I decided during the build that the firewall was a better place for an oil cooler. I have had issues since the completion of the plane with oil temps higher than I like. However I manage power and change my oil at 25 hours and things have worked. I recently decided the next step was to improve the airflow. Again. I built a fiberglass inlet with a much larger and better shaped opening on the baffle.
I test flew today and I am excited to report that @ 68 f OA I ran 20 minutes at 92% power and never saw over 195. I have always been able to manage the temps by flying at LOP and lower power setting. I also have never had an issue with slow flight or even hot Florida days on the ground. It has only been the high power settings that cause the problem.
Here is a previous story with the rest of the story.
I have been through the oil cooler remote mounting issues.
I started with the Van's firewall kit that has a very poor 3" SCAT connection to the cooler. Temps were a little high so I made a FG transition. Things improved. My RV-9 engine mound required I mount the SCAT inlet on the back of the baffle very low behind cyl. #4. I added some DanH impregnated cloth on the fins to help keep the cooler air going that way rather than passing through the cyl. fins first. Little help. Now after 350 hours I have higher temps again so I am back to looking for a better solution. I am forming a new inlet that is larger and higher on the baffle but reduces to a 3" and points the right direction to go through the motor mount. 3"x5" to 3" Mine is on the firewall and I have no exit duct. A large exit duct could be a good idea if the duct is large and opens in an area with low pressure. If pointing toward the cowl exit it may even scavenge some air to help. I don't have the room to add the exit duct without moving the cooler and starting from scratch. I have a IO-320 with good cyl. head cooling and I believe the 7 row is large enough for the engine.
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I test flew today and I am excited to report that @ 68 f OA I ran 20 minutes at 92% power and never saw over 195. I have always been able to manage the temps by flying at LOP and lower power setting. I also have never had an issue with slow flight or even hot Florida days on the ground. It has only been the high power settings that cause the problem.
Here is a previous story with the rest of the story.
I have been through the oil cooler remote mounting issues.
I started with the Van's firewall kit that has a very poor 3" SCAT connection to the cooler. Temps were a little high so I made a FG transition. Things improved. My RV-9 engine mound required I mount the SCAT inlet on the back of the baffle very low behind cyl. #4. I added some DanH impregnated cloth on the fins to help keep the cooler air going that way rather than passing through the cyl. fins first. Little help. Now after 350 hours I have higher temps again so I am back to looking for a better solution. I am forming a new inlet that is larger and higher on the baffle but reduces to a 3" and points the right direction to go through the motor mount. 3"x5" to 3" Mine is on the firewall and I have no exit duct. A large exit duct could be a good idea if the duct is large and opens in an area with low pressure. If pointing toward the cowl exit it may even scavenge some air to help. I don't have the room to add the exit duct without moving the cooler and starting from scratch. I have a IO-320 with good cyl. head cooling and I believe the 7 row is large enough for the engine.
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