PA28 PLT HAS LOW ENG OIL PRESSURE WITH POSSIBLE OIL LEAK; DIVERTS FOR LNDG.

Narrative

SHORTLY AFTER REACHING CLOWW I DETECTED A VERY FAINT 'ENG ODOR;' HOWEVER; ALL SYS WERE OPERATING NORMALLY AND ENG GAUGES SHOWED NORMAL INDICATIONS. I ATTRIBUTED THE ODOR TO SLIGHT ASPIRATION OF EXHAUST ODOR DUE TO A POSSIBLY AJAR LNDG GEAR DOOR. AT A POINT APPROX 5 MI SW OF CLOWW; AT APPROX XA30Z; I NOTED A MINIMAL 'FOG' ON THE WINDSCREEN; SYMMETRICALLY AFFECTING BOTH L AND R SIDES OF THE WINDSCREEN. AS IT WAS NOW NIGHT; THIS 'FOG' WAS DETECTED WITH DIFFICULTY. 1 PAX ASKED ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF ICE CAUSING THIS. I RESPONDED THAT THIS WAS UNLIKELY AS WE WERE IN VFR CONDITIONS AND THEORIZED IT WAS DUE TO POOR OP OF THE ACFT HEATER; WHICH ALLOWED WATER VAPOR TO CONDENSE ON THE INTERIOR SURFACE OF THE WINDSCREEN. WE HAD EXPERIENCED THIS PHENOMENON PRIOR TO DEP FROM HFD THAT MORNING. TO CONFIRM THIS; I WIPED THE INTERIOR OF THE WINDSCREEN AND NOTED NO IMPROVEMENT IN FORWARD VISIBILITY; WHICH WAS STILL ACCEPTABLE. RE-EVAL OF THE ENG GAUGES A MOMENT LATER REVEALED NORMAL INDICATIONS WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE OIL PRESSURE GAUGE; WHICH NOW INDICATED OIL PRESSURE AT THE VERY BOTTOM OF THE GREEN BAND; SLIGHTLY LOWER THAN THE NORMAL INDICATION OF PERHAPS 1 NEEDLE WIDTH INTO THE GREEN BAND. AGAIN LOOKING BACK AT THE WINDSCREEN IT WAS NOW CLR THAT FORWARD VISIBILITY WAS IMPEDED AND I NOTED THERE WAS A DIFFERENTIAL IN THE DEGREE OF THIS IMPEDIMENT FROM SIDE-TO-SIDE; WITH THE R SIDE SIGNIFICANTLY MORE IMPEDED THAN THE L. THE OIL PRESSURE REMAINED AT THE YELLOW-GREEN INTERFACE; HOWEVER; I WAS NO LONGER COMFORTABLE WITH CONTINUING THE FLT. I CONTACTED BRADLEY APCH CTL ON THE PREVIOUSLY ASSIGNED FREQ; EXPLAINED MY SITUATION AND REQUESTED PRIORITY HANDLING TO THE NEAREST ARPT. THEY GAVE ME AT LEAST 3 CHOICES; HOWEVER; WORCESTER REGIONAL ARPT (ORH); A TWRED FIELD; WAS JUST 8 NM DISTANT; AND HAS A 7000 FT RWY. I TURNED L FROM MY ASSIGNED HDG OF 210 DEGS AFTER CLOWW TO 080 DEGS AS SUGGESTED BY BRADLEY AND PROCEEDED TOWARDS ORH AT 6000 FT. I WAS SOON ABLE TO SEE AN ARPT BUT UNSURE IF IT WAS ORH; I QUERIED BDL REGARDING MY POS RELATIVE TO A NORMAL L TFC PATTERN FOR RWY 29 AT WHAT APPEARED TO BE ORH. THEY CONFIRMED MY POS AS 45 DEGS TO THE L DOWNWIND AT ORH AND I INITIATED A DSCNT. I NOTED I STILL HAD OIL PRESSURE WITH THE NEEDLE ON OR JUST SLIGHTLY L OF THE YELLOW-GREEN ARC INTERFACE. AS I ENTERED THE RWY 29L DOWNWIND; I WAS NOW AT APPROX 4000 FT. I NOTED THE OIL PRESSURE INDICATION WAS NOW NIL. I EXECUTED AN EXPEDITED DSCNT WHILE ON DOWNWIND; TO 2200 FT; JUST ABOVE PATTERN ALT. I LANDED NORMALLY; BUT WITH MINIMAL FORWARD VISIBILITY; AS THE WINDSCREEN WAS NOW COMPLETELY OCCLUDED WITH WHAT WAS NOW VERY OBVIOUSLY ENG OIL. THE RWY CTRLINE LIGHTS WERE PARTIALLY VISIBLE STRAIGHT AHEAD DESPITE THE OIL AND I HAD VISUAL REFS OUT THE SIDE WINDOWS AS WELL.