Oil in Exhaust on first start of 916
Sticking this here in General rather than 916 as there far less activity there and I think it's not just a 916 Q.
Apologies for all the numbered bullets.
- I attempted the first start of my 916. I followed the procedures for purging in the Rotax video.
- The only thing I found different from the video is that I got almost zero oil coming out of the 2 return lines and I had to top up the tank a couple of times to avoid sucking air. I did eventually get 30+psi.
- I did the initial start to purge the Turbo return line and got good oil flow within a couple of seconds.
- I got some white smoke on this initial start but it mostly cleared after a couple of seconds
- I reconnected the turbo return line and restarted the engine to do warm up cycle.
- I got oil pressure in green <2 seconds and ran for 2 mins at 2000rpm. Engine sounded good.
- Oil temp was climbing steadily and was about 30-35c after the 2 mins. Oil pressure steady and in Green
- I increased revs to 2500 and very shortly after doing this (<45 seconds) I got a Lane B warning light and white smoke from exhaust.
- I shut it down immediately.
What I found on investigation:
- Oil dripping from exhaust
- A few drops of oil dropping from between the 2 halves of the Turbo
- No oil in the Turbo to Intercooler pipe
- I removed 2 lower spark plugs and there was no trace of oil
- I removed the 90 degree bend from the exhaust and could see a pool (~75cc) of oil in the main exhaust box
- I removed the air filter from the Turbo air intake and can confirm the turbo is turning smoothly with no apparent bearing issues. However there is some damping resistance to rotation. I suspect the exhaust side of the turbo contains oil.
- On reviewing the video I could see there was a small amount of smoke during the whole second run. This wasn't really visible when up close.
My Theory: I think the long time I spent hand turning the motor to build oil pressure ended up pushing oil into the turbo sump and overflowing it into the exhaust side. I don't believe there is a flexible seal on the hot side of the turbo. Has anyone seen this happen?
Engine is still under warranty and I paid for the extended cover. I contacted the dealer I bought the engine from in France and although his email response was helpful - he declined to formally engage because I'm in Ireland and told me to raise a CSIR. I raised the CSIR a couple of days ago and have heard nothing yet. Is this normal?
This is complicated by the Rotax’s decision to have a UK (outside the EU) based Distributer for Ireland (inside the EU) and zero Service or Repair centres in Ireland.
