484.2 tach hours - oil change

484.2 tach hours

oil change

a shot of the routine inspection of the old filter... cut it open, remove the filter media and inspect for any debris.

451.4 tach hours - oil change

451.4 Tach hours

oil change

402.8 tach hours - oil change

402.8 Tach hours

Oil change

360.5 tach hours - Oil change

360.5 Tach hours

After a great cross country trip covering nearly 7,000 miles... another oil change ;)

another oil change

very clean filter

made a change to try out Phillips cross country

pretty clean change ;)

321.7 tach hours - Oil change

321.7 Tach hours

Oil line chaffing with oil cooler mounting flange

Inspecting the engine in anticipation of adding a Pmag I noticed some chaffing of an oil line feeding the oil cooler with one of the unused mounting flanges.  I had contemplated this interference when I initially routed the line during the installation but never addressed it.  Fortunately I caught it before it became an issue.

I was able to get a hacksaw blade into position to cut away a section of the flange slowly working it with my hands.  With a bit of emery cloth the cut was finished and I bedded the hose in some RTV where it could rub against the housing.  Much better now.

oil line cutting into the cooler flange

cutting away the flange to relieve interference with the oil line 

interference removed and oil line bedded in RTV

much better :)

While I was in a maintenance frame of mind I followed up on an intermittent connection for the boost pump from my last engine start.  I used insulated fast on connections and the power side was not fully seated.  After getting it engaged a bit more I secured it with a zip tie to the pump.

boost pump and wiring

Wing stand

I have been looking for a better solution to jacking up the wing for some time and have been using a jack arm arrangement that slips into the axle but it is really a marginal solution; it is a bit pricey, takes way too much effort just to lift a wheel, and is in the way during maintenance.  So, for a while I contemplated ordering a commercial wing stand... while they are pretty nice, they run well north of 200 dollars plus shipping.  Doing a bit searching on VAF there are several scattered examples of an inexpensive solution that I mined for ideas.

Parts that I used:

• From Harbor Freight, a 3 ton super heavy duty long ram hydraulic flat bottom jack for a whopping 40 dollars (I even had a coupon for 10% to level off the tax).
• From Lowe's, a 3/8-16 x 3" carriage bolt, lock nut, a 3-1/2" hose clamp, 1" steel pipe cap, and a single 10' stick of 1/2" emc for about 5 bucks.
• I had a good piece of plywood in the hangar to make a 18"x18" base, and I just used some #10 cs screws that were left over from the build.

Set the jack in the center of the board oriented so that the pump arm is easy to access.  Measure the desired length for the conduit support legs.  Cut them and squeeze the ends in a vice, bend the ends to sit flat.  Drill the base and supports, attach hardware... I used some gorilla tape at the top to cover any rough edges.

Ta Da!

wing jack ready for action 

very easy to lift the gear and nothing is in the way

I made up a receiver to thread into the wing tie-down and capture the jack ram 

this works GREAT

290.6 tach hours - Oil Change

290.6 Tach hours

These oil changes are getting pretty easy now.  Very little mess.  Cut filter open and inspected media - no debris or metal found.

the cleanest  change yet ;)

246.4 tach hours - oil change

246.4 tach hours


Oil change

246.4 tach hours - oil change

201.2 tach hours - Annual inspection

201.2 tach hours


Annual condition inspection...

one of the cleanest oil changes ever ;)

pulled the oil screen for inspection and measured the crush washer to get some spares

so easy to fill with the cowling off

161.6 tach hours - Oil change with Hayden

161.6 tach hours


Oil change with Hayden :)

Hayden was very interested in the details and was a great helper!

161.6 tach hours - oil change

119.1 tach hours - Oil change

119.1 tach hours

Oil change

the old filter cut open and filter element cut out of the filter base for inspection each time

119.1 tach hours - oil change

80.5 tach hours - Oil change

80.5 tach hours

Oil change

80.6 tach hours - oil change

36.3 tach hours - Oil change

36.3 tach hours

Switched to ashless dispersant Aeroshell 15W50

36.3 tach hours - switched to ashless dispersant Aeroshell 15W50

23.5 tach hours - First oil change

23.5 tach hours

Conceptually an oil change is pretty familiar... in an airplane engine the filter location is high on the back of the engine and containing the oil within the filter during removal can be a bit tricky.  For the first oil change I am going to stick with straight mineral oil, the cylinders are all broken in and I could switch to a dispersant oil but since I have another case of it mineral oil I will use it.  Before heading to the badlands fly-in I will change it again and switch.

To try to get the most oil out of the pan I lifted the tail to drain.  I have installed a quick drain fitting for the oil pan that works pretty good.  Hot oil helps to make the flow rate reasonable but even so it takes 10-15 minutes for it to fully drain.  The straight mineral oil gets very dark quickly.

After draining the oil I tried to use a pan adapter to catch the oil from the filter but the hose fitting to the oil cooler is too close to the filter to use it... I will need to come up with another idea or change the block fitting to a 45 to get clearance from the filter.  I decided to just do it and take the filter off... yikes it dumped about a cup of oil to the floor... good news that the tail was lifted keeping the oil off of the firewall.  Other than the floor, there was no mess on the plane.  Next time I will rig up a funnel and punch a couple of holes in the filter.

I spun the filter on only to discover that i need a 1” wrench... I have a 1” crows foot could not get it on in the recess.  With a borrowed wrench I tightened it down... too much it will turn out at the next oil change... beware of over torquing the oil filter.  Only tighten it with a stubby wrench if you can not get a proper torque wrench on.

Putting oil in the mighty cessna with its H2AD engine is easy... the filler is on top of the engine and you can just pour oil in without making a mess.  Most other lycoming engines have an angled filler neck that needs a deep funnel to access. we found a great little funnel for fifty cents at the exchange that will even fit in a zip lock for travel.

I marked the filter with tach hours and date, safety wired it up, put the cowling back on, and took it for a quick flight.

Oil change one complete!

I wonder if the angle filter adapters allow the oil within the filter to drain to the pan eliminating the mess...

quick drain fitting... should really tie a piece of safety wire at the hose fitting

straight weight mineral oil for engine break in

first oil change complete :)