William, et al,

Trust me, I would love to think it is a sender but I bought a mechanical= gage the other day with the same results as the EM2 .

I will likely pull the engine this weekend (I work late tomorrow). = I already pulled the prop. I will check the pick up. I do have= a half inch extension but because I knew it could be a problem I was focus= ed on getting a good seal and it is safety wired on, as is the front pressure port.

Since the engine will be off and easier to work with, I will check the f= ront cover stuff again. Is there a test on testing the oil pump while= it is off the engine?

As Lynn mentioned I will be looking for sparkles in the pan and will ope= n up the oil filter too. Again, I am speculating that it may be the f= ront bearings as it was the one part that was not well in spec. I cou= ld be completely wrong. I do not relish the idea of just replacing parts without cause....the gear with bushi= ng installed I think is $102 from Mazdatrix ....it is alw= ays something.

Not wanting to aimlessly replacing parts is the reason that I am once ag= ain asking for thoughts. It seems as if I have eliminated= most issues; oil pressure ports, front one safety wired, chain, bent washe= r, o-ring/silicon ring at front cover, safety wired pick up and sealed 1/2 inch extension, key.....and now the bearings.= So, please, share what I may be missing that may cause this typ= e of low pressure since I will be looking over the next several d= ays. Also, I did just check the rotor oil seals a= nd rotar parts when I replaced the apex seals and springs a couple of months ago fo= llowing a detonation event.

I could be discouraged but that may go against my Tauru= s stubborn nature. Ok, not stubborn <g>= , or so I hope, but persistent and becoming educate= d. And, as always, the ground is the place to discover= this stuff and why we ground test and test and test. Test it until it doesn't fail= , test it a little more, then fly.

And on a positive not, except for the pesky low oil pressure (yeah, a re= ally big pesky little problem) the engine has been starting a running stron= g and smooth as hell.

Chris

From: Rotary motors in aircraft [flyrotary@l= ancaironline.net] on behalf of William Wilson [fluffysheap@gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, July 15, 2011 2:57 AM
To: Rotary motors in aircraft
Subject: [FlyRotary] Re: Oil Pressure Again

I had a sending unit go bad once and do this. It didn't just rea= d zero like you expect, it just kept showing less and less pressure. = It was about a decade old at the time.

On Thu, Jul 14, 2011 at 5:46 PM, Chris Barber <cbarber@= texasattorney.net> wrote:

I hesitate asking about this again, but I am too close to possibly flyin= g to drop the ball too much now. I have a drop in oil pressure again.= It has dropped from the high 60's or so to= between 20 psi to 40 psi (20 to 30 at lower RPM and only up to around 40+ as I increase power).

My first thought was that it was the front o-ring and silicone ring in t= he front cover. So, I pulled the front pan and replaced it. I also wa= s able to check the front pressure port and the oil pump chain/key/washer e= tc and all was good.

I am about to have to pull the engine to check the bottom of the engine = for the oil pick up and rear port (after checking the hoses, but I wou= ld thinking a blockage, depending on where it is, would = increase pressure). One of the disadvantages of the Conversion Concepts mount is that I pretty much have to pull the en= gine to check the bottom end.

My question is, other than the mentioned items, what else could cause th= is sort of drop. I have hooked up a mechanical pre= ssure gage (instead of the RWS EM2 <= a>). My concern is that it may be the front bearing as it was the only part I recall being closer to being out of spec= . I hate the idea of having to tear down the engine again to replace = this part especially since the engine is running all but= perfectly and I was doing squawks preparing for my DAR inspection before this issue crept up.

Also, even though I can't think of a way, is there any way to replace th= e front stationary gear/bearing without cracking the eng= ine...just had to ask as I am not really liking the idea of cracking open t= he engine again, even though I am getting a bit too good at it....but apparently not well enough = to make it actually work right.

As opposed to mucking around with red hearings and wi= ld goose chases, I figured I would just ask again. And yes, I have be= en reviewing the archives already .

TIA

Thanks

Chris Barber

Houston.