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Camillo

Well Known Member
Hi again. I hope you all will excuse-me for posting so many times in these days. But I'm installing my engine and am totally newbie. My engine is O-320 D1A, bought from Van's 1 year ago.

I tried to install, and actually installed, oil fittings "from" and "to". One is very simple, since there is optimum access (the upper-left one). The other (below the oil filter) is getting me crazy.

I disinstalled MT propeller governor to gain more access to the oil port and grinded part of a crowfoot wrench. After much pain, I managed to torque fitting as follow (see image) and I guess the direction where it points is not the typical one (even if hose will reach oil case). My torque wrench reads about 140 inch./lbs. while the red handbook states 150/250 inch./lbs.. Problem is that I have no more access to torque it and even if I could torque more, it would need at least half turn more to become accessible again for hose installation. In this case, I guess it would be over-torqued.

Apart from this, I would be curious to understand how you others managed to have a clean install of the said fitting. The only way to have good access to oil port would be removing all the base of the oil filter, which seems to me impossible because the lower-left nut cannot be removed since the bolt touches the body of the filter.

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This is a photo from above, to make you understand the big picture...

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Adapter?

I have two thoughts. You need an elbow at the oil fitting or an adaptor for your oil filter. The oil filter adapters are nice because you spill less when you change the oil. Just get your oil, punch a hole in top part of the filter, go to lunch. When you come back, take off the filter and look ma, no spill!

The Casper Labs ones are pricey but excellent:

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/eppages/noslipoilfilter.php

For even more money, here are the B&C:

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/eppages/bc700oiladapter.php

You may need a 45 degree fitting on that oil port whether you use an adapter or not.


Hans
 
Hello Camillo

I used a 45 degree adaptor and it work well for me. I think that I bought it at an automotive store.



Kent
 
Here's my take

And I tend to be unpopular but here goes.

First off I would use steel fittings and not the aluminium ones that Vans supplies. Reason being is that the engine shakes around and the hoses are stiff..I'd rather have the fatigue resistance of the steel fittings.

Steel fittings i get from the local hydraulics store..they are reasonably priced and made in china..Yeah i guess they may not be made to the spiffingly close tolerances of an American made steel fitting but thay are perfectly ok and a lot more fatigue resistant than aluminium fittings. The seat angle is the same 37 degrees as the aviation stuff. I have known several airplanes use these fittings with zero failures over several thousand hours.

Steel fittings can be overtorqued with no fear of stripping the threads..At least on the fitting.

You can even cut and weld fittings to give you any kind of weired shape/angle/offset you need..I have one of those on my invert oil system as it was the only way.

I hate the angled filter adaptors..Mine seemed to be responsible for spilling way more oil than the straight back style I changed to.

Frank
 
Thank-you for your answers.
I already have a 45? fitting (aluminum). It is not visible from the photo, but there is.
I think I will call a mechanic to inspect the engine before mounting it. I will be very sad to discover later that I will have to remove the engine (I'm not sure if I will have access to the fitting after installation).
 
If it leaks you will!

All my fitting are accessible with the engine in place

The other area thats a real pain is the 45 degree restricted take off fitting for the oil pressure guage...Almost impossible to get at after the engine is installed. A much better way is to make one from a straight fitting..then a deep socket will slip right over it nice and easy.

Frank
 
At least that is accessible.

I suppose you have an older engine. In the new ones there are two port, one of them is rear faced. I installed mine in the rear faced one. I also have here an issue, because the torque value is reached when the fitting is pointing upwards (instead of down-right wards). I hope the hose will still reach that location.

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fittings

On the oil to fitting simply use a straight fitting instead of the 45. As for the oil pressure fitting, remove it and reinstall a couple of times. Each time you do this when the torque value is reached it will point a little more to the right each time.
 
Thank-you. I will try it and I hope it will work! At least with oil to, since fitting is aluminium...
Camillo
 
If you clean it out good

You can also use a tap..the tap is tapered so at some point it will stop going in the hole..git it a little bit more tight and it will cut the thread a little deeper.

As to the 45 degree oil pressure take off..No I have a very new engine..But once you get all that junkk in there behind the engine it becomes very difficult to get too..At least mine did with the invert system

Frank
 
No, I remember it wouldn't help. I should have removed the oil filter "base", too, which seems to me impossible (one nut is not removable).

I think I will install engine as it is and correct leaks after first start, if there will be leaks...
 
Alan has already given you the answer but I'd suggest going a longer route. Remove the fitting, remove the filter (now you have access to the base), remove the base, install the fitting, install a remote oil filter. Oil filters are a pain. The angle adapter can help or, as noted in another post, just cause more mess (though you may be able to reach the filter better to torque and safety). The remote setup has the downside of a couple of extra lines and something else hanging on the firewall, but it gives you the opportunity to put the filter in a place where you have good access for catching spill as well as torquing. Not to mention that you have the chance to install that pesky fitting while you make the change.

My filter is straight, but I am seriously considering changing it; oil changes are a pain at best.
 
I found that you can make a mess free filter change with the straight back filter by taking a pice of alu channel and shaving the end so it just squeezes up under the joint in the filter and out to hang over the bucket.

As long as the wind is not blowing in the hangar it all goes in the bucket...most of the time..:)

Frank
 
Your engine isn't going to fit your plane. Will you sell it to me for $10k and a haunted mid time 0-320? LOL

Use an adapter to extend the fitting away from the case a bit. It should have a smaller hex and you should be able to get on it with a socket.
 
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