Primarily for general aviation discussion, but other aviation topics are also welcome.
By IhaveBeenThere
#1507205
Anyone any experience of using this additive. with Lycs ?

I see its advertised by LAS and others. I know that Lyc camshafts are prone to wear with infrequent use as the oil coating drains off leaving little or no oil film when starting. So this additive may help the oil to stick and not drain away between starts :?:
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By Rob P
#1507207
We added it for the first time at our recent oil change.

Obviously we have no way of knowing if it works or not, but we assumed it could do little harm used as directed.

Rob P
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By David S
#1507224
Aviation Consumer have done some semi-scientific tests and surveys amongst their readership and it's received generally positive reports. However, if you're already using an oil with a rust inhibitor, the additional benefit may be marginal.

Mike Busch, who I think is pretty straight-shooting, also reports positive experiences with it.

http://www.aslcamguard.com/index.php/20 ... -cronicles
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By Flying_john
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1507259
We have been using it for the last 4 oil changes, but who knows whether it lives up to its claims until the teardown at TBO (or before) to see what wear has occured.

I too went to a very good presentation by Ed the ex Exxon chemist and he certainly seems to have the qualifications and evidence.

One particular part of his presentation is the examination of the internals of an engine after running for many hundreds of hours and I was struck by how clean it was compared to one that didnt use camguard.

Only downside is that one of the bottles I was bringing home from Sun n fun this year got confiscated by US customs :-(
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By Waveflyer
#1507276
It was sold to me as the result of reading various reports and I've used it for over 700 hours on new engines. I do 50 hour oil changes and had no issues.

Of course it's a matter of trust but I doubt if I will ever reach the 2000 hours to find out if it was justified :(

:santa:
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By CloudHound
#1588413
CloudHound is resting at the moment. Though I changed his oil at the end of last year and he's kept in the dry I'm always looking for ways to protect anything I can from the ravages of time.

Saw an ad from Transair today extolling CamGuards virtues and I wondered what the team thinks?
By riverrock
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1588459
If planning to not flying for more than a month, have you looked at inhibiting the engine? Special fluid, desiccant and bungs.
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By Lockhaven
#1588461
Rob P wrote:We added it for the first time at our recent oil change.

Obviously we have no way of knowing if it works or not, but we assumed it could do little harm used as directed.

Rob P


You could always remove a cylinder and inspect the camshaft for corrosion and pitting before using the additive, then do the same again a few hundred hours later to see if theres any notable change in wear, corrosion or pitting.
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By Bill McCarthy
#1588466
I think that past discussion on the properties of oils indicated that mineral oils remained coated on engine components, whereby synthetics slowly came away leading to possible internal corrosion. Another additive discussed was Activ8 - for improved resistance to wear (bliddy expensive, but who knows the proof). Something I do know works very well is Redex as an upper cylinder lubricant and prevention of carbon build-up , but I don't know if anyone uses it in aviation - I used it in a car I bought from new and used it without fail when refuelling. I removed the cylinder head (in the days when you could) after thirty odd thousand miles and there was not one grain of carbon on the piston heads, valves or surfaces.
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By Rob P
#1588468
Can I therefore suggest (for LAA types) a little wheeze popular in my boy racer days?

Windscreen washer bottle filled with Redex, tubing from the pump to the carb intake.

Cheap smoke system for aeros that does your engine good (allegedly) at the same time.

Rob P (smiley goes here)
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By Trent772
#1588490
This is almost as good as 'what primer do you use?' on the RV forums :mrgreen:

Modern multigrade and all oils which have the Lycoming recommended additive in are fine. Camguard will, does, maybe provide more protection to Lycomings, however the most important thing with these engines is regular use and regular oil changes.

Let us split this into two - Lycomings suffer from camshaft dryness, Continentals can suffer sticky valves. Both can benefit with regular oil changes. Camguard can help on Lycomings for dryness, Marvel Mystery Oil or Redex in the fuel can certainly help the smaller Continentals with sticky valves.

By regular use, I mean fly it, don't ground run it. Ground running will not get the oil to boil off the moisture and you will roast your back cylinders because of lack of airflow. Fly it, even if it is just 30 mins of circuit bashing. We fly for fun, so have some fun !

Regular oil changes - this means calendar as well as hours. Our engines are dinosaurs, they were developed as ditch pumps and tractor engines back in the 30's and not much has evolved since. That means woefully low compression ratios, lots of piston blow by and acidification of the oil. Our fuel contains lead which gets trapped as salts in the oil which also adds to the problem. The answer is really simple, schedule a calendar or hours based oil change system. Every 4 months or 25 hours in low use aeroplanes. As owner, you can do it yourself as permitted maintenance and you don't necessarily need to change the filter - it is the nasty products in the oil you are after. Filter at 50 or annual, oil every 25 hours or 4 months. Cost - about £35 - 80 using one of the usual suppliers.

Camguard - it can help, but I am not sure it is essential.
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By CloudHound
#1588494
Thanks Trent, a very helpful reply.

I run an 0-200 with about 500hr since a top overhaul and a previous life in a Cessna 150. It runs sweetly, has good comps and the last oil and filter change raised no concerns.

I'd fly little and often if I could except for winter wet weather which keeps the strip closed for quite some time.