Warbird Information Exchange

W670a engine. We are using SHELL W 80 oil, but cannot get the oil up to a good running temperature. We can pre-heat to 80°C in the hangar, but within three or four minutes of the engine running, the temperature is down to 30°C. Can we safely run the engine on a good quality multi-grade oil, say, a 10W50 ? Cold oil = high wear. We joke that "This is the best oil radiator Continental ever designed" - makes us chuckle - but gets us frustrated ! Any remedies, please ?

Hi,

Sorry to answer your question with some questions, but... When you pre-heat to 80deg C, is this being done by the means of an oil tank heater? When you start the engine and the temp drops to 30deg C, are you running it long enough for the temp to start going back up? If yes, how long does it take and what temp does it get to?

Personally, I'm not a fan of running a multi-weight oil. I don't have a Stearman, but I do run Ranger engines and I always use straight weight.

Cheers,

Bill

Bill,
Bonjour from France.
We are doing ground runs for the moment, the oil will eventually go back up to 40°C after about 35 minutes, but no higher. Last year when we were flying, we never saw more than 40°C, even in August.
Have checked with other W6790A users over here, one runs his engine on 100 grade oil, another on 20/60 oil.

Hi,

I have several Stearmans on my same airport, let me do some checking and I will get back to you tomorrow.

Cheers, for now:)

Are you certain the thermometer is reading correctly? Test it by putting the temperature bulb in some boiling water.

Hi,

I agree, verify that your oil temp gauge is reading correctly. Also verify that the temp bulb is located in the right location. I had an airplane where it was in the wrong spot and the temp readings were way off.

Another component to check is the vera-therm in the oil cooler. If it is not working like it should, you could be passing oil through the core and that in turn is not allowing the oil to heat up as fast.

Good luck

We're running Phillips X/C 25-60 in our Stearman with no issues and have for quite a few years.
David
WHF Maint

Many thanks for the info. The maintenance manual shows only one spot for the temperature bulb on the W670a. We checked and it shows 99°C in boiling water.
The information about the 25/60 oil seems good, does the fact that it is thinner help it to warm up more quickly ?

Many thanks for all your help.
We have found that Philips have a depot in Holland and they stock the 25/60 oil. As soon as we need to re-stock we will be ordering from them.
With the warmer days the oil is getting just a tad warmer on our ground runs, so by the time summer comes ....
Thanks again to all.

We've been using Phillips X/C 25-60 in our Stearman, Harvard and 2 Waco UPF-7s for years as well. For what it's worth we're located in central Alberta, Canada so it's certainly not any warmer here than anywhere else!

_________________
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