Subject: Fly-In Snake Bite
From: Paul
Date: 12/6/2000, 7:55 PM


Ed Anderson wrote:

Well, Paul

 Looks like the Fly-in Snake bit me again.  Seems I never get ready to
 attend a fly-in that I don't run into a problem.  I will not be flying
to
 Tracy Crook on Friday and will not make the Treasury Coast Fly-in on
 Saturday.

 I got my header tanks, etc, in yesterday and went out and installed
them
 this AM.  After that I proceeded to pour coolant into the header tank
and
 had put in approx 1 1/2 gallons when I noticed coolant dripping to the
 floor.  Initially it appear to be dripping off the intake manifold and
I
was
 sincerely hoping that either the water pump was leaking or perhaps the
two
 freeze plugs I had to install in the turbo housing.  I could have fixed
 either of those problems with the engine on the aircraft.  But, no -
after
 taking the upper manifold off I traced the coolant leak to the junction
of
 the rear rotor housing and the rear side housing (one next to the
flywheel).
 The leak was clearly coming from the junction about at the spot where
the
 tube is for the coolant routed to the manifold on the car (Plugged in
my
 installation).

 So, I will have to take the engine off the airframe and bring it back
to
 the workshop to determine the problem.  The only thing I can think of
at
the
 moment is that when I turned the rear housing upside down (related to
the
 outer coolant seal) to put it over the eccentric shaft and onto the
rear
 rotor housing, the outer seal must have shifted position despite the
Hylomar I used.
Next, off comes the  engine, prop, PSRU, flywheel, rear housing, etc.,
to
determine the cause of
 the problem.

 I once again regret that I will not get to see you and others at Tracy
and
 the Fly-in.  Keep the good thoughts, I WILL make one!!!  If I am not on
the
 web for a week or so its because I am hiding in a corner sucking on my
 thumb!

 Best Regards

 Ed Anderson
 Matthews, NC


Bad luck Ed. Sorry to hear that. Might be a good idea for people to fill
the
coolant system while it is still upright on the engine stand to check
for that sort of thing.

Paul Lamar


Your right, Paul.

    In fact, I intended to do just that as I had filled it with oil and
cranked it over making sure that I had oil pressure with the new sump.
However, since I did not have the complete coolant system (header tanks
being welded), I decided not to and to go ahead and remount the engine in
order to save time.  Just goes to show you that haste makes waste.  It won't
be bad to just pull off the rear housing, just an aggravation and I miss the
Fly-in.

Ed


 
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