grubbat
Well Known Member
I0-360, about 200hr SMOH, recent oil and filter change, Victory multi grade aircraft oil (winter operation), 20 minutes into flight, on 10mile final, no traffic, beautiful evening.......
Started decent on the ball, pulled power, EFIS says in my headset “ oil pressure!”
Daydreaming is over, got a situation now. My approach is such that I can glide in so if engine quits, no problem. However, engine doesn’t quit and land normally and taxi back to hangar watching oil pressure follow rpm.......low rpm very low oil pressure. Time to troubleshoot now that I got it back in the hangar.
Pulled spark plugs to aid in turning engine over to check oil pressure and also to look for catastrophic damage on plugs. None found.
Check Indication issue. Before you decide you have a problem, first rule out the measurement system, in this case the sending unit and gauge. I installed a mechanical test gauge that works and installed on rear of Lycoming bypassing the oil pressure orfice. No oil pressure. Removed plug on front of engine case and installed mechanical gauge. No oil pressure.
Probably have a pressure relief issue but decided to drain oil over magnet and check oil filter and also pull oil drains that have magnets attached. No metal found in oil or on magnets. Checked oil filter and no particles found. Pulled oil strainer and it looked normal. Removed pressure relief valve. Ahhhhhh
The ball in the pressure relief valve is metal but Lycoming says don’t use magnet to remove so it takes a little work to get it out without disturbing the evidence behind the ball. After removal, I found the source of the low oil pressure.
On the seat, was positioned a very small metal ball, about the diameter of the head of a ball point pen. Too small to be a ball bearing. Large enough to mess with my oil pressure at low rpm.
Did it come from my new oil or new oil filter?
Or maybe from the mags?
I have a picture of the little devil but not sure how to post.
Anyway, reinstalled everything and added multi grade 15w oil and cranked several times to prime oil. Cranking show 50psi so maybe no damage. However, I’ll be throwing money at changing oil and filter every couple of hours and monitoring oil for excessive wear. Better safe than sorry.
EFIS verbal warning along with flashing light was definitely the ticket here. The verbal warning got my attention and my focus a lot quicker than a standard gauge would have. My Twinkie has old mechanical gauges and I would not have noticed low oil pressure in the twin as fast as I did with this experimental EFIS.
While I do not like a lot of the modern technology, this old guy has to admit that it saved the day (and around $15,000 for engine inspection).
Forget about the time the EFIS took a puke a couple of years ago over a dark Alabama live MOA. Another story for another time..... EFIS name omitted to protect the innocent
Started decent on the ball, pulled power, EFIS says in my headset “ oil pressure!”
Daydreaming is over, got a situation now. My approach is such that I can glide in so if engine quits, no problem. However, engine doesn’t quit and land normally and taxi back to hangar watching oil pressure follow rpm.......low rpm very low oil pressure. Time to troubleshoot now that I got it back in the hangar.
Pulled spark plugs to aid in turning engine over to check oil pressure and also to look for catastrophic damage on plugs. None found.
Check Indication issue. Before you decide you have a problem, first rule out the measurement system, in this case the sending unit and gauge. I installed a mechanical test gauge that works and installed on rear of Lycoming bypassing the oil pressure orfice. No oil pressure. Removed plug on front of engine case and installed mechanical gauge. No oil pressure.
Probably have a pressure relief issue but decided to drain oil over magnet and check oil filter and also pull oil drains that have magnets attached. No metal found in oil or on magnets. Checked oil filter and no particles found. Pulled oil strainer and it looked normal. Removed pressure relief valve. Ahhhhhh
The ball in the pressure relief valve is metal but Lycoming says don’t use magnet to remove so it takes a little work to get it out without disturbing the evidence behind the ball. After removal, I found the source of the low oil pressure.
On the seat, was positioned a very small metal ball, about the diameter of the head of a ball point pen. Too small to be a ball bearing. Large enough to mess with my oil pressure at low rpm.
Did it come from my new oil or new oil filter?
Or maybe from the mags?
I have a picture of the little devil but not sure how to post.
Anyway, reinstalled everything and added multi grade 15w oil and cranked several times to prime oil. Cranking show 50psi so maybe no damage. However, I’ll be throwing money at changing oil and filter every couple of hours and monitoring oil for excessive wear. Better safe than sorry.
EFIS verbal warning along with flashing light was definitely the ticket here. The verbal warning got my attention and my focus a lot quicker than a standard gauge would have. My Twinkie has old mechanical gauges and I would not have noticed low oil pressure in the twin as fast as I did with this experimental EFIS.
While I do not like a lot of the modern technology, this old guy has to admit that it saved the day (and around $15,000 for engine inspection).
Forget about the time the EFIS took a puke a couple of years ago over a dark Alabama live MOA. Another story for another time..... EFIS name omitted to protect the innocent