During climb at 100 mph indicated there is about a needle width of green
between the oil temperature indicator needle and red-line. When I throttle
back to a cruise power setting of about 2500 RPM @ 6500 MSL and a bit rich
of peak on the leanest cylinder, the oil temp gauge drops back to a couple
of needle widths below red-line.

I suspect the oil cooler could use a flush, but the oil cooler bypass valve
was replaced about a year ago and its seat in the oil filter adapter was
lapped. The bypass valve work produced a noticeably cooler climb.

--
Best Regards,
Mike

http://photoshow.comcast.net/mikenoel

wrote in message
ups.com...
I am curious, what is your oil temp in those 'HOT'" conditions?

Ben


Mike Noel wrote:
The change in oil consumption may be cause for concern as already
mentioned,
but as to the cooling effect of the extra couple of quarts of oil, I have
never seen my A4A run cooler on 8 quarts than on 6 (It's about 115 F here
today.) It consistently uses 1 quart every 8 hours which is not unusual
for
this type engine. I have seen discussions about very low oil consumption
being a cause for concern because it may cause lubrication issues in the
cylinders.

--
Best Regards,
Mike

http://photoshow.comcast.net/mikenoel

"Robert M. Gary" wrote in message
ups.com...
I have an IO-360-A3B6 900 SFNEW in '97. I used to be able to keep about
7 quarts in it without it blowing out. Now it seems to be blowing oil
down to about 5.5 quarts. Since I live in the 100F OATs part of the
country, the extra oil really helps cooling.
Should I worry about what is causing the extra oil blow out or just
chock it up to an aging engine. I know some engines always blow out to
6ish quarts.
If I shouldn't worry about the extra blow out I'll just put a separator
on it, but I don't want to mask a problem first. One recent change is
we raised the oil pressure since the regulator had been slipping prior
to annual.

-Robert