Well, it's deja-vu all over again. Once again I am lining up to get the
engine (re)installation wrapped up over a holiday weekend. Once again
my final task is to fill the engine with coolant. Once again I find
coolant dripping onto my shoes as I fill the engine. And once again I
undo hours of work to rip the intake manifold assembly off the engine to
physically inspect the rotor chambers.
This time it seem the new end housing & new air vent fitting is
leaking. Much worse than the exact same leak which was deemed to
require a new end housing in order to resolve. In this case, it appears
sealing the vent port consisted of smearing a small bead of JB weld
around the outside of the fitting. This JB weld chipped off with a
finger nail. What remains (about 60-degrees worth on the surface) is
obviously not enough to keep the fitting water tight. This really makes
me especially furious, because this weak seal could /would easily have
failed after the vibrations of a few hours in flight -- leading to
coolant at 30psi being sprayed all over the hot exhaust leading to who
knows what.
Pic attached - lousy quality, but my cell phone is what I had at hand.
Mark (Rocky Mountain High)
Don't panic Mark :)
Will it unscrew or is it JB Welded in there?
As I recall Dave put in a straight threaded fitting that should have had
an O-ring or aluminum washer under it. Can you see the O-ring?
If it unscrews no big deal. Replace the O-ring.
It should look like the 3D on the bottom. If no groove
for the O-ring the wrong part was used.
Also an aluminum crush washer might have been used instead
of the O-ring. In that case no groove is necessary.
Take it out. Clean it up and take a close up picture
of the bottom of the fitting and the top of the end
housing where it screws in.
Paul Lamar ...No rotor no motor.
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