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Folks--
I have a bit of a clearance problem for my oil cooler. As is usual, I can either mount it where it gets good air flow or I can mount it where fits nicely--but of course, not both. I am opting for the good air flow for all the obvious reasons. Part of what makes this location tricky is the necessity of mounting the cooler upside-down, i.e. with the fittings facing down rather than on top. As I was working this out, I became quite concerned that the cooler would air lock, since the cooler sits above the engine and the breather port. In other words, the cooler is the high point in the oil system and if the fittings are on the bottom, I worry that any air previously present in the cooler or air that becomes introduced into it will stay in the cooler and displace a volume of oil. Now I am not a "wrench" so I bounced this concern off of everyone I could find, including the engine dealer, several other homebuilders and some knowledgeable race car guys. Out of approximately 8 guys, 7 told me it was not a problem (the dealer among them) and only 1 shared my air locking concern. The No Problem 7 all told me that the normal operating oil pressure would purge the air from the cooler. Now I like this because it gets me off the hook, but I can't visualize it. I'm an old SCUBA guy, and in that realm we always see bubbles compress down until they are equalized with the ambient pressure, but they never, never, never purge. When I voiced that counter-concern, the engine guys all said that the analogy is not valid because the oil is so much more viscous than water. Yes it is, but I can't get my head around how that makes the air purge any differently. So I am putting this out to a broader audience--what are your thoughts or observations on mounting an oil cooler upside down? Bonus points to anyone who has actually done it. Thanks-- Steve. |
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