R1 oil/water cooler failure - one to watch
ChrisGamlin - 17/7/06 at 09:47 PM
One for all the R1 owners to watch. I was at Oulton Park on Saturday for a BaT trackday, I went out for a session and came back in after a few laps to
drop the missus off as she wasnt enjoying it that much. This turned out to be quite fortunate though because I was just about to go straight back out
when a mate noticed there was some coolant trickling out 
.
It turned out to be the oil/water cooler inlet pipe had fractured here.
oil/water cooler crack
Luckily I had a bit of 1/2" ali pipe on me and the hoses were long enough to let me bypass the cooler completely and I continued the day without
a problem.
I think what probably caused it is the silicone hose I used rather than the original hose. I suspect the shape / length of this has put a bit of
pressure on the union and caused it to crack. Either that or I tweaked the union very slightly when pushing the hoses on, but either way it hasnt
taken very much to make it fail so certainly one to take care with.
cheers
Chris
Winston Todge - 17/7/06 at 09:49 PM
Ta Chris! 
DIY Si - 17/7/06 at 10:02 PM
quote:
Luckily I had a bit of 1/2" ali pipe on me
One has to ask why?
Winston Todge - 18/7/06 at 06:05 AM
quote:
Originally posted by DIY Si
quote:
Luckily I had a bit of 1/2" ali pipe on me
One has to ask why?
To bypass the cooler completely I would have thought?
Chris.
chockymonster - 18/7/06 at 07:05 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Winston Todge
quote:
Originally posted by DIY Si
quote:
Luckily I had a bit of 1/2" ali pipe on me
One has to ask why?
To bypass the cooler completely I would have thought?
I think that was more, why did he have a piece of ally tube with him.
It's not something I carry around in my toolbox
ChrisGamlin - 18/7/06 at 05:03 PM
quote:
Originally posted by DIY Si
One has to ask why?
Do you mean why did I have the pipe on me? If so, then it was actually already on the car as a breather from the header tank going down through the
floor so any breathed fluid wouldnt splash in the engine bay, so it was sacrificed for the repair, chopped down and used to bypass the cooler as shown
by Chris's lovely diagram
I always tow to trackdays anyway though so do generally load up with tools and my "box of bits" which includes a few R1 specific spares such
as spark plugs, clutch & sump gasket, spare oil filler cap etc, plus various nuts, bolts, bits of pipe etc which often come in useful for getting
yourself or mates out of a hole. 
Chris
[Edited on 18/7/06 by ChrisGamlin]
