M20 Air/Oil separator

On Wed, 18 Aug 2004 01:41:17 GMT, "Jay Honeck"
wrote:

Below

Well, I've now flown the plane on four cross-country flights with the new
M20 installed, for a total of 5.1 hours, since Sunday.

The results: Oil level is unchanged and stable at a hair below 12 quarts,
while oil temperatures (according to the JPI engine analyzer) are
stabilizing in the 190 degree range -- unchanged from before.

Intangibles: It may be my imagination, but the prop seems to be cycling
just a tad slower than before during our pre-flight checks. I could be
crazy, though . (Mary didn't sense it, but I find that I am much more "in
tune" with mechanical things than she is...)

Could more oil in the system cause such a thing? It seems illogical, from
what I know about the variable-pitch prop system.

I just paid my son to clean the belly "one last time" today -- I hope from
now on it's just dust and dirt, not oil!

I can't really speak with any authority on the whole "putting crud
back in the crankcase" deal, but I can add that every 325-350 hp
Navajo breathes through a factory-installed air/oil sep.

The Navajo runs a higher horsepower version of my engine, right TC?

Not exactly. The cylinder design is canted-valve, with the intake
coming in the bottom side and the exhaust exiting on top-opposed to to
your engine with parallel valves, and the intake and exhaust pipes on
the bottom. It also has a slightly different induction housing with a
larger common plenum with internal extensions to effectively lengthen
the intake pipes.

I probably should have made it clear that the air/oil sep is a Piper
factory installation, not Lycoming.

TC