LesGawlik
Line Up and Wait
- Joined
- May 6, 2006
- Messages
- 956
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Good Guy
Cessna 182 with O470. There is an oil breather tube at the top front of the engine. It is a capped tube about 1 1/4" diameter. There is another tube at 90* about 3/4" diameter intersecting the main breather tube. It is to this 3/4" tube that rubber tubing is routed to the air/oil separator.
At one time, it looks like someone wrenched on the larger, vertical tube. We see marks that look like Vise Grips or gas pipe pliers were used to grab the tube. The joint between the larger, vertical tube and the smaller horizontal tube has cracked and is apparently allowing oil vapor to escape. Then it looks like someone tried to braze the joint, but that didn't work. Then, the Handyman's Friend, JB Weld. Needless to say, it still leaks.
There is very little oil that leaks from the breather tube. But it exits the cowl and blows back on the windshield. Again, not a major problem, except that at night the mist interferes with vision.
I don't see this as something which will lead to significant oil loss. It is a few milliliters per hour. The oil breather is not under significant pressure, and it handles oil vapor. There is no oil aft of the breather. The engine is completely dry. There is no oil at the base of the breather. There is a trace of oil on the front of the engine, below where the vapor would exit the cowl.
The problem is that breather is, I'm told, pressed in. It cannot be replaced as a field repair.
Here are the ideas.
-Clean it up and redo the joint with a hitemp sealer.
-Get a new breather and cut off the top 2". Cut the existing breather tube off and
-TIG the two together
-Use a short section of neoprene tube to join the old breather stub protruding from the case and the new section of breather tube containing the 90* junction
Any ideas?
I am frankly astonished that air could be pulled out of cowl and flow up to and over the windshield. I figured between forward speed and prop blast would make the airflow into the cowl, and only into the cowl. But if you look carefully at the front of the cowl on the pilot's side, there is a trace of oil vapor, and of course, there is mist on the pilot's side of the windshield.
I'm wondering if has anything to do with prop pitch. Perhaps when going to flat pitch, a relative low pressure area is created on top of the engine, and the vapor is sucked out and blow across the top of the cowl.
At one time, it looks like someone wrenched on the larger, vertical tube. We see marks that look like Vise Grips or gas pipe pliers were used to grab the tube. The joint between the larger, vertical tube and the smaller horizontal tube has cracked and is apparently allowing oil vapor to escape. Then it looks like someone tried to braze the joint, but that didn't work. Then, the Handyman's Friend, JB Weld. Needless to say, it still leaks.
There is very little oil that leaks from the breather tube. But it exits the cowl and blows back on the windshield. Again, not a major problem, except that at night the mist interferes with vision.
I don't see this as something which will lead to significant oil loss. It is a few milliliters per hour. The oil breather is not under significant pressure, and it handles oil vapor. There is no oil aft of the breather. The engine is completely dry. There is no oil at the base of the breather. There is a trace of oil on the front of the engine, below where the vapor would exit the cowl.
The problem is that breather is, I'm told, pressed in. It cannot be replaced as a field repair.
Here are the ideas.
-Clean it up and redo the joint with a hitemp sealer.
-Get a new breather and cut off the top 2". Cut the existing breather tube off and
-TIG the two together
-Use a short section of neoprene tube to join the old breather stub protruding from the case and the new section of breather tube containing the 90* junction
Any ideas?
I am frankly astonished that air could be pulled out of cowl and flow up to and over the windshield. I figured between forward speed and prop blast would make the airflow into the cowl, and only into the cowl. But if you look carefully at the front of the cowl on the pilot's side, there is a trace of oil vapor, and of course, there is mist on the pilot's side of the windshield.
I'm wondering if has anything to do with prop pitch. Perhaps when going to flat pitch, a relative low pressure area is created on top of the engine, and the vapor is sucked out and blow across the top of the cowl.
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