Oil consumption

Kyle Wolfe · Post by **Kyle Wolfe** » Fri Apr 11, 2003 12:20 pm

Looked through past postings and could not find anything so thought I'd ask. Am looking at a 52B. It has an oil screen - no filter. No visible oil leaks. Just over 300 SMOH. Major is 9 years old. Good compression. Chrome cylinders.

The guy says it uses 1 quart in 5 hours. Should I be concerned? Is this a red flag?

Have talked to one A&P who says Lycoming will tell you a quart in 1 hour is normal. What has been your experience?

hsjrev · Post by **hsjrev** » Fri Apr 11, 2003 1:19 pm

These engines vent so much oil through the crankcase breather that it's hard to say how much it actually "burns". If I fill mine up to the top mark on the dipstick, it will use a quart an hour, if I let it get down to 7 quarts, it hardly uses any at all.

zero.one.victor · Post by **zero.one.victor** » Fri Apr 11, 2003 2:02 pm

5 hours per quart seems a little high,but is plenty acceptable as far as Continental is concerned. It might be that they've been trying to keep the oil level too high,as suggested,or maybe those chrome cylinders weren't ever broken-in properly. I know a couple people who've had bad luck trying to get the rings to seat-in with chrome cylinders on a C-145.

Eric

Post by **GAHorn** » Fri Apr 11, 2003 6:30 pm

According to the TCM Overhaul Manual, the maximum allowable oil consumption is .95 lbs per 1/2 hour. (1 qt per hour)
My 400 SMOH O-300 uses 1 qt every 8 hours. I fill it to 8 qts (full) at oil change and add a quart when it gets below 7.