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.

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Permalink Reply by Glenn Davis on April 19, 2021 at 1:39pm

I'll second Loren's question on the engine you have. As he said the 130 does not have a PCV valve.

Permalink Reply by Loren Warner on April 19, 2021 at 3:22pm

Just to clarify, my question about type engine was to Samuel Cardona, as I thought he had a Viking 90.  

As for Orlando, I have no doubt he has a 130, but didn't think he had a PCV valve, or to state another way, he does not a PCV system where crankcase gases are recirculated.  Instead, the gases just dump to the atmosphere.  

Perhaps he does have excess blow-by of rings or bad valve guides.  At this point, I'd do as Keith Thomas suggested with a compression check and borescope, but first check and adjust the intake and exhaust valves.

 

Permalink Reply by Orlando on April 19, 2021 at 4:50pm

The PCV valve doesn't connect to the intake anymore, but the valve is still there. Likely doesn't need to be a valve anymore and just a straight through vent would be better and less failure prone. 

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Permalink Reply by Loren Warner on April 19, 2021 at 5:34pm

Do you have a crankcase breather located at the top of the cylinder head cover, with a hose almost touching the exhaust catalyst? 

Our breather and exhaust are free of any oil residue.  

Permalink Reply by Orlando on April 19, 2021 at 5:49pm

Yes, or I did. Currently it runs to a catch can mounted on the firewall.

Permalink Reply by Keith Thomas on April 19, 2021 at 1:00pm

I'd do a compression check, If that is good it could be the valve stem's leaking oil by. Also bore scope the cylinders, you can get a cheap bore scope that runs off you smartphone.

Permalink Reply by Orlando on April 19, 2021 at 5:33pm

Ran a compression test and got 170-165-165-175. I'm at 4300ft MSL so it seems reasonable that I'm at the low end of the 160-210psi spec that Viking gives. It's also up a bit from when I checked last summer and it was around 160psi

Haven't been able to get a good picture of the cylinder wall. Camera doesn't want to focus that closely. I'll see if I can find a better one.

I would expect a bad valve stem seal to leak more during idle or partial throttle, not so much during cruise on account of the decreased manifold pressure.

Permalink Reply by Loren Warner on April 19, 2021 at 5:52pm

Compression seems pretty well balanced.   Wish Jan would chime in on this discussion.

Permalink Reply by Alexander Ehrnrooth on April 20, 2021 at 6:53am

Is this a common issue with Vikings?

Permalink Reply by Jan Eggenfellner on April 20, 2021 at 6:16pm

We have over 1000 engines out there - no it is not a common thing. We have had three people report this past two years (Orlando, Samuel and another) we haven't pinpointed the exact issue. One has been solved with the use of break in oil without issue - the two others not as much - which both seem to be low wings - so not sure if that is also coincidence. Both at different density altitudes and both have good compression. 

Permalink Reply by Mike Terry on August 7, 2021 at 9:34am

  Seems like the rings did not seat properly. Did Orlando have a long taxi time prior to first flight ie. 3to 4 hours? Did he vary throttle settings. How long did he run the break-in oil, did he put a load on the engine?

 

Permalink Reply by Jonathan Fay on April 20, 2021 at 10:55am

I was having excessive oil use and oil in the bottom of the cowling for quite a while and I could never pinpoint the source since everything blows around and covers everything. When I installed the VIP I took the time to reinstall the oil sensor and while it did not seem to be any different after the fact I have had super stable oil levels since and no more oil in the cowling. I don't know if it was flying in winter/spring weather or because the leak was cured but I have not had to add oil since my last change vs having to add oil every few hours. I will look at that screen hitting the motor mount..

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