going to get some sample oil from my engine, changed the oil out about 4 flt hours ago, wondering if its feasible to do a oil sample or should i wait to put more hours on the engine?

If you think there might be a problem in the engine it would probably tell you if there is metal there. If it's a routine check I would wait till it's time to change the oil.

Most analysis are done when you change oil when it's the "dirtiest" for a lack of better words.

I'm guessing but you believe you have engine damage because 4 hours is not enough time if it is a routine check. If you believe you have engine problems the metal will show up in the filter. Get a magnet and check the filter fold by fold. You could also have that oil analyzed. Anyway it is a possible alternative. It depends on where the filter is but you may be able to change the filter without changing the oil ? The bottom line is if you suspect an issue then better safe then sorry at 4500 ft. Some people change oil every 25 hours up to 50 hours. Cam shaft, lifters, valves are most common metal damage culprits.

Had unusually high oil temps Christmas eve in my 182, on my last flight they got pretty high (near top of the guage, around 200 or so). On landing I noticed the oil pressure got very low (near lower redline) with the throttle out. This is flying at around -20F, still got Aeroshell 80 in it. Oil cooler was cold, engine piping hot. Threw the blanket on, let the whole thing heat-soak while I called a mechanic friend. After a good hour I fired the bird up with a hot oil cooler, did a hop around the patch, same problem, landed with cold oil cooler. So, it was late at night now, pitch dark out, spent Christmas eve/Christmas morning in a village about 75 miles from home before a very good friend with a Cub rescued me. I'm going to go back tomorrow with another friend and do an oil change and cut the filter open. If no metal, I'll fly it home. I'm hoping a bad vernatherm valve is the culprit, or clogged oil cooler. Anyone else had this type of experience? Should I leave it there and slap a for-sale sign on it?

well long story short, i had gotten my engine overhauled a few years back by Warner Reimer in anchorage and i was going thru jugs left and right afterwords, ended up my cam shaft (which he had replaced with a new one) was making metal, plane sat there for a year while my mechanic took it off, Warner worked on it, replaced out the cam shaft, fixed another ailing jug on it, and got it back this spring, put 50 hours on it so far, i just figured a oil analysis would work fine just to see how the engine is coming along...


As for born2flyak, it does sound u got a clogged up oil cooler, i would watch the temps closely on it if you plan on flying it back to home base.

Ah, the Warner Reimer overhaul...we had one of his jobs done and installed on our 206 in MCG back in Dec 2009. Flew it 12 hours and then it started. Stuck valves, found bad lifters. Replaced bad lifters, also noticed camshaft spalling. Reimer said was within spec. More stuck valve problems. Found valve guides weren't reamed after install. Reamed em, then lost oil pressure. (By now Remier wouldn't look at it anymore, claimed to be an overhaul mechanic, not troubleshooter) Was a bad oil press. relief valve. Then almost piled it up into the Sheraton departing MRI loaded to the gills when a cone broke off the right exhaust, clogging it and cut me down to 3 cylinders. Then fuel system problems...looked like someone swept the hangar and dumped the dust pan into the fuel system. Only found the junk in the fuel screen, never had any crap coming from the fuel sumps. Clogged injectors, never ran right again. Ended up dropping the airplane (we were leasing it) from the certificate in Oct for safety reasons with 200 hours on the engine over 10 months of part 135 flying.

Anyhow, for sure will be watching the oil temp in the 182. Thanks

born2flyak wrote:Ah, the Warner Reimer overhaul...we had one of his jobs done and installed on our 206 in MCG back in Dec 2009. Flew it 12 hours and then it started. Stuck valves, found bad lifters. Replaced bad lifters, also noticed camshaft spalling. Reimer said was within spec. More stuck valve problems. Found valve guides weren't reamed after install. Reamed em, then lost oil pressure. (By now Remier wouldn't look at it anymore, claimed to be an overhaul mechanic, not troubleshooter) Was a bad oil press. relief valve. Then almost piled it up into the Sheraton departing MRI loaded to the gills when a cone broke off the right exhaust, clogging it and cut me down to 3 cylinders. Then fuel system problems...looked like someone swept the hangar and dumped the dust pan into the fuel system. Only found the junk in the fuel screen, never had any crap coming from the fuel sumps. Clogged injectors, never ran right again. Ended up dropping the airplane (we were leasing it) from the certificate in Oct for safety reasons with 200 hours on the engine over 10 months of part 135 flying.

Anyhow, for sure will be watching the oil temp in the 182. Thanks

That's the type of mechanic I DON'T want overhauling my engine!

Might try a thinner oil. What does your POH recommend? I read somewhere that in really cold temps you can add gas to the oil to thin it out, I think it was in one of my Cessna POH's. The gas will eventually evaporate. It would be pretty hard to pump cold 80 weight oil through an oil cooler at -20. I would imagine that in AK any oil cooler would be cold right now. -20 air at 100+ mph could cool it pretty quick.

Could be a bad temp sender too. Did the engine ever act hot (Low power, pre ignition, sputtering)?

Try covering the oil cooler with duct tape (silver heating duct tape is better) and leave it idling on the ground. If it gets warm try flying it. I'll bet the oil is just too cold and it is restricting the flow. You might want to keep it covered till spring. A lot of people do that here and it is no where near as cold as you are.

When taking an oil sample at oil change time, some labs suggest letting the oil dump for a bit, then taking sample "mid stream" so to speak. This avoids getting a dose of the dregs at the bottom of the sump.

bumper wrote:When taking an oil sample at oil change time, some labs suggest letting the oil dump for a bit, then taking sample "mid stream" so to speak. This avoids getting a dose of the dregs at the bottom of the sump.

An ex-coworker of mine has a Cherokee 6 and had a connection at a Chevron Lab. He would do both. Sample at the beginning and one mid stream. I think he also sent the filter to his buddy at the Chevron Lab for analysis too.

Jaerl wrote:Might try a thinner oil. What does your POH recommend? I read somewhere that in really cold temps you can add gas to the oil to thin it out, I think it was in one of my Cessna POH's. The gas will eventually evaporate. It would be pretty hard to pump cold 80 weight oil through an oil cooler at -20. I would imagine that in AK any oil cooler would be cold right now. -20 air at 100+ mph could cool it pretty quick.

Could be a bad temp sender too. Did the engine ever act hot (Low power, pre ignition, sputtering)?

Try covering the oil cooler with duct tape (silver heating duct tape is better) and leave it idling on the ground. If it gets warm try flying it. I'll bet the oil is just too cold and it is restricting the flow. You might want to keep it covered till spring. A lot of people do that here and it is no where near as cold as you are.

Well I had covered the cowl inlets about 50% with duct tape as I normally have for the last 8 years, when I left on the first flight of the day I noticed the higher oil temp and thought maybe I overdid it on the tape, so removed some at the next stop. From there it got worse...I'm curious to see what was going on, I'll post later with my findings.