBO.... that's the reason why. W100 in summer, W80 in winter.

Plus, multi grades have a habit of their viscosity improvers failing under high temps. You want to have a 15 or 20 weight oil in your engine instead of a 50 weight when it is working it's hardest? Didn't think so.

Ideally, you should change your oil every six months anyways to purge the acids and moisture in it. Oil is cheap maintenance.... and though straight Aeroshell is a bit more pricey than Phillips... its worth it IMHO.

For a quick drain.... the cheapest supplier always does the trick. The best ones are the bayonet style with a hose permanently attached... ...they make for an easy telltale if it is leaking, keep the oil from blowing everywhere in the breeze, and you don't have the problem with the makeshift hose you put on it falling off and making a mess.

[ahramin]

http://www.avweb.com/news/savvyaviator/ ... 730-1.html

generally recommend that oil be changed at 50 hours or four calendar months, whichever comes first.

an analysis that compared the wear metals generated by 571 Lycoming IO-360 engines using four types of oil: Aeroshell W100, Aeroshell 15W-50, Exxon Elite 20W-50, and Phillips 20W-50. They found no significant difference in wear metals between the four types of oil.

generally recommends single-weight oil for owner-flown airplanes that fly irregularly and sometimes sit unflown for weeks at a time.

[SuperchargedRS]

I was more concerned about the split weights for temperature reasons then brand name reasons... I've also noticed that the oil starts to look dirty after 25-30hrs, figured oil is cheaper than a engine.

So you guys recommend plain old 100 for 21C summer all the way to -15 to -23C winter operations?

[iflyforpie]

No... dump it and put W80 in for winter. With good preheat and winter kits... its perfectly fine.

[cgzro]

For what its worth, Penn Yan , who ae one of the top overhaul shops in the US , do not recommend multigrades.

[ahramin]

I run W100 year round but it rarely gets under 0 here. I preheat for at least 30 minutes whenever it gets close to 0.

From the Shell website

Traditionally, the choice is associated with climatic zones - AeroShell W80 for cold climate regions (-17 - 21°C), AeroShell Oil W100 for temperate regions (15 - 30°C) and AeroShell Oil W120 for warmer climates (above 26°C).

So theoretically I should be running W80 in the winter but I'd rather preheat and retain the thicker oil coating after shutdown. My plane can sit for over 30 days at a time in the winter.

[PilotDAR]

What Iflyforpie said. I ran Phillips 20/50, and was unhappy. I switched to Aeroshell 15/50 and was very unhappy, then I switched to straight 80 (which is what Continental recommends for the engine, and I've been happy ever since).

I ALWAYS preheat (with an oil pan heater and engine blanket) in the winter.

[Choppermech1986]

Am I the only one getting confused with the usage of the word 'straight' when you refer to what I know as a single grade oil?

When I think straight oil, I think Red Band/non-dispersant/non-detergent oil that you put in freshly overhauled engines until consumption stabilises to help bed piston rings, ie. Aeroshell 100, Exxon 100 etc.

[ahramin]

I think the terminology is single grade or multi grade, not straight or ...

[tiny]

Stay away from 15W50 in the TCM 520's. Otherwise you have more leaks, and if you have an "classic" type starter adapter, it is more likely to slip. W100 in the summer and W65 in the winter were we operate. But then again, not everybody gets do enjoy the cold temps that we do