Manually Filtering Oil?

hamer

hamer

Pre-takeoff checklist
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hamer
My engine doesn't have an oil filter. I'll be adding one at some point, likely at the next annual, but in the meantime I'll probably run up another 100-150 hours. Is there any benefit to draining the oil every 10-15 hours and filtering it before returning it to the engine? Or will that just risk more contaminants?

I'm currently running 25 hr oil changes, the oil analysis looks good with Fe a little elevated.

Not sure if say manually filtering every 10 hours, and changing at 50 buys me anything over 25 hour changes.

Thoughts?
 
If you're going to go to that effort, why not just put clean oil back in.
 
25 hour oil changes should be fine, as long as your engine is sound and not making metal.
And if your engine is making metal, then filtering every 10 hours isn't going to save it (you have bigger problems than worrying about oil changes).
 
Why wait until annual time to add the filter? I’d just add it at the next oil change and be done with it. Screening the oil like you’re talking about sounds like a lot of added work.
 
If it were mine, I would just keep doing what has been working fine up to now. Once you get a proper filtration system installed, then increase oil change times.
 
Cap'n Jack said:
Because they are at the molecular level, much of it.
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Yup. Much smaller than the filtration capabilites of oil filters. Any filter that could catch acid molecules wouldn't pass oil molecules, either.
 
I'm waiting until the annual because the airplane is still new to me, the first 3-4 months I've had alot of down time due to maintenance and I'm finally stable and airborne, I want to enjoy that before it goes down again. The kit I'm installing is the remote mount and that will require a little figuring out, ordering custom hoses, etc, probably down for 2 weeks when all is said and done.

As far as draining/filtering goes, I have a quick drain I can access without removing the cowl, so I figured it would be relatively easy to drain it, filter and return it to the motor. When I change the oil at 25 hours I also pull the screen. I haven't seen any metal in the screen or oil, comes out clean. The oil analysis was the only thing that made me think a filter would help, but maybe what the analysis is detecting is all unfilterable anyways.

Anyways, I think I'll just stick to the 25 hr changes until I find a block of time to take it down for the project.
 
mondtster said:
Why wait until annual time to add the filter? I’d just add it at the next oil change and be done with it. Screening the oil like you’re talking about sounds like a lot of added work.
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I agree. isn't just an hour or two of work to do it for most engines?
 
I would never remove the oil and put it back again. If you drain it, put in fresh oil. You're just as likely to contaminate it worse as you are to actually remove something in a useful way.
 
mondtster said:
Why wait until annual time to add the filter? I’d just add it at the next oil change and be done with it. Screening the oil like you’re talking about sounds like a lot of added work.
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One reason is that he can change the oil under owner maintenance as well as the filter if one existed but he cannot install a filter where none existed. Waiting until he takes it to his mechanic for annual or other maintenance makes good sense. No need for a special maintenance visit just for the filter install.
 
SkyDog58 said:
One reason is that he can change the oil under owner maintenance as well as the filter if one existed but he cannot install a filter where none existed. Waiting until he takes it to his mechanic for annual or other maintenance makes good sense. No need for a special maintenance visit just for the filter install.
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I assumed that was probably the case. But to me it still doesn’t make sense. Are mechanics really that hard to come by and that unreasonable with their hourly rates? Id expect the rate to be the same whether it is done now or done later.
 
mondtster said:
I assumed that was probably the case. But to me it still doesn’t make sense. Are mechanics really that hard to come by and that unreasonable with their hourly rates? Id expect the rate to be the same whether it is done now or done later.
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There's the hassle of getting to plane to him and back again, the downtime while you wait. Already have to pull the cowling off at annual for inspections. Lot's of good reasons.
 
