Question for Paul McBride, the General Aviation News engines expert: Does anyone make an adjustable air shutter for the Lycoming 360 engine? When I blocked mine off and flew to Florida and back I ran a 200° oil temperature.
Lycoming Engines
How often should you change your airplane’s oil?
The mechanic listed an oil change as part of the inspection, even though the aircraft had been flown just 12 hours in the last 12 months. The owner insisted it did not need an oil change since the manufacturer recommends an oil change only every 50 hours. He completely disregarded the other part of the manufacturer’s recommendation: “Every 50 hours or four months, whichever occurs first.”
With aircraft engines, there’s no such thing as a free lunch
I suspect the cause of all of this would be that when the higher compression ratio pistons were installed, the carburetor was never compensated to provide a higher fuel ratio to support the higher horsepower being taken out of the engine.
Ask Paul: Why has my oil consumption increased?
When breaking in, the best I’ve ever achieved was maybe 11 or 12 hours on a quart of oil. Now I’m down to a quart every three hours. The oil gets black fast.
Ask Paul: Can I rebuild this engine to increase horsepower?
Can I take a 150-hp O-320-E2D, say from 172 or Cherokee, and rebuild it with D2G parts and make it a 160-hp D2G?
Higher RPM, better performance for your aircraft engine
Takeoff and climb show about 2,400 rpm. Out of respect for the old girl, I try to keep down to 2,200.
Ask Paul: Replacing a lost data plate
What is the best way to find an engine serial number without using the data plate?
Glass panel’s warnings worry aircraft owner
The old panel never yelled at me or gave me warnings, so to see the CHT hit 400 and then go yellow is unsettling.
What timing should I use in my engine?
Read this very carefully before taking any action: Remember, you’ll be taking more horsepower out of your engine with the increased compression ratio, therefore you’ve got to increase the engine fuel flow amount to support the additional horsepower. Failure to do this could result in severe damage to the engine and possibly cause engine failure.