Crankcase air dryer

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6673
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Re: Crankcase air dryer

Post by 6673 »

Good info in this thread. It was very helpful.
a64pilot
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Re: Crankcase air dryer

Post by a64pilot »

One theory on the Lycomings is the cam being at the top of the case,is where any condensation that can happen can occur, at the top.
Personally I don’t think it’s that simple if it were then it would be an easy fix with an engine drier, but those haven’t seen to help, neither has Camguard a product sold with a lot of promises that just doesn’t seem to pan out. It’s sold as a great anti corrosion treatment, obviously by the name targeting Lycoming owners.

While corrosion will certainly cause a cam or lifter to spall, Lycomings main problem may not be corrosion.
if it were condensation then aircraft in Arizona etc would be immune and they aren’t immune, they lose cams as often as Florida aircraft.
I think it’s one of a few other possibilities, one Lycoming used to get their cams from Crane Cam, which went out of business years ago, I don’t know current manufacturer.

Secondly back years ago fuel changed,100LL used to not exist, then possibly lastly the Lycoming cam is directly inline with any cylinder blow-by, and there does seem to be a correlation with engine cylinder wear, blow by and failed cams.

Whatever it is, Lycoming cam failures were unheard of 50 or so years ago, so in my mind somethings changed.

But back to the small Continentals,I see no reason why you can’t pump air back up the blow by tube, the air will find its way out past rings and out open valves etc., a small aquarium pump is a very small amount of air and low pressure, surely not enough to cause any harm?

My Maule I used to have had a Lycomings IO-540, and the Mooney I have now has a Lycoming IO-360, so I worry about cam failures. While I’ve never seen it cause an engine failure, I have seen the metal eat up a Crankshaft beyond serviceable limits and eat up oil pump gears, so it can get very expensive.

I keep thinking about an engine drier, but instead make sure I fly weekly at least a short flight and keep a dehumidifier running in Winter and installed a Mini-split in the hanger with a humidistat to dehumidify in Summer, I keep the RH below 65% that way in Summer and mid 50’s in Winter.
A 50 pint dehumidifier keeps a 3,000 sq ft hangar dehumidified, but he mini-split is a 2 ton, so Winter requires way less power than a humid Florida Summer.
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