Quote:
Originally Posted by gblwy
Every Rotax installation I have seen uses rubber oil hoses and push-in connections secured with hose clamps.
Vans oil lines are hydraulic hoses, with steel braid and with swaged connections good for 2000 psi or thereabouts - and a fire sleeve on top. Way over the top. Both ends are AN818 fittings. I am still mystified as to how Vans connects these to female metric units on the oil tank.
Anyway, I ended up removing my lines and taking them to Pirtek who make hydraulic hoses etc. I had them take the longer of the two hoses, chop the end off so that it matched the length of the shorter hose, and had a metric fitting swaged on.
I had to have a complete hose made up to replace the savaged longer hose. AN818 at one end and metric at the other. Cost me big bucks.
It is essential to ensure the two ends of the hose that connects to the oil cooler are oriented correctly. The steel braid means that the hose is virtually impossible to twist to fit.
It is also essential to ensure that you use the original or an equivalent fitting at the bottom of the block. Otherwise the fitting will foul the exhaust silencer - ask me how I know.
More and more reasons why it makes logistical sense (if not necessarily financial sense) to accept the engine delivered by Vans as part of the kit.
Cheers...Keith
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Keith,
If you do some research you will find that there is two different oil tank tops available from Rotax. The original has the fittings that you describe, and the newer one has UNF style fittings meant for standard aircraft grade hoses.
If you are only finding one, then you are looking in an old Illustrated Parts Catalog.
The new style tank was to meet the ASTM standards for LSA in the U.S., and this is what Rotax supplies if you purchase an ASTM compliant engine
I didn't know you where operate your engine with Vans supplied hoses connected to an early style tank. You are very fortunate that all you had was an oil leak.
This is just one reason that purchasing an engine for an RV-12 from somewhere other than Van's, without having a lot of knowledge about what you are buying can actually lead to spending more money.
There are old threads here in the RV-12 forum where I explained some of the issues. I think it was someone in South Africa considering buying a local engine.
Side note... my personal experience with the clamped on hoses is that the new way is far superior. The clamp on hoses are a constant source of oil leaks. With the ASTM compliant hoses... never a leak.
You are also correct about the clocking of the hose ends being critical. The hoses supplied to builders that purchase a power plant kit that have a 90 degree fitting on each end, have the ends installed with a very specific clocking relationship.