I'll quote what I wrote above since it seems to have been missed:

hamer said:
I'm waiting until the annual because the airplane is still new to me, the first 3-4 months I've had alot of down time due to maintenance and I'm finally stable and airborne, I want to enjoy that before it goes down again. The kit I'm installing is the remote mount and that will require a little figuring out, ordering custom hoses, etc, probably down for 2 weeks when all is said and done.
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Salty said:
There's the hassle of getting to plane to him and back again, the downtime while you wait. Already have to pull the cowling off at annual for inspections. Lot's of good reasons.
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Across the ramp is as far as most people take their planes for maintenance around here, if they take it anywhere. But perhaps if you had to take it to another airport I could see it.
 
hamer said:
I'll quote what I wrote above since it seems to have been missed:
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I didn’t miss it before. I just don’t think that is much of a reason to wait. I’d rather know if the engine is making metal now, rather than wait to find out. :)
 
mondtster said:
Across the ramp is as far as most people take their planes for maintenance around here, if they take it anywhere. But perhaps if you had to take it to another airport I could see it.
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Most people (I am thankfully not one of them) have to drive an hour just to get to the airport.
 
mondtster said:
I didn’t miss it before. I just don’t think that is much of a reason to wait. I’d rather know if the engine is making metal now, rather than wait to find out. :)
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He doesn't need to install an oil filter to accomplish that. He doesn't even need an A&P for that.
 
Salty said:
He doesn't need to install an oil filter to accomplish that. He doesn't even need an A&P for that.
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If you think you’re going to see as much metal in the screen as you would in a filter, you’re mistaken. You can have a failing cam/lifter and never even know it by looking at the screen. It only catches big pieces of metal.

The filter may not catch everything either but I feel there is a better chance of catching a problem earlier. Plus, the OP mentions elevated iron...
 
Salty said:
Most people (I am thankfully not one of them) have to drive an hour just to get to the airport.
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Driving has nothing to do with flying. I drive 45 minutes one way to the airport every day to work a few hours on things.
 
mondtster said:
If you think you’re going to see as much metal in the screen as you would in a filter, you’re mistaken. You can have a failing cam/lifter and never even know it by looking at the screen. It only catches big pieces of metal.

The filter may not catch everything either but I feel there is a better chance of catching a problem earlier. Plus, the OP mentions elevated iron...
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The engine didn't get much use before I bought the airplane, so I expected some corrosion, and I imagine it'll slowly go down as I fly it more often.
 
hamer said:
The engine didn't get much use before I bought the airplane, so I expected some corrosion, and I imagine it'll slowly go down as I fly it more often.
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Perhaps, but we don’t know if it will. It’s always a guessing game.

I would want a filter sooner rather than later but that’s me.
 
mondtster said:
Driving has nothing to do with flying. I drive 45 minutes one way to the airport every day to work a few hours on things.
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Sigh.

You argued that it’s not far to take the plane across the ramp. But it’s not that simple for most people. I give up, you obviously can’t see how anyone could have a different opinion than you.
 
Salty said:
Sigh.

You argued that it’s not far to take the plane across the ramp. But it’s not that simple for most people. I give up, you obviously can’t see how anyone could have a different opinion than you.
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Not the case at all.

Driving distance to the airport has nothing to do with distance you have to travel for maintenance. You’re driving to and from the airport either way. If your argument was that you have to fly the plane to another airport for service, then yes there would be added burden on the owner vs. taxiing it across the ramp.
 
mondtster said:
Not the case at all.

Driving distance to the airport has nothing to do with distance you have to travel for maintenance. You’re driving to and from the airport either way. If your argument was that you have to fly the plane to another airport for service, then yes there would be added burden on the owner vs. taxiing it across the ramp.
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You are obtuse. It’s two extra trips to have the maintenance done outside annual.
 
Salty said:
You are obtuse. It’s two extra trips to have the maintenance done outside annual.
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And suppose one goes to the airport, flies the airplane, then leaves it at the shop to have the filter kit installed and drives home. Next trip he picks up the airplane, flies it, puts it away, and drives home.

No extra trips.

Isn't there something actually worthwhile to discuss?
 
Well regardless of the argument above, I'm going to wait because it's roughly a 2 week project for me, even with a favorable IA I have that lets me do most of the work.

I think I'll stick with the 25hr oil changes for now and just drain it through a paint filter to see if it catches any metal.
 
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