Bring down oil temperature on a 912 Vz

"I haven't yet sealed the gaps with tape. It would need to be removed whenever I take off the lower part of the cowling. Do you reseal every time after you take off your cowling?'

I don't use tap. I use adhesive (one side) or pinchweld draft excluder, which can be purchased in a range of thickness, profiles and duramters eg

😈

OK, that makes sense! That is something that I can improve on.

What do you guys think on mounting a bigger oil cooler and / or coolant radiator? Has anyone tried that and can share some experience if it has a significant impact?

Put some silicone baffle material on and seal the oil cooler gaps. I’d say the same for your radiator most likely, so there is room for efficiency improvement first.

Till Middelhauve wrote:

Hi Murray,

thanks for this input. I have already built an aluminium funnel to optimize airflow onto the oil cooler. Please see the attached picture of it.
I haven't yet sealed the gaps with tape. It would need to be removed whenever I take off the lower part of the cowling. Do you reseal every time after you take off your cowling?

The coolant radiator is mounted under the engine near the firewall. I haven't taken the effort of designing a funnel. It has a big air duct and appears well ventilated. Do you funnel to your coolant radiator and seal with tape?

The oil cooler is a bit off-center to the left of the plane. That's why I believe a bigger one could be fitted.

I use tape and various adhesive rubber seals and have to reapply the tape each time I remove the lower cowl, fortunately I only need to remove the top cowl on my Sonex to do most checks.

Looking at your picture I would think sealing it will get a small increase in efficiency for not a lot of effort. Probably use something like what Sean and Sam suggested instead of tape.

This was my solution;

https://waltsrv12.com/engine/adding-second-oil-cooler/