Clark,

I appreciate your email.  I had the same problem and tried lots of different things and ended up using a 3 inch scat which runs directly into the oil cooler, no bends and it worked well, but I am wondering if - instead of elbows, if you would improve oil flow with either straight fittings into the oil cooler or possibly 45 degree fittings instead of 90 degree elbows?   I used a straight and a 45 due to the engine mount and it made a huge improvement over the 90's which were there previously.

Oil flows fastest in a straight line.

Matt

Clark Baker <bakercdb@gmail.com> wrote:

In the 6+ years that I have owned my LNC2 360, I have always had
somewhat higher oil temps than I would like. The problem was
exacerbated somewhat by a complete overhaul with higher compression
9/1 pistons.

Over those 6 years, I tried:
-a new oil cooler
-a larger oil cooler (one specified for the IO 540)
- adding a 2" SCAT tube to supplement the existing 3" SCAT tube (fed
from the opposite side of the rear baffle)
-feeding the 2" SCAT above off a small cowling NACA (instead of the baffle)
-adding louvers
-adding a plenum to seal the cooler to the louvers

While walking through this issue with a fellow Lancair owner, I
deduced it was not a problem with the cooler (or size), the cooler air
inflow, or the air outflow. That seemed to leave the oil flow. So, I
tried replacing the vernatherm. No change.

While pondering the problem, I happened to notice the "T" fitting on
the oil cooler (that I had conveniently ignored for the 6+ year). This
fitting (to drain the cooler) was installed by an A&P and experienced
homebuilder who was helping me finish out the engine installation. I
know little about fluid dynamics, but an elbow fitting appeared that
it would flow much better than that "T" fitting.

I replaced the "T" with an elbow fitting, and my oil temps immediately
dropped 20+ degrees F. I can now climb direct to 15k on a hot day or
drag around the pattern without the oil temp nearing redline. Two
lessons I learned (6 years later): 1. The solution is sometimes the
most simple and obvious (and cheapest), and 2. don't get lulled into
thinking that someone with all the credentials never makes mistakes.

Regards,
Clark Baker
LNC2 360, 900hrs
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