Oil Lines Impeding Cowl Flaps

[moontownMooney]

Our cowl flaps have always been a little difficult to actuate. During a prior annual we realized that part of this was due to the mechanism rubbing on the firewall as is a somewhat common problem. We fixed this and it made a notable difference. However during some recent inspection we noted that our oil cooler lines were hanging low enough (where they pass back from the oil cooler toward the firewall, pictured below) that the pilot side cowl flap touches them and in fact must slightly lift them to achieve the full closed position. Is there a (best or easy) way to fix this? I've considered strapping them to the shielding plate above them, shortening the oil hoses to eliminate the droop (not sure how easy this is), or shifting the hoses the other direction in the hose clamp they pass through near the firewall (again to decrease the droop, this assumes the hoses have room to shift that direction which may be inaccurate).

 

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[carusoam]

I was going to say… that fireproofing the oil lines with silicone layer increase their diameter a touch…

But, it looks like one of your oil lines doesn’t have the silicone look…

Some oil lines get really stiff over the years… making moving them even tougher…

So…

Check the routing, and check the proper oil hoses to have there…

My M20C probably did the same thing… I didn’t know any better at the time…

when putting more force on the flap control… it has a tendency to slip…

So… check your details to find what you need to get done…

Best regards,

-a-

[chriscalandro]

That oil line is going to rub through and cause a leak if it hasn’t already. You need to get the lines off the cowling. 
 

if they are leaking, I just so happen to have a new set of hoses here that I’m not using. 

[Greg Ellis]

3 hours ago, chriscalandro said:

That oil line is going to rub through and cause a leak if it hasn’t already. You need to get the lines off the cowling. 
 

if they are leaking, I just so happen to have a new set of hoses here that I’m not using. 

I was about to mention this because this exact thing just happened to me.  I was going through oil about 1 quart an hour.  Could not figure out where it was going.  Borescope of the cylinders looked fine.  No signs of a leak anywhere.  Nothing up on the cowling, nothing on the engine itself and nothing on the windshield.  But I was running through the oil.  When I would stop to fuel or put the airplane away I would get one drip onto the front tire.  One day while the A&P was looking things over he noticed my oil cool line resting against the cowling much like in the photo.  It had worn a very small hole in the oil cooler line.  Small enough that nothing leaked out when the engine was not running but when the engine was running and a little pressure through the lines it was blowing through the oil.  They replaced the lines and now I am back to my regular oil usage.  So I would get that taken care of sooner than later.  Those oil cooler lines are not cheap.

[N201MKTurbo]

Both hoses should be clamped up in the heat shield.

If you get the Teflon hoses with the integral fire sleeve, they fit better.

[Guest]

Does this help?

Clarence

[Yetti]

When I replaced them with the fancy brown ones.   (Call PHT hoses in Tulsa)   I used rubber strapping with tywraps around both hoses on either side of the heat shield.   Via Docs documentation looks like they should be attached to the shield.   I did not think there would be enough support.    Things should not rub in the engine compartment evar.  Stand offs and adel clamps are your friend