Hose Frustration

I spent the morning fighting the two hoses that connect to the oil cooler. On the right side the hose wants to twist in a way that makes the cooler unit want to be anything but square to the cowling. The left side from the "out" side of the oil reservoir seems almost too short...I changed the hose's routing to gain as much slack as possible, and rotated the reservoir as much as I can, but getting the cooler against the cowling so that the two AN3 bolts could be installed seems all but impossible. When the cowling is roughly in place you can't do much about trying to move the cooler unit because there's too much "stuff" in the way. And the two hoses seem intent on twisting the cooler so that it cannot be properly aligned with the cowling's opening.

I just left it for now...will go at it again tomorrow, but this looks like one heck of an alignment problem.

If you had the same problem I'd sure like to hear how you managed to resolve the very awkward installation. Thanks.

Hey John

If you install the 2 hoses as the instructions show, the cooler will hang down a bit and touch the muffler. The right side pump hose should exit the cooler at a slightly to the outside of the plane direction, if that makes sense. Install both hoses without tightening up the fittings. Just get them in general position and let them swivel as they want to. Tighten all fittings when everything seems to be in the right place. I added a couple long tie straps to the fittings on top of the cooler, up to 2 of the valve push rod tubes, to hold it nearly as high as it is when the lower colwing is in place. Seems to make it a lot easier to install the lower cowl also. Just have to raise the cooler an inch or so, and it drops into the lower slots.

John Bender

This was bugging me too

I stretched the hose from the bottom of the crankcase to the tank in different ways, beneath of and top of the other line. I had already siliconed my muffler springs so I didn't really want to take them off. Silicone the springs last!

So I was so happy to have it in place I just was going to catch the oil overflow from by the tank when priming. Got a quart in the crankcase before I realized I was dumb. It has to run out by gravity, outlet must be below the crankcase unless sparkplugs are in, then blowby blasts it to the tank.

I started thinking it would be nice if the oil cooler surround had an aluminum rib 1/2" wide sticking forward maybe in the center so we could pick it up it and set it on the bumpers.

John

What did I do?????



Oh, you're talking about an oil cooler "hose".

help

IF you still have a problem, perhaps we can help you. We know that some kit hoses have fit problems if stuff isn't exactly like the prototype.
If you still have issues, we can build steel braid teflon hoses for your "custom application." I'd be glad to help out.
Tom

JohnF said:

I spent the morning fighting the two hoses that connect to the oil cooler. On the right side the hose wants to twist in a way that makes the cooler unit want to be anything but square to the cowling. The left side from the "out" side of the oil reservoir seems almost too short...I changed the hose's routing to gain as much slack as possible, and rotated the reservoir as much as I can, but getting the cooler against the cowling so that the two AN3 bolts could be installed seems all but impossible. When the cowling is roughly in place you can't do much about trying to move the cooler unit because there's too much "stuff" in the way. And the two hoses seem intent on twisting the cooler so that it cannot be properly aligned with the cowling's opening.

I just left it for now...will go at it again tomorrow, but this looks like one heck of an alignment problem.

If you had the same problem I'd sure like to hear how you managed to resolve the very awkward installation. Thanks.

Click to expand...

JohnF said:

I spent the morning fighting the two hoses that connect to the oil cooler. On the right side the hose wants to twist in a way that makes the cooler unit want to be anything but square to the cowling. The left side from the "out" side of the oil reservoir seems almost too short...I changed the hose's routing to gain as much slack as possible, and rotated the reservoir as much as I can, but getting the cooler against the cowling so that the two AN3 bolts could be installed seems all but impossible. When the cowling is roughly in place you can't do much about trying to move the cooler unit because there's too much "stuff" in the way. And the two hoses seem intent on twisting the cooler so that it cannot be properly aligned with the cowling's opening.

I just left it for now...will go at it again tomorrow, but this looks like one heck of an alignment problem.

If you had the same problem I'd sure like to hear how you managed to resolve the very awkward installation. Thanks.

Click to expand...

You can check the oil hose routing. You will gain just a bit of hose length if you route both oil hoses between the 2 engine mount halves, as opposed to routing both hoses aft of the engine mount half connected to the firewall.

Ensure they are not criss-crossed and follow the straight line distance.

Also you can route the oil hoses from the oil reservoir as the pass down at the top of the engine mount halfs. One hose can be laid on top of the other and vice-versa as viewed from the oil cooler. Try it both ways.

And follow the advice of John. Do not tighten the fittings at the oil COOLER until you know they are clocked in the correct orientation.

Hope that helps.

The hoses do need to be routed along a very specific path for it to work.

If the hoses are routed in the correct path and you follow the instructions to leave the hoses slightly loose, install the lower cowling and properly locate the oil cooler. This should allow the hoses to find the position that they naturally want to be in. Carefully lower the cowl while trying not to more the position of the hoses. Now carefully tighten the hose fittings to lock them in place (you may find it helpful to mark their position before doing so).

I have found that if you do this, most of the time the cooler will drop in place on the cowl knobs as you lift the lower cowl into position.

If things seem way off it is possible that the hose with a 90 deg fitting on each end (oil tank to oil cooler) has one of them clocked incorrectly. This would make it very difficult to install.
If you double check that the hoses are being routed as shown in the manual and you still can't get it, call tech. support at Van's and ask for information to check that the ends of your hose are positioned correctly.

Louise Hose said:

Oh, you're talking about an oil cooler "hose".

Click to expand...

We all know you are such a trouble maker!


John, Like Scott said double check the routing to gain even a little slack by a different routing. Tiral and error if I remember right. The oil cooler should hang the right way for cowel installation with little to no install problem.

VansAirForce strikes again....all the above hints and suggestions were mulled over and over...this morning I used the ideas that seemed to apply to my situation and, guess what? I got the oil cooler to drop into place and the entire cowling is now installed (fittings not yet tightened) - I was so pleased that I didn't want to undo the cowling ! I puttered around with other small items and will finish that work tomorrow.

Again THANK you folks who responded and helped me. I really appeciate it.

JohnF at Salida, CO