Oil cooler location

Derek · #1 10-24-2012, 07:00 PM

I'm at the stage where it's time to mount the oil cooler.

When I trail fit the cooler in the recommended location (mounted on the left rear baffle ) it appears that the rear cylinder will block most of the airflow to the cooler. Is this ok i.e work adequately ?

Or should I be looking at other ways to mount the cooler that will allow more air to flow through the cooler.

Scott Hersha · #2 10-24-2012, 07:17 PM

Mount it as high as you can without hitting the cowl. What do you have there? RV4? A high mounting should expose at least 1/2 of the OC fins. If you can install a 1/2 inch spacer between the baffle and the cooler, with an aluminum peace (baffle) against the back of the cylinder fins on #4, you'll get full exposure on your oil cooler. Worked great on my RV8.

Wally · #3 10-24-2012, 08:24 PM

I mounted mine at a slight angle. I've seen several others mounted this way. Opens up the area between the cylinder and the "face" of the cooler.

smokyray · #4 10-25-2012, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Derek

I'm at the stage where it's time to mount the oil cooler.

When I trail fit the cooler in the recommended location (mounted on the left rear baffle ) it appears that the rear cylinder will block most of the airflow to the cooler. Is this ok i.e work adequately ?

Or should I be looking at other ways to mount the cooler that will allow more air to flow through the cooler.

G'Day Derek,

Oil cooling in the RV4 is challenging as you're not so much pushing air into it but drawing it through. With the tight confines behind the engine, as you know, it's a challenge. On my Four, I mounted the cooler in front of and underneath the left front cyllinder baffle. Worked well for extended climbs and aerobatics. For rear mounted coolers you need to strengthen the rear baffling as cracks will ensue after the first 100 hours.

The best setup I have seen (I inspect alot of RV4's) is to fabricate oil cooler mount brackets and connect them to the engine mount with Adell clamps, with the cooler angled back about 30 degrees. Then fabricate baffle material to connect the cooler to the rear engine baffle. This way the air draws well through the cooler and exits out of the lower cowling with no weight on the engine baffling. Here is a great thread on this very subject with photos: http://www.vansairforce.com/communit...ad.php?t=19960

Fair dinkum

V/R
Smokey
smokyray@rocketmail.com
PS: you'll find "there are no new questions, just new members"

Kahuna · #5 10-25-2012, 09:52 AM

Exactly what Smokey Ray said. Get the cooler weight off the rear baffle.
Here are some pictures of an RV-8 sample that will give you an idea of what he is talking about. Not a 4, but the concepts are exactly the same.

Derek · #6 10-25-2012, 03:39 PM

Thanks everyone, lots of great responses.

Looks like mounting the cooler will be slightly more work than first anticipated, no surprises here

Michael Henning · #7 10-25-2012, 08:10 PM

I did what G-IKON did, and it was easy. He has had great results, and there is no additional stress on the baffles. I just finished my baffles and don't want to have to do them again.

hcccs · #8 10-27-2012, 06:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Derek

I'm at the stage where it's time to mount the oil cooler.

When I trail fit the cooler in the recommended location (mounted on the left rear baffle ) it appears that the rear cylinder will block most of the airflow to the cooler. Is this ok i.e work adequately ?

Or should I be looking at other ways to mount the cooler that will allow more air to flow through the cooler.

This is a photo of another builders oil cooler solution which I copied exactly. It has a plenum so that air can reach all of the cooler fins.

Mark Bolton · #9 10-27-2012, 11:18 PM

http://rv-4builder.blogspot.com.au/2...l-forward.html

I adopted a completely different approach. I haven't flown it yet so don't know if it works well.

On a different matter make sure you put in the oil pressure fitting before you do up the mount bolts.

bill v · #10 10-28-2012, 07:12 AM

i have 500 hrs on a very similar type of setup I live in michigan so made a cover to block front opening into plemiun for winter but had to pull cowl everytime it warmed up. got sick of this and in vans catalog is a cover for the oil cooler that you can move with a cable from the cockpit. I put this between the plenuim and the cooler works great. In the picture you see the side and back of this baffle is reinforced with thicker material. at the back of the engine in my o-320e3d is a spot towards the center of the engine were if you extent the thicker plate at the back of the baffle you can add another bolt to secure this plate to the engine. I was concerned about the weight on baffle so looked for every way to beef up this mount.