DA40-180 Oil Dipstick: Lycoming MSB 612
Posted: Fri Dec 23, 2016 10:46 pm
While engaging with the thread regarding excessive oil use I stumbled across this:
https://www.lycoming.com/sites/default/ ... ent%20.pdf
Especially since it's a warranty item for a year after the date of this SB (4/5/2016) I ordered the replacement item(s). They arrived yesterday. Comparing the two actually resolves some long-standing questions in my mind. Here is a picture of the two side-by-side that I took today (NOTE: in the picture I mislabeled the olde one as LW-18783-18. It's actually the "offending" one - LW16783-18)
Note:
- The two dipsticks would roughly give the same reading somewhere around 5 quarts. But above that, the old dipstick shows less than you actually have, and below 5 it can show considerably more than you actually have. This latter issue is the stated reason for the SB.
- The corrected placement of the 8 qt. mark makes more sense than the long-standing behavior I've had when doing an oil/filter change and adding 8 quarts of oil (plus lately, 13 oz. of CamGuard). It looked like the filter (and associated plumbing) was holding almost a quart of that oil. As far as I can tell, it should be more like a pint, as it appears the CH48110-1 has an exterior volume of about 20 ounces. The revised 8 qt. location is almost exactly where I recall the oil level after my most recent oil change.
- I'd long wondered why an engine with a minimum oil level of 4 qts. would have that mark at the extreme end of the dipstick. You don't make gauges like that.
I also took measurements of the positions of the marking of the two dipsticks to more specifically quantify the distances of the respective marks from the top of the filler tube and the distances between the various markings. I'll post these numbers shortly.
As an aside, I seem to recall a many-years-in-the-past request from Diamond asking to confirm that I had the LW-16783-18 dipstick, which is why I knew right offhand what the part number stamping looked like.
https://www.lycoming.com/sites/default/ ... ent%20.pdf
Especially since it's a warranty item for a year after the date of this SB (4/5/2016) I ordered the replacement item(s). They arrived yesterday. Comparing the two actually resolves some long-standing questions in my mind. Here is a picture of the two side-by-side that I took today (NOTE: in the picture I mislabeled the olde one as LW-18783-18. It's actually the "offending" one - LW16783-18)
Note:
- The two dipsticks would roughly give the same reading somewhere around 5 quarts. But above that, the old dipstick shows less than you actually have, and below 5 it can show considerably more than you actually have. This latter issue is the stated reason for the SB.
- The corrected placement of the 8 qt. mark makes more sense than the long-standing behavior I've had when doing an oil/filter change and adding 8 quarts of oil (plus lately, 13 oz. of CamGuard). It looked like the filter (and associated plumbing) was holding almost a quart of that oil. As far as I can tell, it should be more like a pint, as it appears the CH48110-1 has an exterior volume of about 20 ounces. The revised 8 qt. location is almost exactly where I recall the oil level after my most recent oil change.
- I'd long wondered why an engine with a minimum oil level of 4 qts. would have that mark at the extreme end of the dipstick. You don't make gauges like that.
I also took measurements of the positions of the marking of the two dipsticks to more specifically quantify the distances of the respective marks from the top of the filler tube and the distances between the various markings. I'll post these numbers shortly.
As an aside, I seem to recall a many-years-in-the-past request from Diamond asking to confirm that I had the LW-16783-18 dipstick, which is why I knew right offhand what the part number stamping looked like.