Mailing List flyrotary@lancaironline.net Message #15957
From: Russell Duffy <13brv3@bellsouth.net>
Subject: RE: [FlyRotary] Re: oil analysis results (140k attachment)
Date: Mon, 24 Jan 2005 21:08:40 -0600
To: 'Rotary motors in aircraft' <flyrotary@lancaironline.net>
Message

Well, from the photos of the engine you showed,  it looked like a lot of metal got blued, rubber got burnt, and seat cushions dimpled - but, apparently it had not progressed to the point of grinding metal off parts of the engine - or else you have one dandy oil filter that capture them all.

Hi Ed, 
 
It went way beyond blued.  I'd need to measure it, but it looks like the thrust surface on one side of the rotor was worn down flush with the rest of the rotor side.  The side itself is also severely ground.  Make no mistake, the "ground metal" flag is set to 1 :-)  
 
The oil I sent them was the last 8 ounces or so that was in the bottom of the pan, which is poor practice in itself, but it's all I had.  The oil pickup couldn't reach it, so I doubt this is a case of the filter catching it all, though it's a better explanation than I have.   
 
I believe that routine oil analysis can probably be of some value as far as trends might go, but I'm extremely under whelmed by the results of this test.  It just seems to me that something should have been screaming "damage", but clearly it isn't. 
 
Cheers,
Rusty (maybe my rotors were calcium coated)



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