Oil leak from cooler- any bright ideas????

[Unclefester]

I've got a very irritating slight oil leak from my recently fitted oil/air cooler on the "Lotus Bleue" Elise. It's a new kit from Eliseparts, Mocal (?) with the normal dome type fittings, and there must be a very slight leak as I'm getting a surface coating on the outer part of the right rear sill where it's fitted on the inside.

 

I have already taken the pipes off the cooler, adjusted their position and re-tightened them, but it's still happening, though less than before.

 

Is there some trick which I've overlooked?

 

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds..ooooh hooo hooo!!...

😬 😬Abbey Road Time-Machine *eek*

 

[John Howe]

Nick, is the leak coming from the compression fitting or the hose?

 

If it is coming from the hose and they are silicone, use a small socket to tighten them. A screw driver is not man enough for such hard material.

 

If it is the compression coupling and you have tried moving and tightening to get the best fit, you could try adding some PTFE tape to the face.

 

JH

Deliveries by Saffron, the yellow 230bhp Sausage delivery machine

[Bricol]

Nooooooo - adding PTFE tape is a sure fire way to get some into the engine . . .

 

Compression fittings seal on elastic deformation of the mating faces - PTFE on the faces would break up and go into the oil line - on the threads it does nothing from a sealing point of view.

 

If it leaks, either it's not done up tight enough, or the mating faces are damaged.

 

Bri

[Unclefester]

John,

 

It's hard to be 100% sure, but I think it's the compression joint on one side that's leaking, and I too did wonder if something like PTFE might be a solution....though it's obvious you wouldn't want it floating around in the oilstream.

 

The pipes are Aeroquip type with machine crimped connections, so unlikely to leak there.

 

With a sandwich plate takeoff for the oil cooler, is it up or downstream of the fullflow oilfilter???

 

If it runs from oil cooler direct to the filter then I don't suppose it is a problem.

 

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds..ooooh hooo hooo!!...

😬 😬Abbey Road Time-Machine *eek*

 

 

Edited by - Unclefester on 7 Sep 2007 13:44:34

[Rob Walker]

Use Anerobic Sealant the stuff used for the K cam ladder.

[Jeff]

Fester,

 

I had the same problem with my new oil cooler. First try was with some very fine wet dry paper to remove any burs. Second try found what is called a "seco seal" which matches the profile of the male fitting. It's very thin metal which goes over the fitting and then when the fitting is tightened it should seal. It is made in alloy for alloy fittings or brass for of course brass fittings. They "almost" solved the problem. Just a very slight weeping. One would think a new part would be trouble free. Also interested in seeing additional comments on anaerobic sealer. Which one?

[Unclefester]

Cheers there Rob and Jeff, I do have some anaerobic sealer, some french make, I'll try a little after checking thye state of the mating faces first.

 

Where did you find these seco seal things BTW, Jeff?

I see you are posting from the USA....

 

Right, Googled it...here

 

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds..ooooh hooo hooo!!...

😬 😬Abbey Road Time-Machine *eek*

 

 

 

Edited by - Unclefester on 9 Sep 2007 14:31:03