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I have been flying behind dry vacuum pumps for 28 years at an average of
100 hours per year and have had one pump fail in all that time. I
replaced that one, on my present Mooney, with another dry pump and it has
been problem free for 600 hours. I think the answer is regular flying. I
have always flown quite regularly and make it a point to do a local
flight every week if I don't have a trip planned (yes all year round in
Iowa, a Northwind heater makes the plane start like in summer and I use
it all the time when night temps go below 30. The plane is hangared and
has a cowl cover made to fit, which makes the heating system much more
effective.) Mechanical things deteriorate much more rapidly when not
used.

The same is true of the pre-oiler. Just fly the plane every week. I
rebuild auto engines as an occasional hobby and always pre-oil them by
running the pump with a shaft I made to fit through the distributer hole
(since most auto oil pumps run on the distributer shaft). I swear by this
to get all the passages full and get rid of bubbles before starting the
engine the first time. Pre-oiling is fine, I suppose, if you fly seldom,
but to my way of thinking if you don't fly enough to keep things
lubricated, you just aren't keeping yourself from getting rusty too. My
present chrome cylinders have 1200 since top and are running 78-78-76-78
and I agree with my mechanic (who rebuilds engines) that it is because of
such regular use.

My two cents, Bob Grossmann

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