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Air/Oil Separator clogged?

drone_pilot

Well Known Member
I have an RV-7A with the IO-360-A1A and the AntiSplat air/oil separator. Recently, I have been getting a couple of small drops of oil on the floor from the vent tube coming from the separator. Today after flying for almost 3 hours, I have a small stream of oil down the belly and along the bottom of my rudder. Pulling the cowl reveals no leaks inside the engine compartment. Do these things get clogged? If so, does anyone have a technique for unclogging and maintaining and servicing the separator?
 
Not really. It gets all of it's oil in tiny droplets/mist, small enough to be suspended in air. No significant amount of contaminants or junk come with it to plug up the separator. Likely something has happened in your engine that is causing an increase in oil leaving the breather;likely increased blowby. The separators can only deal with so much oil volume in the air and the excess comes out their main exit.

Something has likely happened in your engine. Probably best to start with a compression check.

This wasn't possibly preceeded by filling the sump fuller than you normally do? Over filling the sump can cause a lot of oil coming out the breather until the level gets to it's max level. By max, I don't mean what lycoming says but what it will hold without blowing excessive oil out the breather.

Larry
 
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Do these things get clogged? If so, does anyone have a technique for unclogging and maintaining and servicing the separator?

I assume you are speaking of a clogged drain. Not known to clog on a regular basis. That said, it is fundamentally a can with three spigots, so you can be sure in less than 5 minutes. Sure is better.

Clamp the breather line shut somewhere between the accessory case and the separator can.

Pull the small drain line off the exit at the bottom of the can. Blow air through it into the engine case. Got air exiting the dipstick tube?

Put a cup under the separator can drain. Blow air into the overboard vent tube. Is it blowing into the cup?
 
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