learn me about LOP O320 Cherokee

[robert lomax]

some folks here and there have said they fly an O360 LOP,,, I need to learn about that...
I have a Cherokee with an 0320 and should get something from their learningings...
I have flown at 6500 and leaned to rough but not gone past,
I read that going way past, rough,, will get me to LOP....
I am afeared... to do that...
I only have an oil temperature gauge in my plane.

I gotta add...
I dont wantto fly fast,
I just flew from nampa to bremerton, and i was real slow, but i used 6.4 gph, not 5.3..
the red red box is not near me.

can I pull the mixture quick,, past, rough,, to get into the LOP???
without killing the engine?>?

 

[coloradobluesky]

You can lean until it runs rough and then richen a bit so long as much as you want, so long as you are at 65% power or less.

There really is no way to do the lean of peak thing without balanced fuel injection (so all the cylinders lean together) and engine gauges on every cylinder.

With a carbureted engine, the leanest cylinder is so lean it misfires while the richest cylinder is still rich of peak. So it doesnt work.

 

[unsafervguy]

like colorado said, unless you have fuel injection, you can't even get close so don't worry about it.

 

[Hank S]

LOP is difficult with a carbhretor, but not impossible. It does, however, take some instrumentation, not sure you have enough.

You need an EGT Gauge to identify Peak EGT. The idea is lean to Peak EGT, then lean a little more. All you can do is lean to rough, which is generally somewhere LOP. To get a little leaner, try adding partial carb heat and see if it will lean a little more before rough.

Beyond that, clean up under the Cowl a d make sure your baffles are in good shape and sealing everywhere. I did some of that, and am now able to run smoothly 25-30°LOP with my O-360. I'm saving up for a quality engine monitor before I try cruising LOP . . . .

 

[WannFly]

So if u have a engine monitor... can u run LOP on a carb engine? In my case it's 360 lycoming. Not sure if lop makes any sense in a carb engine or not

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

 

[Pilawt]

I used to fly LOP in my fuel-injected, GAMI-equipped Bonanza, but the carbureted O-360-A4M in my C-172N (same engine as in an Archer) won't get anywhere near LOP before getting really rough. Fuel distribution among cyldinders just isn't even enough to get them all to peak at the same time, let alone on the lean side of peak. Even with an all-cylinder EGT/CHT gauge, the best I can do is lean until it gets slightly rough, then enrichen just enough to smooth it out. It is what it is.

 

[RyanB]

If you're not careful, you can damage a carbureted engine trying to run it LOP. As I'm sure you're already aware of the fact that carburetors cannot efficiently distribute fuel like a fuel injected system can.

Also keep in mind that when you lean until each cylinder is lean of peak, the leanest cylinders will go to a leaned misfire condition and the engine will begin to run rough. CHT's increase over prolonged use and can/will cause damage and 'expensive damage' at that.

Best to ask your A&P about running LOP and get their take.

 

[Tantalum]

With a carbureted engine, the leanest cylinder is so lean it misfires while the richest cylinder is still rich of peak. So it doesnt work.

Yeah, the plane I fly has a JPI in it and there is really no sense in attempting to run it LOP, one cylinder gets super hot well before the others do.. in a fuel injected Cirrus you can run a few degrees lean of peak, but it's too much trouble in carb engines and not worth risking screaming high CHTs or a rough running engine

To be honest, in O-360 Archer and Skyhawk I fly the POH numbers for fuel flow at various altitudes are spot on. I lean it until it runs rough, then enrichen it until it just becomes smooth.. then in the Skyhawk fine tune it with the Vernier knobs based on the JPI CHT and fuel flow figures. The Archer is much the same, but I use two hands to ease the mixture to the right spot. As much as I hate the Vernier it does help dial in the mixture