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Oil cooler location vs cowling

I heard Vic Syracuse at Oshkosh say NOT to mount the oil cooler on the cylinder 4 baffle (I think he meant for any RV model), but Van's baffle kit (RV-4, Lycoming O-320, fixed pitch, carbureted) was so straightforward I put the oil cooler there anyway. Now starting the cowl fitting, I don't see any way the top cowling will fit with the oil cooler there. I've begun trimming the top of the baffle metal and there doesn't seem to be any way to leave the oil cooler on the baffle. Would anyone share their experience with this issue? I can fairly easily move the cooler, but maybe I'm missing something simple. Thanks for any feedback.
 
I did it..works great.

I have mine on my baffle behind the left aft cylinder. I built my own baffles, quite a bit more robust, and my cooler is tilted downward about 15 degrees. I also fabricated supports that tie the baffle into the engine case and mitigate vibration and load on the whole setup. Fits in the RV4 cowl very easily. I have difficulty posting pictures on here these days, so send me a PM with your contact and I can send pictures.
 
lots of picture in the "engine" section of my pics. Look below at my signature for the links. 260 hrs in this configuration. I did re-enforce the baffles around #4. Currently remaking the baffles as I am in the process of installing a 360, but I am doing the same thing.

tqyfpZSOE0G0XqjwdM5eR61dkX7E4hh64G5ZhywkaImPFKvP2kVMtFg3iBfmCR7x46_UUFocQF9FpKPj_qjMSC6a1EpI4bF-QcMohzqFo44tSMrKNbzg-WlCPOmP6m2gUNtnTV8RU0X3C4l81r3NrcLGrJG5wBVWw561mlRjTdo0cLjsTP3G6ychK4DrwZbIHk0x09zxGEkuf7NtNlq26amk5ELusSj65nycGkwRZ08Hb_sxzkdcm2XjWFq8JDdofAirwDis-QghBVCI1UaMffW3I48xH-Ho3SoeJyEy1MSDlsQLNEBsDvBf5JZWY2XIq8MV4mz9PGIZuB8snQMJ9Tr-_aM28ywAglbCHc97kwYo44aOWDqxsSU5s1k0QSVa50-i4Ee9ZA91gCw52Hv2hhZQ3Cml2iVChuuDmXqJW7MxLpOyw47Op-bJzbttokUoOQRAVKg3E4o3RnbQVJhmMgRbVJEgBlvDYdy3QNg94z7Uuw2iXWdZGilz_OMGm3K3kkbTYKtiAXum7n7j-malEVLkB3HCpzTMUiXgofa134ilSq-MA-dZiGqKg9efQme832Sfq6bwRhh4WKQRFdneNLtr9FyD5ULl87tc12hPj6ftx2AxfBSQ-iQYW5hL7yXayVfjPIIqLmCzCmbEnUn7CfKgE4mUnECdzIm7PbhatHu2qqFPAB3d8L5W207GYorhqP7ITd0kDoUGLTscXdt7cc-8tHrQzZlPzJ3K6FMapE0UIuDL=w973-h1297-no


KBo2QKQx5_Ehd52F1tBC_VXONaBuaRO9-ioe7mgGNEXKk8-Bd2GpnexoBWz0621_8gzC-8IHh-rXDGnv6lYsIIT-ueZrhC55GZ3XfbnjgBojJ_w-25JqXaHjeHAbZr4nw5Z1BXNXGuRjGtBYAnwrlg47HevxPHir8x2J_jF6Lz_DPAmcXoj5e5SmfC_mh9BFEvCsq5Fx-Qp557LZUclVxRnwj4cFC492hOAIpRD2R5QnPyKKlnvnemvkRMQ1kKgOpmjmQfbzXqMUeC1aJSlT8xDpOynrtyzAtGmYG7z69nCGvsbrcvWnDOGzTRxP8RChIru9vP7mx5SNrQiK-174o1vcIGwUs4qjVqh8C6_YrwRxdgBJcbbucmcuYQtp74VnKXS5oGfz3NqurKcYBxruSjqiuadqWtPMzFkTDr4oIlK2wxbSKOkOX1zc0pGIYy74txqnMz5xDGhckFx08nWsq33u_fPkYkS1mrpBZzsea4OsLW273BF0FO9KE8aCaPwZtWe2ki4GBhvt3i42H_ESx2-ENw0O-T2z7IkihPpu99xlsxkcWGKAI9nqp0xqsTQPTlKrc3iEMcw3SmgcKtpZgSIVD0o2Z24UjtJuYmKBkUBVcIfEFQxahUGnOTO0EFvRaOcDmJY3NGlazmI1hHjg69QubD9gfZu9P8LXhjnbej2jXQN4ZOjDzXq2LlvGmS_Kr49RKqMLkGSlykiprgyfrK2Z5UxpXkoBUd3PHEeJghrzUkpT=w973-h1297-no
 
My oil cooler is also mounted on the #4 cylinder, on a baffle bracket that tilts the cooler at about 15*. Oil temps stay cool (especially now) and I don?t see any cracks in the baffle structure. Works fine, lasts a long time.....
 
