Engine Leaking Oil

brien23

brien23

Cleared for Takeoff
Joined
May 31, 2005
Messages
1,445
Location
Oak Harbor
Display Name
Display name:
Brien
Prebuy inspection found Engine oil leaking told buyer would not be a good idea to buy the plane untill someone found whare the oil was leaking from might be something small might be a crack in the case i did not know. Seller says he spent enought money on it and would not spend anymore but would lower the price 8K . How much more can I do to tell the buyer look for another plane.:no:
 
I would bet the owner knows what's wrong,8k doesn't come close to replacing the engine if its the case .
 
If it's an E-185 or E-225, you'll shop until you are dead and not find one that doesn't leak.
 
Just a oil leak and the guy bent over for 8k????

I'm guessing it's one of two things

1) The engine is F'd and the guy knows it -> Bad for you

2) The guy needs the cash NOW -> Good for you


Question is... do you feel lucky
 
Why not find where the oil is leaking from? I do that on planes I look over for people, it's usually not that tough to determine.
 
If they are convinced to buy it then its not you problem anymore. Could be something simple, or not!
 
We chased oil leaks for a long time on an O-540. Finally saw oil coming off the cylinder bolts. Had the mechanic change all of the O rings between the cylinders and the case, and retorque all the case bolts. Pulled all the jugs without disturbing the piston rings. Problem solved, about 20 hrs shop labor. The engine had about 1100 hrs at the time, pushing 1600 now, looks easy to make it to 2000 TBO.
 
Many of these old engines leak, especially if they haven't been back to the factory in a few overhauls. As these crankcases get used and reused, they do seem to loosen up. There's some fretting that can occur between the case halves, and also various parts probably loosen up a hair when they shouldn't. Meanwhile, the factory reman 520s on the 310 went to 2100 hours not leaking a drop. The overhauls from Zephyr aren't leaking a drop either (at under 65 hours), and I expect they will have similar performance since they are quality overhauls with good parts.

How many hours are on the engines? Guy might know, guy might not. I had oil leaks on the Aztec for a long time that I didn't know what they were. Finally one day we went through and changed a bunch of gaskets that were leaking and got them (mostly) dry. Both engines on it were crappy field overhauls. My friend's Aztec (with two timed out factory remans) didn't leak a drop...
 
Need more details, 8k buys a decent amount of work to chase/fix a leak.

However if it is just ****ing oil or sports a bad case...
 
If the oil leak is a bad o-ring at the base of a pushrod tube, 8k is a great deal. If the oil leak is a cracked case, not so much.

The fact that he is willing to give up that much without even spending a couple of hours of mechanics time to find the leak would cause me to suspect that he knows where it is coming from and that it is not just an o-ring.
 
It was a C-172 with o-320 engine. It's not like their is a shortage of C-172 on the market finding one that doesent leave a puddle on oil on the ramp should not be that hard to find.
 
Last edited:
brien23 said:
It was a C-172 with o-320 engine. It's not like their is a shortage of C-172 on the market finding one that doesent leave a puddle on oil on the ramp should not be that hard to find.
Click to expand...

It's just marking it's territory.
 
You said pre buy inspection found the leak....who did the inspection? Hopefully it's an A&P and if he's any good at all he should be able to locate the leak. Don't expect it to be dry as your honda, but it should not be leaving a mess every time you park it.
Tim
 
N175PT said:
You said pre buy inspection found the leak....who did the inspection? Hopefully it's an A&P and if he's any good at all he should be able to locate the leak. Don't expect it to be dry as your honda, but it should not be leaving a mess every time you park it.
Tim
Click to expand...
Well this all depends on how in depth you want to get with it. If you have ever looked at an engine that has been leaking for a while (there is oil on everything.) Its not always obvious. If you want to completely clean the engine and start running/flying again to find it you can do so, but probably not on a pre-buy.
 
flyingmoose said:
Well this all depends on how in depth you want to get with it. If you have ever looked at an engine that has been leaking for a while (there is oil on everything.) Its not always obvious. If you want to completely clean the engine and start running/flying again to find it you can do so, but probably not on a pre-buy.
Click to expand...

Sounds like this pre purchase is over, but it seems he got short changed if all he got from the A&P is "it has a leak"
If the plane looks good enough to spend (buyers?) money on a pre purchase inspection, why not pay for 2 more hours to locate the leak?
Pull the cowls, hit it stoddard solvent, ground run or fly it. Small leak put some dyd in it. What would that take, another 2 hours maybe?

Tim
 
I did the prebuy for a free lunch, it was just a quick look not to take the cowling off or any panels off and a quick look in the logs to see if anything stood out as a red flag. A prebuy is only as in depth as the buyer wants it to be and a free lunch does not go very far. This aircraft did not require much more than that to inform the buyer to look elseware.
 
Prebuy on the Aztec:

Sit in it. "How much again...? Ok, sold."

About the same when sold.

Prebuy on the 310:

"Where do I sign?"
 
Pre-buy on 34V, not more than a walk around and how much? Write him a check.

When you know what you are looking for, you'll know it when you see it.
 
brien23 said:
It was a C-172 with o-320 engine. It's not like their is a shortage of C-172 on the market finding one that doesent leave a puddle on oil on the ramp should not be that hard to find.
Click to expand...


Seems trivial. I have no idea how someone would rather lower the sale price $8k than find an oil leak :dunno::dunno:

I can fix a LOTTTTTAAAAAA oil leaks for $8k.


