cgmg
04-10-2004, 02:44 PM
The last few times I've flown, as I do my preflight check, I noticed oil drips on the cooling fins for cylinder #1, and on the fan shroud directly across from it, on the right side of the engine. The oil collects between the front fin and the second fin, then apparently gets blown off onto the fan shroud.
Today I took the fan shroud off, and double-checked the torque of the head bolts. Everything was to spec. In the low spot between the first and second fin, there was a film of oil from the center ridge in the fins to the outside edge. I cleaned it all up, no visible cracks in the fin assembly. Checked the underside of the cooling fins, nothing. Cleaned the shroud off, put it back together, and flew for 40 minutes.
After I landed, there were two drops of oil hanging on the outer edge of the fins, again between the first and second fin. The shroud was clean, so not a lot of oil collected for 45 minutes of running time. Everything else with the engine seems fine, temps are all in range, no funny sounds, etc. Over 4 hours of flying, there is not yet enough buildup to get flung on the prop, as I check that also.
What should my next step be? Tighten the head bolts an additional 10 inch-pounds? Replace the gasket for that cylinder? Ignore the problem unless it gets worse?
We went through the engine two winters ago, so the gaskets only have about 40-50 hours on them.
Has anyone else out there had this problem? If so, what was the cause, and what did you do to cure it?
Thanks in advance for any help with this problem
Today I took the fan shroud off, and double-checked the torque of the head bolts. Everything was to spec. In the low spot between the first and second fin, there was a film of oil from the center ridge in the fins to the outside edge. I cleaned it all up, no visible cracks in the fin assembly. Checked the underside of the cooling fins, nothing. Cleaned the shroud off, put it back together, and flew for 40 minutes.
After I landed, there were two drops of oil hanging on the outer edge of the fins, again between the first and second fin. The shroud was clean, so not a lot of oil collected for 45 minutes of running time. Everything else with the engine seems fine, temps are all in range, no funny sounds, etc. Over 4 hours of flying, there is not yet enough buildup to get flung on the prop, as I check that also.
What should my next step be? Tighten the head bolts an additional 10 inch-pounds? Replace the gasket for that cylinder? Ignore the problem unless it gets worse?
We went through the engine two winters ago, so the gaskets only have about 40-50 hours on them.
Has anyone else out there had this problem? If so, what was the cause, and what did you do to cure it?
Thanks in advance for any help with this problem