My oil leak repairs 0-300

L

Luvrv8

Line Up and Wait
Joined
Sep 11, 2011
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695
Location
Camarillo Ca
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KCMA flyer
Since I am new here I will give some background. I am not a A&P but did serve in the ARMY as a crewchief on OH-58's (67V) and am a factory trained mechanic on three different MFGR's of vehicles. I am lucky to have a IA that I am able to work with on my plane.

I own a 172 with a 0-300D engine, about mid time. I cant stand oil leaks but most at the airport tell me with my engine just to live with them as they are within specs. Having lunch with my IA I told him my new quest is to have a leak free engine, he said knock yourself out, do the work in my hanger so I can watch you as you are in a up hill battle. Well I ordered the real gasket push rod seal STC kit, real gasket rocker covers and some misc gaskets. One morning I tore into it, the pushrod kit was very complete and not to bad to install once I figured out how to remove the old tubes. I spent a total of 5 hours installing the kit then parked my plane. I didnt get a chance to fly it for a couple of weeks but when I put a hour on it is was dry, I mean like not a drip to be found. I have since put another 20 hours on it and still not a drop anywhere. If anyone that has a 0-200 or 0-300 engine and suffers from leaky push rods I highly recomend this kit.
 
Good info, Karl, and welcome to POA! Hope you hang around and share.

I used to commute up from Escondido to Camarillo once a month for meetings when I lived out in SoCal ... don't miss that commute at all!
 
Wow normally I'd agree with your mechanic......but sometimes you get lucky. There are many many stories of people chasing leaks using good technique for eons, but still can be found cleaning that belly each month! Hope it lasts for you.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Wow normally I'd agree with your mechanic......but sometimes you get lucky. There are many many stories of people chasing leaks using good technique for eons, but still can be found cleaning that belly each month! Hope it lasts for you.
Click to expand...

What he did was install an STC to replace the tin push rod tubes, with a billeted aluminum tubes, that is the weak link in the 0-300 that and the valve covers. The 0-300 does not have the weeping case seams the the Lycoming suffers from.
 
Guess it's good that your background wasn't in the CH-47 or you'd just let it leak! ;)
 
I am lucky my IA has let me prove to him I am able to handle repairs on planes. He even hires me when he is busy to help out, me being retired I enjoy doing it. Since I can do this work in his hanger I take pride in having a oil leak free plane, I have installed the hooker harness seat belts, a DME and have done a new weight and balance with his scales. Without him my wife would be unhappy with the bills if I had to pay full price. Lesson here is if you have a good relationship with your IA, dont screw it up. The first time I met him I was doing a owners assist annual, he told me to tear down the plane, when he came back I had every inch of the interior out, every panal I could find etc. He said "looks like your not trying to hide anything from me", every since then we have had a great relationship.
 
I put that Real Gasket push-rod seals in my PA-28 .... That stuff works very well indeed.
 
Karl, that is amazing that you could do this upgrade in 5 hours. I have considered this for my 0300 A but the potential cost seemed too high.
 
PM me, I will give you my number and give you any info you need.
 
There is a good reason that neither Continental nor Lycoming got into the computer business ...

Neither one of them could figure out a way to make the computers leak oil...

{;-)

Jim
 
weirdjim said:
There is a good reason that neither Continental nor Lycoming got into the computer business ...

Neither one of them could figure out a way to make the computers leak oil...

{;-)

Jim
Click to expand...

:goofy:
They missed a chance. The IBM 407 tab machine had a metal tray on the floor under the machine to catch oil drips. Not a computer by today's standards but some would say that it was a "computing machine".
 
Karl,

I had the same objective. A few people I know used the Real Gasket pushrod kit and swear by it. I instead swaged my tubes with the Parker Bead tool and used new pushrod gaskets and new springs. No more leaks. I still have an ongoing issue with my F&M oil filter adapter. I think I have just about solved it. The other issue was the oil filter screen on the left outboard never wanting to seal with just the AN900 copper gasket. A little Hylomar cleared that right up.
 
Are you still around? Got a question regarding the stc on the pushrod tubes. Where can I get them? how much do they cost?
 
MBDiagMan said:
Wow! So do you cut the old tube out after removing the pushrods?
Click to expand...
The routine usually goes, remove the exhaust system. Remove the rocker arms, remove the push rods, remove the pushrod tubes by grabbing them with vice grips, and extract them with a hammer.
Follow the STC instructions to install the real-gasket replacement tubes.
Put every thing back on.
 
I've installed several, pulling out the push rod housings reminds me of a dentist pulling teeth
 
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