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Why NOT turn prop to drain ALL the dirty oil?

in 912 / 914 Technical Questions 11 years ago

  • Re: Why NOT turn prop to drain ALL the dirty oil?

    by » 11 years ago

    Roger,

    I have no choice but to open the tank to drain the oil. I have a sting S-4 and the oil tank is directly over the muffler which prohibits me from removing the drain plug. I use a hand pump to get the oil out of the tank and take the screen out, clean it as well, being that the cover is off.

    I do not turn the prop, so I believe no air will get into the system by the oil lines.

    Am I correct? If the oil lines remain higher than the engine I can't see how air can get into the system.

    Rich
      
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  • Re: Why NOT turn prop to drain ALL the dirty oil?

    by » 11 years ago

    Hi Rich,

    So long as the oil lines stay above the engine and not allowed to drop down low and drain the oil out of them then your method shouldn't be any different than just removing the oil drain plug. If you ever do drain the oil line oil then a purge is called for.
    Do you disconnect the lines from the tank? I do occasionally, but as soon as they disconnect I put a rubber plug in the end to keep from loosing any oil or getting any air in the line. Of course not making a big mess all over the floor helps too.

    Roger Lee
    LSRM-A & Rotax Instructor & Rotax IRC
    Tucson, AZ Ryan Airfield (KRYN)
    520-349-7056 Cell

      
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  • Re: Why NOT turn prop to drain ALL the dirty oil?

    by » 11 years ago

    Roger,

    I did disconnect them previously on the first oil change to get the tank high enough to try and remove the drain plug. Still, there was not enough room to get two wrenches in there to remove the plug. (one securing the weld point, the other to turn the plug.)

    Now I just remove the top, pump to old oil out, clean the tank, screen and change the filter.

    Thanks for the quick reply to my question.
    Always appreciated.

    Rich
      
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  • Re: Why NOT turn prop to drain ALL the dirty oil?

    by » 9 years ago

    Hi. I realise this is an old topic but it's exactly what happened to me today - I turned the prop several times when the oil tank was empty. Possibly compounding the error after the oil change I started the engine and ran it for awhile. On initial startup it sounded a bit rougher than normal but then ran normally. I presume that I have also dodged a Bullet? Are there any checks I can make? Could there still be air in the System?
    Allan
      
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  • Re: Why NOT turn prop to drain ALL the dirty oil?

    by » 9 years ago

    Hi Allan,

    There is no special check. You may have dodged the bullet as you say. Just because you did rotate the prop a few turns doesn't mean for sure you were going to have a problem. The reason we don't want to rotate the prop or get too much air in the system is you never know when you might not dodge that bullet and have to pay to get things fixed. Many have done this over the years and got away with it and so long as the lifters keep fluid behind them you are probably okay. Could there be air in the system, yes, but the amount of air you introduced may have been minor enough to have dodged your bullet.

    There are some instances that even though you have run an engine you could still have air in the system and it would be prudent to still do an oil purge, but I think your infraction was minor enough you should be okay.

    One last tip for the do it yourself folks on an oil change. Since the oil filters have a check valve in them you can't pre-fill the oil filter. So once the oil is back in the tank and the oil filter is on and the system is already to go rotate the prop about 20 times to help put oil in the filter before your first start.

    Roger Lee
    LSRM-A & Rotax Instructor & Rotax IRC
    Tucson, AZ Ryan Airfield (KRYN)
    520-349-7056 Cell

    Thank you said by:
      
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