The RV-3 is pretty much the same as the -4 in that location, what with the cheek cowls. We used the standard Van’s baffle kit and oil cooler mounting, and just mounted the cooler as low as we needed (we waited until the initial cowl fitting to find out where that was), and it has worked great there for over 700 hours. We did the usual baffle corner beef-up with a strut to the case, of course. No cracks, and the RV-3 has the coolest oil of our three RV’s - always stays right about 180 degrees, even with hot day climb abuse....

Paul
 
My Oil Cooler is mounted on the engine mount

I made a oil cooler mount that is mounted to the engine mount with adel clamps out of 1/8" 2024 and 3/4 x 3/4 angles. It spans the two mount tubes on the left side, and the cooler sticks a little bit into the cheek, I think. The air is directed to it via a 3" scat tube from the rear baffle. It is too efficient, I have to block it completely off in winter.
 
Vic, if you are listening

I am just finishing up my baffles, with the oil cooler mounted thereon (RV-8A). I would be happy to mount it elsewhere, if that is better. What say you?
 
Cool it will ya...

Now starting the cowl fitting, I don't see any way the top cowling will fit with the oil cooler there. I've begun trimming the top of the baffle metal and there doesn't seem to be any way to leave the oil cooler on the baffle. Would anyone share their experience with this issue? I can fairly easily move the cooler, but maybe I'm missing something simple. Thanks for any feedback.
Wyn,
I built my Four back when it was the highest model Van offered and T-Rex's roamed the taxiways and DR hadn't even conceived this site yet! (but had a great Yahoo chat group). The thinking then was place the oil cooler where it cooled properly. Many guys with the early vinylester cowls (like me) had draft problems with a rear baffle mounted oil cooler. The cowl just didn't draw enough air behind the baffle to properly cool the oil. I moved mine forward to the left front of the baffling behind the left front cowl inlet mounted underneath the baffle with a small scoop above to divert air into it. I had a local NAPA fabricate the long braided steel oil lines required (aka Super Cub style) and then test flew it. Voila'! Proper oil cooling and strangely enough lowered my CHT's on that side. 25 years later it's still there and working well.

Over the years I've seen every iteration you can imagine on other 4's and my favorite I saw is was 0-360 sized cooler(min size for an RV4 IMHO) mounted behind the left rear baffle angled backward at a 45 degree angle with a 3" scat or plenum from the rear baffle as an inlet, similar to Axel's setup above. The cooler isn't attached to the rear baffle (avoids cracking) but separately supported with it's own mount. My HR2 and RV6X have the oil cooler mounted behind the left rear baffle in the exact same manner with no issues BTW.

Merry Christmas!
V/R
Smokey
 
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I heard Vic Syracuse at Oshkosh say NOT to mount the oil cooler on the cylinder 4 baffle (I think he meant for any RV model), but Van's baffle kit (RV-4, Lycoming O-320, fixed pitch, carbureted) was so straightforward I put the oil cooler there anyway. Now starting the cowl fitting, I don't see any way the top cowling will fit with the oil cooler there. I've begun trimming the top of the baffle metal and there doesn't seem to be any way to leave the oil cooler on the baffle. Would anyone share their experience with this issue? I can fairly easily move the cooler, but maybe I'm missing something simple. Thanks for any feedback.
I put mine there on a O-320 RV-4. THE BIG DRAW BACK is the baffle will crack unless you reinforce and brace it.... from my experience. If you have a wood prop and engine is decently balanced your vibs will be down which helps. You know the engine shakes like a wet dog on start and shut down... the cooler with all that oil and lines hanging off it is a lot for thin sheet metal to support. However this is a great place otherwise, super simple. On bigger engines the oil coolers are too big and heavy is where custom plenums and 4" SCAT come in. The picture of AX-O posted... I thought I have seen it all... that is a new one on me.
 
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