 
Hey Brian,

I just had to steal that gif of the fish. I can think of other forums where it will come in handy.:D
 
I would clean it and find the leak before purchasing if the seller would not accommodate that I'd walk.
 
jesse said:
I would clean it and find the leak before purchasing if the seller would not accommodate that I'd walk.
Click to expand...

You must have missed the part about the owner spent enough on trying to find the oil leak and would not spend anymore on the plane. Their is an old saying nothing is imposable for those who do not have to do the work.
 
brien23 said:
You must have missed the part about the owner spent enough on trying to find the oil leak and would not spend anymore on the plane. Their is an old saying nothing is imposable for those who do not have to do the work.
Click to expand...

As the buyer I would pay to locate the leak. If the owner wouldn't let me do that - there are plenty of other airplanes to buy.
 
I would think that a couple hunnerd bucks or less would locate an oil leak.
Not fix it, but undress the engine, wash it, and find out where the oil is comming from. Then put the cowl back on.
The fact that it's leaving a puddle when you park it, may or may not indicate a bad leak, depends on how long it's been leaking. (runoff from accumulation). If it's a Bad leak, it may be easier to find by not washing it yet, and looking for the clean spot.

Either way, seller willing to drop 8k, may already know but ain't sayin'. Or it's already overpriced anyway.

As a buyer, I would want to know where the oil is comming from, so I would know that I didn't run from a simple repair.

If seller won't allow removal of cowling, and drops 8k on the price. I'd run far and fast.
 
bluerooster said:
I would think that a couple hunnerd bucks or less would locate an oil leak.
Not fix it, but undress the engine, wash it, and find out where the oil is comming from. Then put the cowl back on.
The fact that it's leaving a puddle when you park it, may or may not indicate a bad leak, depends on how long it's been leaking. (runoff from accumulation). If it's a Bad leak, it may be easier to find by not washing it yet, and looking for the clean spot.

Either way, seller willing to drop 8k, may already know but ain't sayin'. Or it's already overpriced anyway.

As a buyer, I would want to know where the oil is comming from, so I would know that I didn't run from a simple repair.

If seller won't allow removal of cowling, and drops 8k on the price. I'd run far and fast.
Click to expand...

:thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
bluerooster said:
I would think that a couple hunnerd bucks or less would locate an oil leak.
Not fix it, but undress the engine, wash it, and find out where the oil is comming from. Then put the cowl back on.
The fact that it's leaving a puddle when you park it, may or may not indicate a bad leak, depends on how long it's been leaking. (runoff from accumulation). If it's a Bad leak, it may be easier to find by not washing it yet, and looking for the clean spot.

Either way, seller willing to drop 8k, may already know but ain't sayin'. Or it's already overpriced anyway.

As a buyer, I would want to know where the oil is comming from, so I would know that I didn't run from a simple repair.

If seller won't allow removal of cowling, and drops 8k on the price. I'd run far and fast.
Click to expand...

I paid $275 to be told that my starter adapter was cracked, it wasn't. A local guy found the leak and fixed it free of charge.
 
bluerooster said:
I would think that a couple hunnerd bucks or less would locate an oil leak.
Not fix it, but undress the engine, wash it, and find out where the oil is comming from. Then put the cowl back on.
The fact that it's leaving a puddle when you park it, may or may not indicate a bad leak, depends on how long it's been leaking. (runoff from accumulation). If it's a Bad leak, it may be easier to find by not washing it yet, and looking for the clean spot.

Either way, seller willing to drop 8k, may already know but ain't sayin'. Or it's already overpriced anyway.

As a buyer, I would want to know where the oil is comming from, so I would know that I didn't run from a simple repair.

If seller won't allow removal of cowling, and drops 8k on the price. I'd run far and fast.
Click to expand...

Just how did we get from a prebuy to a fix it. A prebuy inspection is not a troubleshoot and find out what is wrong, if you want that pay a mech to troubleshoot and find the leak.
Why would you want to fool around with a plane with a problem leak
when their are so many others without leaks.
 
Last edited:
brien23 said:
It was a C-172 with o-320 engine. It's not like their is a shortage of C-172 on the market finding one that doesent leave a puddle on oil on the ramp should not be that hard to find.
Click to expand...


Sounds to me like the owner has an idea of where the oil is coming from and it is likely not going to be pretty.

If he wont' fix it, move on to a plane without damage. You can find a 172 at every airport in the country.
 
brien23 said:
Just how did we get from a prebuy to a fix it. A prebuy inspection is not a troubleshoot and find out what is wrong, if you want that pay a mech to troubleshoot and find the leak.
Why would you want to fool around with a plane with a problem leak
when their are so many others without leaks.
Click to expand...

Not a "fix it" but a find it.
As I understand it, seller knew there was an oil leak, when found on prebuy, quickly dropped $8k in price. Buyer, after being told not to buy, but still might, should be curious as to where the leak is comming from.
If I were the mech. doing the prebuy, I would probably undress it, and locate it just to satisfy my own curiosity. I would then be able to tell buyer "it appears to be comming from....."
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Prebuy on the Aztec:

Sit in it. "How much again...? Ok, sold."

About the same when sold.

Prebuy on the 310:

"Where do I sign?"
Click to expand...

Pretty much the prebuy on my 310 as well. Walked in the hangar, saw the condition and bought it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top