Guys,
I just finished giving the oil cooler a real pressure test with
hoses and gages. It only took about 10# of air pressure for the trouble
to show itself. There is a crack in the first plate on the inlet/ outlet
end but opposite side. Directly adjacent to the original mounting flange
and bolt hole. I may have contributed to the crack in the mounting method
by having the cooler mounted to rigidly to the engine. The crack
developed at about 25 hours total run time on the engine/airframe (10
hours in air time). The cooler that I had used is the 12 plate cooler and
had been extremely effective. ( almost to effective) The only time so far
that I had oil temps above 170 deg. was in a long climb to 9500 ft and
then barely 200 deg.
Moving on I should have a new cooler installed for the weekend
and I will incorporate some rubber dampers to the mounting brackets. I
think that should extend the like span of the cooler and me. Then again
it is a 40 year old cooler and I would advocate pressure testing them
before they are installed for peace of mind.
Joe Horton, Coopersburg, PA.
joe.kr2s.buil...@juno.com
