Going out for my second sortie and while in the climb with full power I got that hot oil smell and a bit of mist in the cabin.  Closed the heat control valve, reduced power and "bee-lined" to the airfield with good oil pressure while venting the cabin. Taxied in with good oil pressure to a shutdown in front of my hangar.

What a mess...I was down to just below the min line on the dipstick.  Luckily I have another oil cooler (AERO-Classics) on the shelf which I've been meaning to put on since this summer.  I've heard bits and pieces regarding the quality of the UL provided oil cooler and wanted to see if a different cooler might help out with cooling (and quality?)  Anyway, something to think about I guess...

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All,

Installed new cooler with inlet and outlet on bottom of cooler. Now I am wondering about airlocks in the cooler. How has been addressed? How about draining old oil when changing oil?

After last years unscheduled landing I am now up and flying, again!

Ralph

N750RP

I am in the process of upgrading my oil cooler to the aero classic.  The original cooler is still working but would like to avoid the common leak problem others have experienced.  

Is there an after market oil cooler bracket to hold the larger oil cooler in place or does it have to be fabricated?  I saw a picture of an adjustable bracket on the ULPower installation guide.  Any idea where I can get that bracket?

Brian, UL supplier in the USA is Wicks Aircraft.  They can get you the bracket, but I'm not so sure it will meet your needs for hanging the non-stock cooler. There will be some fabrication work involved and  cowling modification - whether simple trimming/enlargment of the opening to mount the Aero-Classic cooler that some of us have installed. I made a stainless steel plate for the top to hang the cooler.  It attachs where the metal shipping plate was attached.  I also made two stainless steel brackets that attach to an extrusion mounted to the bottom of the cooler.  The brackets are attached to the the bolts on the oil sump on each side.  I would suggest using stainless steel for the brackets to preclude cracking.

Another cracked cooler!  Discovered the crack during my 50 hr engine and prop inspection. This was a 10 row AERO- Classics part # 8000081.  I got almost two years of service and 155.2 hrs on it since install.  I elected to mount it without rubber isolators to simplify the install and allow for mounting without major cowl work.  For some reason I had another one on the shelf and have installed the new one in a similar fashion.  I am doing so because I believe the crack may have been initiated by and/or related to the prop and/or engine issues I've had over the past year.  The cooler had approx 105 hrs under my old setup and only about 50 hrs with the new prop/crank and overhauled engine. It will be interesting to see if this new setup and cooler are truly compatible.  If not, then I will have to explore other options for mounting and/or relocation.

Argh.  I haven't installed my engine yet.  I'm wondering which oil cool I should start with?  The one that comes with the engine or should upgrade at install time.

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