azjoe
Who says it won't work?
I've got a Lancair 320. It's always suffered from running hot, cylinder 3. I've tried everything. It was built per the plans (not by me but I've gone over it with a fine tooth comb) I've replaced and verified the baffle seals, adjusted the baffles, and on and on. Everything helped a little, but not enough. Then I was reading an article about engine cooling and there was a picture of a Vans RV with an unusual baffle design. There were baffles at the base of the cylinders effectively splitting the engine in half. The left inlet could only cool cylinders 2 and 4, the right could only cool 1 and 3. I figured "why not?" It would only take a couple of hours to fabricate such baffling.
And to my surprise, it worked! Cylinder 3 came down and equalized with cylinder 1. Cylinder 2 now became the hottest cylinder. Not too hot, but the spread between 2 and 4 was substantial. Cylinder 4 had always been the coolest. The rear baffles for cylinder 4 have a decent size, albeit spec as far as I can tell, space at the top of the cylinder then wrap around the back side. Rather than try to completely rebuild that part of the baffle I just build a small plate that forces the air down through the fins from the top rather than allow the air around the back side first. Initial testing shows that it is working. The temperature on cylinder 4 is coming up and cylinder 2 is coming down. All 4 are approaching equilibrium. At least as equal as you can expect out of an O-320. A little more fine tuning and this engine will be good.
So if any of you are having similar issues, splitting the cooling area might just be the ticket.
And to my surprise, it worked! Cylinder 3 came down and equalized with cylinder 1. Cylinder 2 now became the hottest cylinder. Not too hot, but the spread between 2 and 4 was substantial. Cylinder 4 had always been the coolest. The rear baffles for cylinder 4 have a decent size, albeit spec as far as I can tell, space at the top of the cylinder then wrap around the back side. Rather than try to completely rebuild that part of the baffle I just build a small plate that forces the air down through the fins from the top rather than allow the air around the back side first. Initial testing shows that it is working. The temperature on cylinder 4 is coming up and cylinder 2 is coming down. All 4 are approaching equilibrium. At least as equal as you can expect out of an O-320. A little more fine tuning and this engine will be good.
So if any of you are having similar issues, splitting the cooling area might just be the ticket.
