582 Grey, Rotary Valve Lube system

[allonsye 85]

So on my 582, I bleed the rotary valve lube system – unscrewed the opening above the water pump, cycled the motor a couple of revolutions by hand, next glance at the what was full reservoir and see it  complete empty.    .  Where’d all the oil go?    So I top it, run the motor for 15-mins, and there’s no perceptible oil usage. Is this normal?

[Guest]

The oil must have filled a void in the RV chamber. I think it is normal and what bleeding the air is all about. The best way I have found to bleed the air out of the chamber is to loosen that little screw but leave it in place. Eventually oil will start to weep around the threads of the screw. When it does the chamber is full of oil. it can take quite a while, but it is a lot less messy than oil pouring out of the hole and making a mess when the chamber gets full.

 

Chris

[jlpeet 2]

what Chris said. If you take that little screw out it can be a real pain to git back in before all the oil in the reservoir runs out on the floor.Then you wonder did I just introduce an air bubble in the system.

[1avidflyer 1983]

With the inverted engine, I would unhook the line off the bottle that goes to the lower fitting. I had about 1' of some larger hose that slid over the hose I unhooked tight enough to not leak. I then poured the oil down that line with the use of a small funnel. By the oil going into the lower fitting first, the air gets pushed out up the other line as the cavity is filled with oil. Eventually you will have oil coming up into the oil bottle through the top hose. At that point there should be no air left in the system. You can also loosen the air bleed screw at the same time. It's really important to get the air out of the system. If the gears are run dry, it wont take long for them to be shot, and then the $ will flee from your wallet like it's on fire.... ) Jim Chuk

[C5Engineer 1170]

I used reinforced clear dishwasher line. I stood my plane up almost on its nose and you could see the air bubbles move up the line. Like Jim said whatever method you do make sure you are very confident you got all the air out. Also keep a close eye on it the first couple of runs. If everything is right you should just have to barely top it off every 20-30 hrs or so. If it's using oil you have a problem.

[allonsye 85]

Whew, I'm wondering now if I've run it with air in the system?  How does one verify that it's working correctly or undamaged in the event of oil starvation?   What Joey say about consumption I suppose.

 

I'm going to replace the line with a 1/2" clear and remove the elbow it has presently. 

 

I like Jim's reverse bleed procedure.  I'll do this evening and report back.

 

Great feedback. Thanks guys.

Edited 6 May 2015 by allonsye

[akflyer 1427]

When I was rebuilding my plane I rebuilt the engine as well.  During the break in I learned the lesson the hard way that if there is air in the RV cavity IT WILL melt the brass gear in under 15 minutes.  I used a turkey baster to force the oil through the system and get all trapped air out the second time.

 

[1avidflyer 1983]

I would imagine one could try to move the rotary valve back and forth to see how much movement it has. More movement, = more wear on the gears that drive it. Not sure how much play is in a good gear set, but it's a start. Jim Chuk

[allonsye 85]

The oil must have filled a void in the RV chamber. I think it is normal and what bleeding the air is all about. The best way I have found to bleed the air out of the chamber is to loosen that little screw but leave it in place. Eventually oil will start to weep around the threads of the screw. When it does the chamber is full of oil. it can take quite a while, but it is a lot less messy than oil pouring out of the hole and making a mess when the chamber gets full.

 

Chris

This worked the best.

It's reasonable to assume then, that I started my break-in runs with the chamber having air in it, at least in the amount that the oil resevoir holds. I replaced the lines w/half inch ID reinforced clear poly and it went much better.  Also, the larger line holds more oil.

Anyways, hopefully whoever rebuilt it used plenty of build lube and things are ok.  Guess we will see one way or another in a few hours of operation.

Edited 10 May 2015 by allonsye