AE 300 Oil Consumption

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ultraturtle
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AE 300 Oil Consumption

Post by ultraturtle »

For NG and dash 6 owners out there, a quick question about oil consumption.

A new owner, I just hit the 80 hour mark since oil change (240 hr total time) and added my second quart of oil to each engine. Both left and right have been consistent at 1 quart per 40 hours.

Climbs are always at 92%, cruise and descent always at 75%. Usually 1.4 hour legs, most at 9,000', the others at FL180.

Are those of you operating the AE300 similarly getting similar oil consumption?

Seems okay based on my mechanic's recollection maintaining a fleet of Thielerts, as well as automotive web forum accounts of Mercedes Benz diesels burning a bit of oil. Still, I would like to gather your more relevant data points.
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Re: AE 300 Oil Consumption

Post by dgger »

This is about the same consumption I see on one of my engines. My other enginge takes about twice that. Both are approaching 1,000h, and neither consumption has me worried. IIRC correctly, anything below 1l (or a "generous quart") per 10h and engine should be fine.
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Re: AE 300 Oil Consumption

Post by CFIDave »

In my experience with owning a DA42-VI and now a DA62 with Austros, if the oil is filled almost to the MAX line on the dipstick after each 100 hour oil change, I only ended up needing to add 1 liter of oil between oil changes -- just enough to keep the level above the MIN line on the dipstick. And I usually didn't have to add any oil until I flew about 80-90 hours after the oil change.

Since the difference between MAX (7 liters) and MIN (5 liters) on the dipstick is 2 liters, I concluded that my engines used approximately 2 liters of oil per 100 hours (i.e., 1 liter per 50 hours). This is much better than Austro Engine's oil consumption limit of less than .1 liter per hour of operation.
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Re: AE 300 Oil Consumption

Post by ultraturtle »

CFIDave wrote:... if the oil is filled almost to the MAX line on the dipstick after each 100 hour oil change, I only ended up needing to add 1 liter of oil between oil changes -- just enough to keep the level above the MIN line on the dipstick. And I usually didn't have to add any oil until I flew about 80-90 hours after the oil change.

Since the difference between MAX (7 liters) and MIN (5 liters) on the dipstick is 2 liters, I concluded that my engines used approximately 2 liters of oil per 100 hours (i.e., 1 liter per 50 hours). This is much better than Austro Engine's oil consumption limit of less than .1 liter per hour of operation.
I got my plane from annual with the dipsticks below MAX, and filled to that same level (twice) with a single quart once it hit the MIN line, so we are getting similar consumption - 1 quart per 40 to 50 hours.

Not sure if it came from this forum, but I've been operating on the advice to wait until it hits the MIN line, then add only a single quart. I was under the impression that filling all the way to the MAX line (or over) creates some sort of issue.
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Re: AE 300 Oil Consumption

Post by neema »

In our -VI, we used to climb at 92% (when temps permit) and cruise at 80% power, sometimes 85% when trying to prove a point. It would use around 2 quarts of oil every 100 hours at these higher power settings.

I've matured since then. We still climb at ~90% but now cruise at 75%. We get practically never have to add oil between changes. Maybe one quart needed like Dave mentioned. We have hot summers (north of 100°F) and may see slightly more oil use then. I attribute it to the longer climb out at shallower climb angles (130 KIAS vs 115 if cool enough)

Winter time will usually see <12 minute climbs 10-12000 ft and then 30-90 minutes in cruise at 75%. Very low oil consumption in these circumstances and the oil doesn't have a chance to get too hot (where I think consumption starts to take place)

Rob, what speeds do you target for climb?
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Re: AE 300 Oil Consumption

Post by ememic99 »

dgger wrote:IIRC correctly, anything below 1l (or a "generous quart") per 10h and engine should be fine.
Anything close to this value is not ok. I would not expect anything more than 1 l per 30-40 hours.
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Re: AE 300 Oil Consumption

Post by CFIDave »

ememic99 wrote:
dgger wrote:IIRC correctly, anything below 1l (or a "generous quart") per 10h and engine should be fine.
Anything close to this value is not ok. I would not expect anything more than 1 l per 30-40 hours.
The AE300 Austro Engine Operations Manual E4 Doc. No.: E4.01.01 Rev. 20 (page 3-13) explicitly says oil consumption should be < .1 liter/hour, so "anything below 1l per 10h" is correct. (The AE330 operations manual for the DA62 engines states the same thing.)
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Re: AE 300 Oil Consumption

Post by ememic99 »

Whatever manual says I wouldn’t be happy with 0.1l per hour and AFAIK people report much less than this. It would be same as Avgas engines which is far from reality.
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Re: AE 300 Oil Consumption

Post by carym »

FWIW, and as a frame of reference, for the last 1/2 of my 900 hours on my 1.7 engines I would have to add 1L of oil every 6-8 hours.
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Re: AE 300 Oil Consumption

Post by ememic99 »

It’s simply too much.
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