This month’s Ask a Tech Q&A come from the owner of a Lycoming engine that’s making attention-getting amounts of metal and one from the owner of a Cessna 172 who says neither of his two newer VHF radios will receive unless the airplane is directly over the station. IA Mike Berry addresses the metal in the oil issue, first.
“My Lycoming IO-360 has had high levels of aluminum in oil analysis for some time and we have begun finding some small, tiny, flat nonmagnetic shiny flakes in the oil filter. The metal has a flat, almost foil-like appearance to it.