Ditto on that statement. The engine oil is the only substance that can carry the heat from the internal parts to the surfaces of the engine. Otherwise you would have burned the pistons a few minutes after starting the engine. The oil in the sump is acting as a heat-sink that takes up all the excess in temperature. The more in heat absorbing quality, the better.Additionally, if you keep only 3 quarts in the sump you will have maybe only two quarts available for that extra work. because one quarts is constantly traveling through your engine. I know from experience that it is sometimes impossible to keep the level that high. A behavior like this is a hint of a not so perfect working engine. There is blow by or leaks somewhere between piston rings, valves or crank seals. Now, if your engine runs cool otherwise and the OAT is not that high, keeping the oil level at around 3 quarts might not be a problem, except that I noticed that one looses oil pressure easily then when descending. The oil level can get so low in descending flight that the suction tube does not have anything to suck except for air. So ideally, a C-85 should be at 4 1/2 or even 5 quarts per TCd. But practically not so possible, one should be aware that there is a a slight risk involved when running a lower level. And for you law abiding Type certificate aficionados, there is no other way than filling her up to 4.5 quarts before every flight, otherwise you are flying illegal! :-) Hartmut
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]: [EMAIL PROTECTED]: Wed, 1 Oct 2008 22:09:50 +0000Subject: [ercoupe-tech] Oil Capacity I keep my C-90 ( M-10 ) at 5 qt. I think that an air cooled engine, especially in a Coupe, needs all the cooling it can get. In sump engines it is really not too likely that the engine will ' throw' oil out. That could occur in old time auto engines that used 'splash' lubrication. _________________________________________________________________ Want to do more with Windows Live? Learn “10 hidden secrets” from Jamie. http://windowslive.com/connect/post/jamiethomson.spaces.live.com-Blog-cns!550F681DAD532637!5295.entry?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_domore_092008
