Is this a fact of life with a belly pod, or is there something else going on? I'm totally new to flying a 206 and have never had a belly pod.

Only about 40 hours on a newly overhauled TSIO-520 M, compressions are excellent as are bore-scope results. Overall oil consumption is at about .25 quarts per hour.

The 470 in my 182 would jettison anything over minimum oil levels pretty rapidly, which seems to be a weirdly common issue. But, it didn't have a belly pod so it really wasn't noticeable.

From what I have read, it sounds like every discrete serial # engine ends up with a different oil level in the sump where it ceases to blow out the breather. Have you experimented with not refilling to see if it levels out (after wiping down the belly pod frequently)?

I get oil on my pod on my 206 as well . It’s most likely just blowing out the breather like Z says . I actually like it on the pod more than on the belly . Easier to wipe off . .

Here's one for you.

I made the EXACT same short flight the very next day. And here is the result. A little confusing. Someone suggested to me it might have been a temporarily stuck ring?

Sometimes after a 3 1/2 hr flight I’ll land with almost no oil showing on pod . Sometimes it looks just like your first picture you posted . I do know that there is a sweet spot when the oil level is around 9 qts or just under where it will stop splooging out the breather .I try to run that level if I can . I’ve got about 250 hrs on overhaul and burn almost no oil . A little bit of oil can look like a lot .

I'm with Zzz on this one, I'd say the oil level for the previous flight was just a tab about it's "happy" level and you blew a bit overboard.

Thanks guys! I’ll keep an eye on it and report back with any further findings.

Circling back on this, had my mechanic change the crank nose seal and the oil slick is about 80% less. Going to add a catch can to take care of the rest.

Be careful with a "catch can". Needs to be monitored, and drained regularly.

Another thing I often see is a breather tube extending well below the bottom of the cowling. Apparently, some folks believe that will get the oil off the belly....it doesn't. I prefer the end of the breather just even with the bottom of the cowling.

Also, make absolutely certain that your breather tube, especially on a newly installed engine, has a small hole high up in the breather tube. This is often referred to as a "whistle slot". I drill a small hole in the upper portion of the breather, where the cowling will always be warm, then stick a small screwdriver in that hole, and bend UP on it, so that the metal is pushed inward. This prevents oil from being "scooped" out of the breather, but if the distal end of the breather freezes, it will prevent the engine case from pressurizing, which, by the way, MAY have been the cause of your mechanic needing to replace the prop seal....that's exactly what happens when the breather freezes-it pushes out the prop seal.

Here's a small snip from an article on the topic:

""Moisture is expelled from the engine crankcase through the breather tube which often extends through the bottom of the engine cowling into the air stream. Under very cold conditions, this moisture may freeze and continue a buildup of ice until the tube is completely blocked. It is normal practice for the airframe manufacturer to provide some means of preventing freeze-up of the crankcase breather tube. The breather tube may be insulated, it may be designed so the end is located in a hot area, it may be equipped with an electric heater, or it may incorporate a hole, notch or slot which is often called a "whistle slot".

MTV

MTV+1; bought a Citabria that had that happen so we bought it with a new engine.

Probably worth asking your mechanic on this one and not an Internet forum. If you don’t have a mechanic that you can pick up a phone and call anytime then find one and try to keep one that does good work and is familiar with your airplane.

I appreciate the input; the whistle slot issue is definitely something I would not have thought of.

C185D: your point is well received; I don't post about maintenance issues unless I have a concern about my mechanic's familiarity with the issue or the repairs aren't going well. I hangar at a relatively small airfield. I subscribe to Savvy for the same reason.

my Continental IO-360 172 we had to make a new custom oil line on the dip stick, if we filled to the proper range it gets blown onto the belly.

I fly a 205 with an IO-470S, but find that oil on the belly somewhat correlates with how much I've been slipping or flying aggressively. Long level cross country flights don't use or blow much oil. Hard slips presumably move the oil around, and perhaps it gets atomized and pumped out the breather more. Not scientific, but seems to be the case on my airplane.