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Atomized oil on my windscreen

donaziza

Well Known Member
Last 2 times I went out joy riding, I noticed an atomised mist on my wind screen. Rain?? I didn't go thru any rain. Got out and ran my finger in the crack behind my spinner. Oily:mad: What do that mean, and how much is it gonna cost me? (I'm neither a mechanic or builder)

If its a front engine seal, does that mean my engine case has to be broken in half to replace it?$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$:eek:
 
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No need to split the case to replace the crankshaft oil seal. Pretty simple procedure any AP/AI should be able to perform, even on the ramp, if that is diagnosed as the root cause of your oil leak.
 
No case opening for crank seal replacement

They are not difficult to change out. But if you have constant speed prop, it could be prop governor also. Usually if prop seal, you would see oil in upper cowl area above the crank seal. Would not fly again till you get this sorted out. A blow out would not be good. ACS has all your parts, supplies, < $30. The seal stretches over the crank flange. Warm it up in hot water to make stretch easier. Uses Dow 737 sealant, to ?glue? it in after cleaning the area.....takes 24hrs to set. U use very little. $18 for the O320 seal. Time but cost and effort not too bad. Good luck.
 
On my new 10, I found the same. It emminated from the spinner cowl interface and ran all the up the cowl and windshield. Very fine and hard to see. This was not the thick stuff that the prop threw down the blades during the first couple of hours. I determined that it could not be oil from the engine area. It just didn't make sense how it could get sucked out of the cowl inlets. Called Hartzell and said it was very common with a new prop of my vintage. The aeroshell 6 grease produced after about 2 years ago has a problem with the oils separating from the grease.

I would look more closely at leakage from the prop hub. A front crank seal should show traces of that oil inside the cowling or on the face of the cowl behind the spinner and a prop issue wouldn't. Oil from the engine would have to turn the corner as it came out of the round opening and continue down the front face of the cowl behind the spinner. There should be plenty of evidence of dripping inside the cowl area, as well.

Larry
 
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Why are folks making suggestions with 540/390 engs with front mounted gov to someone with an RV8 :confused:
My guess it's prop prop grease which happens more in cold temps due to seals.
 
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Could it be Walt that the OP stated nothing about engine or model, or tag line in his signature :confused:
 
You haven?t said whether you have a fixed pitch or C/S prop. However if you have a C/S prop then the first thing I?d check Is whether a grease zerk has failed or gotten some dirt stuck in it. I had a grease zerk get dirt stuck in it and it put a thin greasy film all over my windscreen. My initial reaction was definitely over the top fearing that a seal had failed. Upon checking the inside of the spinner it became apparent that my oil film was instead grease shooting out from a single zerk.

Check for the simple fixes first! Good luck.
 
My engine is an ECI IO 360. The prop is a constant speed Whirlwind 200. Sorry---I didn't think to put that stuff in the original post. Oh, and one more thing. I was up at 9500 ft for almost 3 hours, and didn't notice anything----til I got down to 1000 ft AGL. It wasn't carmel colored like engine oil, but looked like little tiny specks of water.

Does that help any of you guys at all?
 
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Does that help any of you guys at all?

No. I suggest you pull the cowl. If it is oil coming from the engine, there should be evidence of it in there. If none, pull the spinner and examine the prop. Oil / grease that made it to the windshield should be traceable back to it's source. A bright light helps, as does throwing talcum powder on things then blowing it off.

Larry
 
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