Oil cooler, acceptable damage

prkaye · #1 02-26-2011, 06:14 PM

When I removed my oil cooler to sort out the leak from a fitting, i had a good look over it. On one side towards the bottom, some of those little "fins" or whatever they're called are bent, as you can see from the pic below. I think it came like this from vans (a couple of years back) but I'm not sure if it got dropped during construction or something. I installed it anyway, assuming the damage was just cosmetic.
Judging from the photo, is this amount of damage acceptable, and can i continue to safely fly with this oil cooler?

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Mel · #2 02-26-2011, 06:23 PM

Unless the tubes themselves are damaged to the point of leaking, no problem.
You can straighten the "fins" with a very small screwdriver.

prkaye · #3 02-26-2011, 06:27 PM

To test for leakage there, would just plugging one end and blowing into the other, while having a helper spray the area with soapy water, be a reliable method?

Ron Lee · #4 02-26-2011, 06:32 PM

That looks like the typical fin "damage" you see in vehicle radiators.

prkaye · #5 02-26-2011, 06:42 PM

Hmmm... i saw oil around the fitting at the bottom of the oil cooler (seperate thread on that). But having removed the fitting and found no damage, and given that I was loosing a noticeable amount of oil, I'm wondering whether oil was leaking through another part of the oil cooler and just happened to be collecting near the fitting.
Reading some other threads I gather that the SW 8604R would be a much higher quality replacement, and be an exact match in terms of size and mounting. 634 CAD though, ouch

Although loosing oil pressure from a serious oil cooler failure could be even more expensive.
Thoughts?

hydroguy2 · #6 02-26-2011, 07:04 PM

pressurize it to 100# and leak check it

prkaye · #7 02-27-2011, 08:40 AM

Quote:

pressurize it to 100# and leak check it

Any tips on how to rig something up to do this test?

prkaye · #8 02-27-2011, 09:06 AM

After sleepign on it and re-reading some threads this morning, I think I've decided to bite the bullet and get a SW 8406R, if only for the piece of mind.

hydroguy2 · #9 02-27-2011, 10:11 AM

on one side I would use a reducer plug with gage. then on the other port use a reducer and a valve. hook your air hose up to the other side of the valve.

Set your regulator on your A/C something fairly low 30# or so. Crack the valve, while watching the gage. spray the area you want to check with kids bubble soap or even water/dishwashing soap mixture. no leaks...slowly adjust your regulator up in increments checking in steps.

Another thing you might do is heat the cooler slowly with a heat gun or lamp. Some leaks show up with temp change.

Can't go wrong with a SW cooler either