Water in the rear engine.

[Richard]

I don't know if this is something I should worry about or what.


Here is the deal. No matter how long I fly the plane. How hot the engine gets. When you check the rear dip stick, the stick has water all over it.

I've changed the oil every 10 hours (thinking this would clean it out.)

I've cleaned the oil / air seperator. Replaced the hoses.

Seems that I can't get rid of the water. It's just in the rear, not in the front.

The rear is turbo charged, has 1450 hours on it. 72/80 on all cylinders. Something I should worry or look at?

Richard

[GMAs]

No it is normal condensation that is forming on the cold metal parts... on the inside ... if you are runing your engines with the EGT indicators at 125 of peek... you will cut some of it down as for every gallon of gas you produce 1 gallon of water... kinda thing... and some of it ends up in the crankcase... but, if the oil is hot enough say around 270 deg.. it will boil off and out the rear crankcase vent... some will stay around the cooler metal parts like the dipstick and up in the oil fill neck... and cap... if it bothers you you can put some black foam rubber insulation around the tubes and it will keep it warmer and cause it to go away... you can get it at the same place that sells refrigration tubing... as they put it over the return line to keep it from freezing water on the outside... kinda thing...

If you look at some of the other skymasters you will see it came stock on the later ones... but, its nothing to worry about.. if the oil is getting up to temp... if not... well then you have another problem.. with the oil cooler or thermactor being stuck to where the oil is too cold... and not boiling the moisture out... here you can tell if the oil is getting a yellow mustard color to white like milk...

If you get that indication.. have your mechanic check out the oil temp controlling device.. as it is not allowing the oil to get warm enough... has nothing to do with cyc head temp... the varithem is like a car thermostat that regulates the oil temp.. and allows it to bypass the oil cooler when cold and re-routes it thru it when it gets up to temp...

Might want to check it out... as your oil has nothing to do with the temp... just want it to cook the moisture out by getting hot enough over 212 deg f...

Let us know what youfind... G.M> Gmas

[Richard]

Thank you for your time. Nope, oil is getting hot. I did notice it too on the top of the filler neck. A bit of rust was begining to form on the filler as well. We removed it and cleaned it up a bit. It's an old engine just about ready for a rebuild. The only thing that struck me as funny is that the front gets no such build up, but the rear does. Thanks again for the help.



P.S. The two books you recommeded to me (Mag and cylinder engineering by sky ranch) was a great read. A lot of information that scared me, but made me richer in knowledge. Thanks

[GMAs]

It should be getting hot enough to cook the water out no matter... you didn't mention what temp the guage was showing... and you might want to pull the probe on the oil cooler and test it... make sure you have a battery charger on the battery as the system will be up and going... on and off... to see what temp the gauge is showing... but, use a good ground and a small cup of oil with a candy thermo to show what temp the probe is at...

I'll bet it is still too cold.. while the oil is not getting harmed it is not cooking the moisture all the way out of the oil... and bringing it up a notch will probably keep things from rusting... smile... and no the cowl flaps will not be the thing here that we want to control... its more the setting of the veritherm and oil cooler routing... if the engine does not have the temp then something is wrong with the baffeling around the cyc... someone put the wrong ones in with too big a excape hole/slots... when they worked on it... as they are different for different cyc on the engine... yep you can control the temp of each by playing with the outlet slots on the cyc barrel... but, they are set by the manufacture.. in this case cessna... and they have paid some engineer some big bucks to find out what is the best...

Some of the other... you might keep this in mind when you go changing engines ... keep the right baffel on the right cyc... if you get them mixed up.. things are really strange in the temp dept and you could overheat a cyc fromt he get go... or else have one that is runing too cold... and it will rust away... as in this case...

I would suggest that you change the copper gasket on the temp probe .. their cheep... when you do test the oil temp... and make sure you follow the directions for re-installation so you don't over torque the gasket... and it will leak... yep they have a specific way to tighten them back down...

Hope this helps.. G.M> GMAs...

[GMAs]

I just got done writing the part about testing the oil with a cup and heater... and candy thermo... and someone says.. well my wife is not going to be happy with me putting engine oil in her cooking pan...

Ahhh well you could use regular cooking oil... if you like... and then it won't mess up the pan... or.. you could get a old one from someplace like the Salvaton army... store... or if you really are rich.. go to the supermarket and buy a cheep one... for a couple of bucks.. and then when done keep it for the next time you need to calibrate the probes... or check them.. I have one that is like a small cup.. actually I think its a measuring cup... says 1 cup on it... made of stanless steel... its just big enough to get the probe and thermo in it... I bent the handle up so the clip for the candy thermo will attach... while the probe is setting down in it... this is filled about 2/3 of the way with engine oil... and set on a small hot plate... up on the engine... ... cyc... when done .. I put the oil in the oil can and use it for other things... it doesn't hurt it to go up to around 280-350... deg f.. but, then again the range of the probe which we can get from the service manual... says that after 300 were in no-mans land... so we don't need to go over it... just want to test the range...

Now some have mentioned this before and I will go over it again...

They see a little black line in the green portion of the gauge... this is the cal mark... you oil should be at operation temp.. when the gauge needle is directily over the little black line... hmmm them engineers are crafty huh..... now some have white lines... and others have none.. but, do have numbers... you have to check...

Its a simple test that takes only about 30 min to check out the temp of the oil... its something that is kinda important... and should be check ohhh say every 3 to 5 years... just to keep you informed that things are right... as they do change around... with age... smile... G.M> GMAs

[Jerry De Santis]

Richard, Do you do a lot of short flights. One way to ensure less water in the oil is to fly at least an hour. This will give it time to boil off the condensation.
Jerry:cool:

[Richard]

Here's the new news. 10 hours of flight - Oil temp running about 180-240 whole way (needle right over the white line). Head temps 330-370. Running 24" and 2400rpm. 50 degrees rich of peak. 12 hours total on oil. Temp switch checks out. We drained 8oz of water from the sump. What is the deal!!

[Richard]

Went with an engine rebuild. Sure glad I did. Lots of corrosion in the rear engine. Have two new cyc. and pistons on it. One of the pistons was ate up. Eating a nice hole through the cyc. It was time.