Mike
Your timely warning reminds me of a similar but different problem
found on my 912ULS at last permit renewal. One of the coolant pipes
was found to be burnt by an exhaust downpipe. The damage was confined
to the heat shielding which had burnt right through and was about to
burn through the rubber hose. Basically, the hose routing was too
close to the downpipe - a previous owner had wrapped it up with heat
shielding to compensate. An extra reason why this was alarming was
that a 912-engined DynAir Banbi in the same hanger had recently
suffered a complete loss of coolant through an identical problem (the
owner lived to tell the tale but had his wallet lightened by an
expensive engine rebuild). I believe Mike Gregory has some gory
photos of the damage.
Happy flying
Willie Harrison (G-BZNY)
On 8 Apr 2007, at 20:01, Mike Parkin wrote:
> Hi Guys,
>
> For all Europa owners with Rotax 914.
>
> Just preparing to incorporate Mod 72 and took the opportunity to
> have a good look around. I found one of the oil pipes badly
> charred by No1 cylinder exhaust pipe. The pipe concerned is the
> one that connects the oil cooler to the oil pump. Fortunately,
> when I installed the pipe I fitted some heat shielding from 'Demon
> Tweaks' - the heat shield was burned through and the pipe was just
> starting to be affected.
>
> On initial installation the pipe did not touch the exhaust, so the
> bend must have eased during use.
>
> Looking at the installation, it seems that a slightly shorter pipe
> after the bend where it connects to the oil pump should solve the
> problem.
>
> Hopefully, this is a one off and my aircraft is the only one affected.
>
> But I thought all you chaps might like to know. It is worth a
> quick look - a burst oil pipe in this position could be very
> dangerous.
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Mike Parkin (G-JULZ)
>
>
> <2007_04080049.JPG>
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