Revision of manuals
in General Tech Discussion
7 years ago
I notice that the latest edition of the Rotax 912 IS Operator's manual was revised on August 1, 2015. It contains, on pages 2-6 and 2-7, a discussion of the oil to be used in the engine. The guidance on these pages is unchanged since the original, Edition 1, Rev 0, But the section starts with a couple of notices that say, "See Service Information SI-912 i-001, latest edition"
When I looked at SI-912 i-001,latest edition, I see
"SELECTION OF SUITABLE OPERATING FLUIDS
FOR ROTAX® ENGINE TYPE 912 i, 912 AND 914 (SERIES)
SI-912 i-001R3
SI-912-016R8
SI-914-019R8"
and a whole section on oils selection which boils down to "Use the recommended motor oils tested and released by BRP-Powertrain according to section 3.2 of this SI."
Which is AeroShell Oil Sport Plus 4 in the new formulation, packaged in the red bottle.
So, there are two pages of old information in the Operator's manual that can be completely replaced with something like this
"Currently we recommend the latest formulation of AeroShell Oil Sport Plus 4, packaged in a red bottle, but see the latest edition of Service Information SI-912 i 001 to see if there have been subsequent changes, or if alternatives are available to you.
"When operating primarily on unleaded fuels or MOGAS, the maintenance intervals remain
unchanged in regard to the published maintenance schedule found in the currently valid
Maintenance Manual for the engine type.
"◆ NOTE: If operating with leaded fuel, such as 100LL AVGAS fuel, we recommend a change of engine oil every 25 operating hours.
"More frequent oil changes will assure timely removal of residues and oil sludge thus avoiding increased wear or operating troubles.
"Caution: In case of severe operating conditions (operation in cold/hot weather areas, interference by and and/or salt), the time between maintenance intervals must generally be shorter, and in particular,
the frequency of oil changes must be increased regardless of the type of fuel mainly used (MOGAS or AVGAS)."
****************************
So, technically Rotax has covered their bases with the notices at the beginning of the section, but there is just a whole lot of information there about oils ... that Rotax doesn't care for us to use anymore. The SI was revised AFTER the latest edition of the Operator Manual, over 2 years ago in April 2015..
I'm wondering why Rotax didn't revise the Operator Manuals on their 912 engines (not just the 912iS) to delete all this stuff that says use brand name motorcycle ould with gear additives?
Because I'm reasonably confident that there are still people out there using motorcycle oil..
When I looked at SI-912 i-001,latest edition, I see
"SELECTION OF SUITABLE OPERATING FLUIDS
FOR ROTAX® ENGINE TYPE 912 i, 912 AND 914 (SERIES)
SI-912 i-001R3
SI-912-016R8
SI-914-019R8"
and a whole section on oils selection which boils down to "Use the recommended motor oils tested and released by BRP-Powertrain according to section 3.2 of this SI."
Which is AeroShell Oil Sport Plus 4 in the new formulation, packaged in the red bottle.
So, there are two pages of old information in the Operator's manual that can be completely replaced with something like this
"Currently we recommend the latest formulation of AeroShell Oil Sport Plus 4, packaged in a red bottle, but see the latest edition of Service Information SI-912 i 001 to see if there have been subsequent changes, or if alternatives are available to you.
"When operating primarily on unleaded fuels or MOGAS, the maintenance intervals remain
unchanged in regard to the published maintenance schedule found in the currently valid
Maintenance Manual for the engine type.
"◆ NOTE: If operating with leaded fuel, such as 100LL AVGAS fuel, we recommend a change of engine oil every 25 operating hours.
"More frequent oil changes will assure timely removal of residues and oil sludge thus avoiding increased wear or operating troubles.
"Caution: In case of severe operating conditions (operation in cold/hot weather areas, interference by and and/or salt), the time between maintenance intervals must generally be shorter, and in particular,
the frequency of oil changes must be increased regardless of the type of fuel mainly used (MOGAS or AVGAS)."
****************************
So, technically Rotax has covered their bases with the notices at the beginning of the section, but there is just a whole lot of information there about oils ... that Rotax doesn't care for us to use anymore. The SI was revised AFTER the latest edition of the Operator Manual, over 2 years ago in April 2015..
I'm wondering why Rotax didn't revise the Operator Manuals on their 912 engines (not just the 912iS) to delete all this stuff that says use brand name motorcycle ould with gear additives?
Because I'm reasonably confident that there are still people out there using motorcycle oil..
