wrote:
Ernest,

I agree with alot of what you said. The point of my OP was not to
challenge what the best care of the engine is. I think we all agree
that flying it an hour a week is what is called for, along with regular
oil changes. What I has me concerned is that many times during the
winter, it is difficult if not impossible to do this. In that
situation, I think it is better to warm up the engine than just let it
sit. The cam and lifter on Lycomings will tolerate no rust at all. Once
you have even a small rust pit in the lifting face of the cam or lifter
I'm afraid you are looking at a tear down in the not too distant
future. Literally beats them to death in short order. And like I said,
my oil analysis results show no water at all, zero. As for the engine
making water, of course it does, and it goes right out the exhaust as
you said. I don't think the engine stays very cold for any length of
time once running. Those babies get hot, and quick, even in the winter.
I doubt if they collect much if any water during start up. I also don't
think the oil turns to an acid capable of dissolving the engine. I
could be wrong, as I haven't done the research, but then, I don't think
anyone else has either. Some say they have, but they aren't showing it
for us to see, at least not that I'm aware of. I realize that the 180
deg is probably meant as a guide, but they do state specifically that
if you don't hit 180, the water won't evaporate. I think this is
nonsense. The oil in a running engine is literally blown and slung
around like a hurricane. It doesn't just sit at the bottom of the sump.
And the volume of oil pumped is huge. 90 psi will do that. I think that
there probably are pockets within the engine that trap water. The front
of the hollow crank comes to mind, but I don't think they ever get
purged of their water, even after hours of operation.

Blue skies,
Rusty

You don't really need to fly it once a week. Once a month will do as
long as it gets an hour or so. I bought a '68 Cardinal in '89 that had
never even had a cylinder removed since new (original unbroken Lycoming
duck egg blue paint at the cylinder bases). I went back through the
logs and found that while it only had 1100 hours in 21 years, it had
never gone more than a 40 day period without flying in all that time.

I sold it to a guy in '93 who still owns it, keeps it outside and it
STILL have never even had a cylinder removed. He only puts about 20 or
30 hours a year on it but makes sure it never sits more than a month.

The vast majority of private aircraft that need tops after 1000 hrs
often go 3 to 6 months at a time without flying.

John