On a quest for the elusive "Dry AeroVee"

[Bryan Cotton]

My Gene Berg cover gets here Monday. My non-turbo, top mounted oil cooler pump from Sonex arrived today. Until I get the motivation to drill and tap the case, I'm going to eliminate the filter, install the GB cover, and plug the cover output without plugging the oil pump normal output. This will give me the pressure relief but I'll lose the weight and liability of the external filter. I do want to bring it back but I'm planning a big XC in a couple of months and I want to simplify.

[Bryan Cotton]

Oil pump and cover have been swapped. The Gene Berg cover is heavy cast iron. Remote oil filter and associated plumbing have been removed. Net weight savings is 2.5 lbs.

[bvolcko38]

Why did you remove your oil filter?

[Bryan Cotton]

Why did you remove your oil filter?

Bill,
I'm not ready to dive into drilling and tapping the case for full flow. I am planning a couple of XC trips in a couple of months where I won't have the luxury of preheat overnight. I don't want the potential liability a few hundred miles from home of the oil filter popping on startup. Per Sonex the filter is only required if you have the turbo. So I'm taking it off for now. I think we can add pressure relief to our original pump and cover, which is what I'd like to do. That's a project for another day.

[pfhoeycfi]

My aerovee Turbo has been running good, making 40+ inches easily, has a tach time of about 10 hours. So far only minor oil leaks, however I pulled the intake elbows off to re torque the heads and found that the inner surfaces of both intake fittings are wet with oil. Has anyone else seen this? I'm going to perform a leak down test. Vw normal? Rings? Valve stems? Turbo? High oil pressure? Any thoughts on oil in the intake?
Peter

[GraemeSmith]

Was looking at a Sonex for sale yesterday. Probably the DRIEST Aerovee I've ever seen. Reported as 360 hours. Just one drip of oil - on the bottom of the oil screen cover.

[pfhoeycfi]

My aerovee Turbo has been running good, making 40+ inches easily, has a tach time of about 10 hours. So far only minor oil leaks, however I pulled the intake elbows off to re torque the heads and found that the inner surfaces of both intake fittings are wet with oil. Has anyone else seen this? I'm going to perform a leak down test. Vw normal? Rings? Valve stems? Turbo? High oil pressure? Any thoughts on oil in the intake?

Interestingly, I was just reading on the Garret site that the max oil pressure for the turbo bearing is 40 - 45 psi, and that damage may occur above that leading to leakage thru the bearing. 40-45 seems low for how these engines run.

[Bryan Cotton]

Some followup on my air-oil separator. I had been really happy with it, but lately had been getting more and more oil on the belly. After my big trip to Tennessee, it was a real mess and the oil consumption seemed higher than 16 oz/10 hours. I removed the separator and opened it up. It looked really good inside. When I went to blow through the 1/4" fuel line I use as a drain line, it was somewhat obstructed. I cleaned that out. From here on out I will clean the drain line at every oil change. It's really easy to do.

Got my rockers back on, valves adjusted, and here is my drain:

[pappas]

On my Turbo Waiex B, I found a lot of black, sooty residue with a little oily dampness in the rubber intake elbows and intake manifolds. It was always there throughout the 150 hours I had the craft. I never found a good reason for it and couldn't figure out if it was a source of concern or not. It seems to me this area should be dry and clean all the time. Who else has seen this, any ideas?

[Bryan Cotton]

On my Turbo Waiex B, I found a lot of black, sooty residue with a little oily dampness in the rubber intake elbows and intake manifolds. It was always there throughout the 150 hours I had the craft. I never found a good reason for it and couldn't figure out if it was a source of concern or not. It seems to me this area should be dry and clean all the time. Who else has seen this, any ideas?

I see it too.