Ted
The pilot formerly known as Twin Engine Ted
- Joined
- Oct 9, 2007
- Messages
- 29,943
- Display Name
Display name:
iFlyNothing
On my trip to Belize and back, the 310's left prop started leaving a fine mist around the nose bowl. The props had sat for several months during engine overhaul and they are at the 6 year mark, so it wasn't entirely unexpected that the seals start getting dry.
After returning from Belize, we cleaned it off and confirmed the leak was from the prop area. Also did an oil change and this time added CamGuard since the engines showed proper signs of being broken in and had 25 hours on them. Ok, need to take care of this at some point before too long.
On the trip up to Newfoundland (~7.5 hours on the Hobbs), no oil mist. We're flying home tomorrow (at least, that's the plan), so we're now thinking that we will monitor the prop to see if the leak returns. The year limit on props (which we don't have to adhere to as it's not an AD and we're Part 91) is 6 years, so we're right there. I had hoped to get at least another year out of the props until having to overhaul them. Since we fly regularly and they're still working well, that should be doable. Likely another year will be 100-200 hours.
I'm curious from the A&Ps if you all have seen leaks like this fix themselves. I could see the seals shrinking/hardening a bit from sitting, and then getting some fresh oil would help that. CamGuard advertises one of the benefits of conditioning the seals, so that may have helped as well.
After returning from Belize, we cleaned it off and confirmed the leak was from the prop area. Also did an oil change and this time added CamGuard since the engines showed proper signs of being broken in and had 25 hours on them. Ok, need to take care of this at some point before too long.
On the trip up to Newfoundland (~7.5 hours on the Hobbs), no oil mist. We're flying home tomorrow (at least, that's the plan), so we're now thinking that we will monitor the prop to see if the leak returns. The year limit on props (which we don't have to adhere to as it's not an AD and we're Part 91) is 6 years, so we're right there. I had hoped to get at least another year out of the props until having to overhaul them. Since we fly regularly and they're still working well, that should be doable. Likely another year will be 100-200 hours.
I'm curious from the A&Ps if you all have seen leaks like this fix themselves. I could see the seals shrinking/hardening a bit from sitting, and then getting some fresh oil would help that. CamGuard advertises one of the benefits of conditioning the seals, so that may have helped as well.