Today I went to the hangar and Cory Bagley
was working down at John McDonald’s hangar.
Dennis King was also working on his Grumman Cheetah next door. Cory came down to help Dennis for a moment
and asked if I still needed some help with the oil change and inspection. It was over 2-weeks ago that I called him and
asked for his assistance. He told me
then it would be about a week before he would be available. I said ‘yes I do’. He said he was going to lunch and would come
and help me when he got back. I told him
I would remove the cowlings and get things ready. I proceeded to remove the cowlings and bought
an oil collection pan at Auto Zone. When
Cory got back we started to change the oil and make the 25 hour inspection.
All went well. Cory did most of the work. I had all of the tools and supplies he needed
including the oil, crush gasket, filter, safety wire, etc. After the change he went down the Rotax 5.1)
Maintenance Schedule check list and initialed all applicable boxes. He also maked and signed an entry in the
Engine Log Book. I thanked him and will
send him a check this weekend to pay for his services.
I then proceeded to install the remote oil
pressure sensor kit I purchased from CPC.
I started by removing the oil pressure sensor from the engine block and
cut the wires loose from the various places I had tied it to hoses. I pulled the senor back through the engine
area so it was on the firewall shelf near the fuel pressure sensor. I was able to do that little trick with no
problems. It was a challenge to cut some
of the cable ties but I got to all of them.
I replaced the cable ties I removed to reattach the other wires that
were tied in place.
I installed the
fitting on the engine block and attached the hose supplied with the kit. I ran the hose over the top of the engine
cooling shroud and back to the firewall shelf to near the pressure sensor.
I cut a small piece of ¾ x
¾ aluminum angle and drilled it for some 1/8th inch rivets and the
Adel clamp. I riveted the angle in place
and attached the oil hose to the sensor
then attached the sensor to the angle with the Adel clamp. I cable tied the wires and hose in place. I pulled the airplane out of the hangar and
started the engine. The oil pressure
came up and was rock solid. After
shutting down I checked for leaks or other problems and found none. I hope this is going t be the solution to my
jumpy oil pressure readings of late.
