Jabiru J170 Oil Overflow Bottle ?

[Eric McCandless]

Can anyone advise what maintenance is needed for the Jabiru J170 oil overflow bottle? I noticed that my overflow bottle is full. It has 10 hours since a 200 hour service. Is that normal? Should it be emptied manually, or does it empty itself in flight, or does it just stay full all the time? What is the procedure for emptying?

 

 

[old man emu]

Eric,

 

It's not actually an overflow of oil. It is just the condensed oil from the crankcase vapours. If the bottle is full, it usually means that someone forgot to empty it at previous services. All you have to do is loosen the clamp holding the rubber hose from the container onto the crankcase breather tube. Then dump the oil from the container and rinse the container with petrol. Fit it back on and tighten the clamp.

 

Don't fret. There is nothing wrong with your engine. However, now you know why the oil level in the engine goes down with use. To keep the underside of your plane free of oil, empty the container regularly and don't let the oil content build up in it.

 

Old Man Emu

 

 

[bushpilot]

Also check that the drain / breather hose from the top of the motor (off the side of the oil filler pipe) does not dip down when passing rearward over the top of the motor - to ensure there is no syphon affect.. On all of our Jab motors we have lengthened the hose a bit and cable-tied them to one of the top engine mounts - to produce a bit more of an incline in the first 500mm of the hose. Seems to help.

 

 

[jetjr]

Keep track of the volume of oil in there, often its from overfilling

 

 

[Eric McCandless]

Thanks everyone. I have not seen Jabiru publish this anywhere, but perhaps I just haven't looked hard enough. It is not in the POH or in their instruction and maintenance manual.