Dear Europaphiles,
I have posted a photo on the 'Europa Owners' website which can be found
at http://www.europaowners.org/ . If you click 'Gallery' and then click
on the Builders photo album
<http://www.europaowners.org/modules.php?set_albumName=Builders-Album&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_album.php>
link, you will find my photo at the bottom of the page. Title of the
photo is "N262WF oil cooler - broken mounting lug" and it is taken
looking from the front with the radiator removed.
Details are as follows :-
* My installation is with standard factory firewall-forward XS
components.
* The oil cooler is mounted below and behind the coolant radiator.
It is mounted to the cooling duct with AN4-25A bolts and tubular
spacer sleeves.
* At a routine inspection I found that one mounting lug was
completely fractured and that the other was cracked but not
broken. The crack is just visible in the photo.
* Time on the plane is 506 hours.
Discussion :-
<>I am posting this note to suggest that other XS owners pay particular
attention to this area. The mounting lugs are not easy to see with the
radiator in place and if the cooler lug(s) break, there is the risk of
the hoses chafing and a subsequent oil leak which could really spoil
your day. I am having my cooler repaired and I intend to install some
additional brackets between the sides of the cooling duct and the lugs
to provide additional stiffness and reduce possible vibration.
Please contact if you have any questions.
Cheers, John
N262WF, mono XS, 912S, 506 hours
Mooresville, North Carolina
(P.S. Thanks to Jos Okhuijsen for his help with the photo.)
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