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Oil overflow down the belly
Hi owners, I have the Jabiru 3300, it has an oil overflow canister with a 1/2 inch line going from overflow canister out the bottom of the cowl.
Now no matter how much or little oil I put in the engine, it will overflow out the canister and down the belly of the plane.
Isn't the purpose of the overflow canister just for overflow? When you add too much to the engine it spills the excess for you?
But again, no matter how much or little I add, I always have oil down the belly. And its always coming from the oil canister outlet line. I have no other oil leaks.
I don't want oil down the belly, but I dont want to add so little oil as to harm the engine.
Is anybody else having this problem and is there a solution? Or am I stuck continually dumping new oil overboard just to keep the engine lubricated?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by John Austin on
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Where on the dipstick are you trying to keep the oil level? Jabs do not like very high oil levels and tend to "pump" out excess oil. Nick Otterback at Arion Aircraft, the USA dealer/repair center for Jabiru engines, says to keep the oil level at the bottom of the "normal" range indicated by the hashed area on the stick on Gen 1-3's. I've had both a Gen 2 and now a Gen 4 and they do just fine at these levels. On the Gen 2, I'd accumulate an ounce or two at most over 25 hrs and never had overflow at all. I eventually did do away with the catch can and just put a Motion Aero oil separator in the line which returns oil to the engine and lets the pressure go overboard - no drips from it, either.
John
N750A
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Permalink Reply by Sam Cyphers on
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Ohhhh very helpful!! i did notice less oil overboard when the oil levels were low, clearly, but didnt realize the engine could function fine that low. I was keeping the oil levels toward the top of the hashed area on the dip stick. I'll run lower now. Thank you John!!
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BTW,
Nick also suggests adding oil in smaller amounts - most of us from the Lycoming/Continental world are used to adding a quart of oil at a time, but that will waaaay overfill a Jab that's getting low. I usually add no more than 4-8 oz at a time.
John
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Very good suggestion, I would get so paranoid that I would add tons of oil to get it back up. I'll be more frugal with additions.
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Permalink Reply by John L Warren on
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Sam, I have the Gen4 3300 in my Cruzer and I had the same issue. the oil separator that comes with the engine is not very efficient. I tried drilling out the vent hole and adding a filter there, no good. I ended up getting a completely different metal tube type that mounts on top of the engine. It is from Motion Aero. I installed it in Aug of 2022 and it has been working fine, no oil on the belly and it has an oil return right back into the engine. Hope this helps some.. John W
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Ok between the two recommends I'll be ordering a Motion Aero filter tomorrow! Big help, thank you both!
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