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Viking 130 Oil Consumption
My 130 has about 100hrs on it and it's been using about 1qt every 2 hours of flight time since new. It varies a bit with RPM. At 4300rpm it'll use 1qt/5hrs and at 4800rpm 1qt/2hrs.
No leaks that I've been able to find. Based on the advise from Alissa, I added a catch can for the valve cover vent and found it pushes about 1/4 qt in that 2 hour span. I'm assuming the rest is being burned.
Alissa also recommended running 10W-30 break-in oil which helped at first, but I suspect it was mostly the increase in viscosity. Since consumption slowly increased again after switching back to the recommended 0W-20.
Anyone else have oil consumption issues with the Viking 130? Were you able to fix it?
I've been pretty happy with the engine otherwise, but adding oil more often than fuel is growing tiresome.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Glenn Davis on
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Hi Orlando,
Wow! that's a lot of oil loss/consumption. I haven't heard of anyone reporting nearly that much.
Do you see signs of oil usage in the exhaust? I do experience oil blow-by which is annoying but nowhere near the 1/4 qt you are experiencing.
I will be very interested in the resolution of your problem...
Glenn Davis
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Permalink Reply by Orlando on
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I do see a greasy soot in the exhaust pipe as well as the normally white underbelly is nearly black with an oily/greasy soot.
Spoke with a Honda service tech who mentioned that several Honda engines are known to burn oil and 1000 miles per qt was normal. The fix was new rings/pistons which I'm not really keen on, considering it should basically still be a new engine
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Permalink Reply by Alexander Ehrnrooth on
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Would be very interesting to know why as I’m considering a Viking 130....
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Permalink Reply by Loren Warner on
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Check the left aft corner bolt holding the Cylinder Head Cover. Myself, and another, found our corner bolts were too long, and bottoming against the engine mount bracket. Because the bolt was bottoming against the engine mount, the cover was not pulling snug, and leaked. The bottoming bolt is very hard to see, and the leak is not visible. We shortened the bolt, and the cover no longer leaks.
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Thanks for the tip Loren! I took a peek at it this morning and that bolt is definitely hitting the motor mount. I'll try shortening the bolt this weekend and report back.
I'm also planning on checking the PCV valve below the intake. The outlet of it is completely dry and with that much blow-by I would expect something to come out of it.
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Oil leaking from this corner of the cover will eventually find its way into the radiator, and under the fuselage.
With regards to PCV, the 130 does not use a PCV, and the crankcase breather hose dumps onto the catalyst exhaust. Our breather hose has always been and exhaust has has always been clean and dry.
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Thanks for the heads up I better check mine before I even get it installed.
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Permalink Reply by Samuel Cardona on
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I was having the same problem. I added Superkote 2000 additive to the oil and it reduced the oil consumption significantly. My engine had 21K miles before it got to viking, so It was not a "new" engine but is not a lot to be using a quart every 10 hours or so. I decided to change the oil at the 40 hour mark and tried Superkote, today as part of the annual condition inspection I changed the oil (86 hours on the hub) . The oil level was right between the min and max level marks. The consumption was around 1/2 quart!
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I thought you have a Viking 90. Do you also have a Viking 130?
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Yes a 130.
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Shortened the bolt that Loren pointed out and flew it for 1 hour cruising at 4900RPM over the weekend. Lost ~1/2qt and pushed a couple ounces into the catch can.
Also removed and checked the PCV valve and it was slightly sticky when I pushed on the valve with the tip of a screwdriver. I replaced it with a new OEM Honda PCV valve and flew it for an hour cruising at 4900RPMish. Same result, about 1/2qt low after and a couple more ounces in the catch can.
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