O-360 Angle Valve 200hp Cooling

[Utah-Jay]

I try to plan both ahead and get my head around things in advance, so I am in need of ideas on cylinder cooling, and oil cooling. My plan is a Van Baffle kit and a 13 row oil cooler.

Last week I took a trip up to the Husky factory at the invitation of one of the Husky test pilots who is on the same hanger row that I am building my Companion. So I learned a lot at the factory, one being they use a primary and secondary oil cooler on their 200hp engines. This caught me by surprise, and now I am concerned on whether my plan of a 13 row oil cooler is sufficient. My plan is to put the oil cooler behind cylinder Bearhawk General Forums

So… Anyone flying a O-360 (especially a 200hp but 180hp info will be useful as well), that can shed some light/info to point me in the correct direction.

[Battson]

Get a 4" SCAT tube with the Vans Aircraft firewall-mounted oil cooler kit. No question.

I have been comparing a 3" oil cooling system with the 4" - there is no comparison. On a hot day, my oil be close to boiling while others are sitting in the middle of the green range.

I will add - the 13 row cooler is too heavy for the baffles, mine cracked several times before I gave up and moved it to the firewall.

[rv8bldr]

I agree with Jon, oil coolers mounted on baffles tend to crack. That being said, when I built my RV-8 with an IO-360 20+ years ago I fabricated a baffle mount for the oil cooler and it is still going strong without cracks (a couple of friends own the airplane now). If you scroll about halfway down web page linked below you can see what I did to make sure it wouldn't crack. Lotsa beefy angle and stuff. A firewall mount like I have done on my scratch built 4 place A model might be easier...

The Engine (tripod.com)

YMMV

[Utah-Jay]

Thanks for the link Mark, good stuff there. Photos really help a lot

[Mark Goldberg]

Here is a pic of what I did on my (now Jared's) O540 powered BH. It has always done a good job cooling the oil. It does have a 3" scat tube but the baffling is quite well sealed and the "plenum" in front of the oil cooler makes sure the air spreads out and makes use of the entire face of the oil cooler. The engine mount places the engine closer to the firewall on the Companion compared to the four place. So you might not have room for an installation like this. A 13 row sounds more than big enough. springs 008.jpg

As for CHT's - make the opening on the bottom large to get good exit air flow. I have gone back and increased the exit area on all my plane I think after first flights.

We did find that the 315 HP Lycoming IO580 did require a 4" scat tube which almost provides double the air of a 3". Mark

[Ed.Meyer]

On our Patrol with an injected parallel valve 360, we mounted a 9 row oil cooler to the baffle behind #4 cylinder. We reinforced the baffle and added a brace. It has held up well and oil temps stay real cool. Early on, I added a 2" wide strip of aluminum tape across the cooler to reduce flow and it has been there ever since. Even on hot days oil temp never goes above 190.

[Utah-Jay]

Here is a pic of what I did on my (now Jared's) O540 powered BH. It has always done a good job cooling the oil. It does have a 3" scat tube but the baffling is quite well sealed and the "plenum" in front of the oil cooler makes sure the air spreads out and makes use of the entire face of the oil cooler. The engine mount places the engine closer to the firewall on the Companion compared to the four place. So you might not have room for an installation like this. A 13 row sounds more than big enough. springs 008.jpg

As for CHT's - make the opening on the bottom large to get good exit air flow. I have gone back and increased the exit area on all my plane I think after first flights.

We did find that the 315 HP Lycoming IO580 did require a 4" scat tube which almost provides double the air of a 3". Mark

Thanks Mark, that is what I am looking for. As Jon suggested, I will use a 4” scat tube, and I really like the idea of the oil cooler plenum too to spread the airflow out over the entire surface of the oil cooler.

rv8bldr my plan is to mount the oil cooler on the firewall if space allows. Based on Mark’s comment about the shorter engine mount on the Companion it may be a challenge, but that was always my plan. I had not considered the cracking when mounted on the baffle, but it makes a lot of sense.

My morning ambient temperatures here in the mountains are very low (upper 40’s-low 50’s) even in the hot summer months, but our afternoons are in the mid 90’s for about a three month period. We get some really high DA’s starting about 11am, so I am concerned about cooling for afternoon climb outs hence I am leaning towards the 13 row cooler.

[Nev]

If you have a larger oil cooler you can always partially block it during the cooler weather.

[svyolo]

After buliding 5 oil cooler plenums, I just bought Vans for 50 or 60 bucks. It is the cheapest thing I ever bought for my BH, considering the time I spent rolling my own.

[Bcone1381]

On our Patrol with an injected parallel valve 360, we mounted a 9 row oil cooler to the baffle behind #4 cylinder. We reinforced the baffle and added a brace. It has held up well and oil temps stay real cool. Early on, I added a 2" wide strip of aluminum tape across the cooler to reduce flow and it has been there ever since. Even on hot days oil temp never goes above 190.

Ed, does your IO-360 have Angle Valve cylinders or Parallel valve cylinders?

[Ed.Meyer]

Parallel valves.