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Radiator Help Please!

Giving Wings

I'm New Here
We have a cracked radiator and are in need of a replacement ASAP as this aircraft, on loan to us from VANs, is being used heavily in our Flight School. Unfortunately, the factory does not have any to send us and it appears it could be quite some time before they can ship us one. So....I was hoping that perhaps there is someone out there with a radiator for the RV12is waiting to be installed and Van's could buy it from you and ship to us. We are in Michigan and can travel the state or a nearby state if needed to pick it up. Thanks for passing this along if you know of anyone with a radiator they can do with out for a few weeks.

Thank you.

Eric
 
To clarify, it is the coolant radiator, not the oil cooler, correct?
Have you considered having it repaired, or isn't it repairable?
 
Our flying club in the Bay Area, CA has the same problem. Anyone willing to help us out, and we’ll ship you a replacement?

The supply chain is extremely slow and VANS efforts to have these in stock during unpredictable times have been thwarted. Usually, we can get parts from VANS the next day.
 
Balance those carbs, folks,and balance those props.

Vibrations from the engine carbs being out of synch and prop pitch not balanced, or prop not dynamically balanced, will cause many things to crack or fail.
 
We have a cracked radiator and are in need of a replacement ASAP as this aircraft, on loan to us from VANs, is being used heavily in our Flight School. Unfortunately, the factory does not have any to send us and it appears it could be quite some time before they can ship us one. So....I was hoping that perhaps there is someone out there with a radiator for the RV12is waiting to be installed and Van's could buy it from you and ship to us. We are in Michigan and can travel the state or a nearby state if needed to pick it up. Thanks for passing this along if you know of anyone with a radiator they can do with out for a few weeks.

Thank you.

Eric

Agree with others. Remove the radiator and take it to an auto radiator repair shop.
 
No auto shop in our area will touch a radiator that flys. Our aerospace welder that does other aluminum welding for us is going to give it a try. The crack/damage is in a difficult spot up against the inside of the attach bracket.
 
No auto shop in our area will touch a radiator that flys. Our aerospace welder that does other aluminum welding for us is going to give it a try. The crack/damage is in a difficult spot up against the inside of the attach bracket.

I never tell anyone at auto parts stores what vehicle I'm shopping for. If they insist on asking, I tell them it's an off road 2-seat vehicle with a Rotax engine.
 
I've had one get a hairline crack from contacting the frame, I removed it, drained it, cleaned the cracked are and used Marine Tex epoxy, I flew for a few months, then replaced the radiator and keep it as a spare, never leaked a drop, Marine Tex is fantastic, been using it for 50 years, even used it to fixed a stripped out exhaust stud for an airboat...
 
Marine Tex

I second Marine Tex, for some reason it one of this industries best kept secrets, you will not believe what it can do, use the gray and not the white as the gray contains microscopic fibers, it will not fail you if part is cleaned prior to application.
Stan
 
Assuming SLSA

Since this is a training aircraft, I assume this is an SLSA and as such would require a higher level of repair than an auto shop I suspect - both from an FAA perspective as well as from a safety and insurance aspect.

Plus I think this would be considered a major repair (cooling system) and as such require a LSM or A/P sign off IAW proper repair procedures for such a system.
 
Might try an aircraft salvage yard, but given the newness of the design it would be a long shot. I’m not familiar with other SLSA designs, but maybe one of them uses the same radiator design and has one in stock.
 
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