Oil cooler ?? Gear ratio ??

[China Rider 27]

There is apparently some variation in the adapter positioning. Last weekend I connected my oil cooler and filled it with oil. Few days later I noticed a pool of oil under the bike. Seemed to be leaking from the O ring on the adapter. Took it apart yesterday seemed to be no apparent issue and put it back together. Today leaking again. Took it apart again and back together with new seals on the oil fittings still leaking. When you put more pressure on to tighten it goes almost horizontal which is a no go to get the lines connected. I had purchased another cooler last week for $18 (I appreciate it when things happen for a reason) so I in fact had another adapter readily available. I put that on today, the inlet hole for the oil pump is on the top on this one when it tightens. See if it it will leak. Chinese parts are cheap, but they are sometimes cheap for a reason.

[tknj99]

Thanks for that update, its weird that the adapters can vary like that esp since they all look the same between the options i found on Amazon.. but im glad we got it sorted out, i was mixed up for sure and the worst feeling is the thought of doing a mod incorrectly and then something that is done in hopes of making the bike live a better life winds up hurting it, that always sucks.
Knowing that the adapters can vary, i think the key takeaway is to know that inside the engine oil cavity, after removing the stock screen and spring, the top hole is the oil inlet and the bottom area is the oil sump

[tknj99]

What mine wound up looking like

[Spins]

Order received !
Nice fast service.

[tknj99]

Its funny, we seem to be the lucky ones to catch that blow-out sale as i dont see any $17 ones anymore on Amazon, price jumped back up.

[Bacchus]

I ordered one yesterday for $35

[Spins]

With tax mine was $32.99 This one will find its way onto the Recon on order.

[tknj99]

Posted a question earlier.. still wondering about the oil draining procedure and whether just draining from the drain bolt will get most or all out.. doubt that.
I know opening the screen canister will probably allow some of the line to drain but may not be much.. and im definitely not going to remove the cooler to shake it upside down to get oil out of it..
The other sucky thing i noticed is that you cant simply open up the screen canister while its mounted as the lines will start twisting, i think the only workable method is to remove the top line from the cooler which will allow you to spin the line off the canister and then open the canister.

[tknj99]

Originally Posted by China Rider 27

There is apparently some variation in the adapter positioning. Last weekend I connected my oil cooler and filled it with oil. Few days later I noticed a pool of oil under the bike. Seemed to be leaking from the O ring on the adapter. Took it apart yesterday seemed to be no apparent issue and put it back together. Today leaking again. Took it apart again and back together with new seals on the oil fittings still leaking. When you put more pressure on to tighten it goes almost horizontal which is a no go to get the lines connected. I had purchased another cooler last week for $18 (I appreciate it when things happen for a reason) so I in fact had another adapter readily available. I put that on today, the inlet hole for the oil pump is on the top on this one when it tightens. See if it it will leak. Chinese parts are cheap, but they are sometimes cheap for a reason.

I noticed a few drops of oil today and see a drop worth of accumulation under the adapter. I checked the bottom line bolt and was able to snug it a bit more and know that the adapter is very tight as well.
Hopefully this solves the issue.. otherwise i may add some teflon tape to the threads of those line connections on the adapter

[Mrmazak]

Originally Posted by tknj99

I noticed a few drops of oil today and see a drop worth of accumulation under the adapter. I checked the bottom line bolt and was able to snug it a bit more and know that the adapter is very tight as well.
Hopefully this solves the issue.. otherwise i may add some teflon tape to the threads of those line connections on the adapter

Really do not recommend teflon tape onto a banjo bolt, that is bad day right there.

Just put new good copper washers onto it, should be fine

[tknj99]

Originally Posted by Mrmazak

Really do not recommend teflon tape onto a banjo bolt, that is bad day right there.

Just put new good copper washers onto it, should be fine

Thanks, yea i realized after that with the heat and all wouldnt be good.
I took her for a ride earlier and oddly when i started her there was an odd buzzing sound that went away within 1 minute. I didnt hear it again later on after other startups. Anyway, i did notice a drop coming from what seems to be the bottom or top or both banjo bolts. I tightened them both up especially the bottom one that i noticed had some more room to be tightened.
Will check again tomorrow and hopefully be good, otherwise will get some copper washers in the assumption that theyd be better than the new ones that came with the kit.

Also, a sidenote, i know for sure the oil cooler is working as it was pretty hot to the touch, so thats a good thing to know its doing its thing.

[Spins]

Has anyone painted their oil cooler Black to make it blend in more with the engine? I assume it would reduce the efficiency slightly. I was thinking high temperature engine paint would do the job.

[JerryHawk250]

Originally Posted by Spins

Has anyone painted their oil cooler Black to make it blend in more with the engine? I assume it would reduce the efficiency slightly. I was thinking high temperature engine paint would do the job.

I just did.

[old_airhead]

Here's my install on the Hawk DLX. I really only did this because I got the cooler for $17 - otherwise I would have let it slide. I did need to make a bracket for mounting the top of the cooler - when I mounted it as high as I originally wanted the forks hit it. No big deal. No leaks yet. I watched a YouTube video of a guy that emphasized several times that the bolts need to be aligned - aligning any of the banjo bolts and the adaptor will have a negligible effect on the oil flow, if any at all. They are the same type of bolts as on your brake system - have you ever seen alignment marks on your brake line bolts?

Anyway, I'm not entirely convinced that this modification is worth the effort. Seems to be a more complicated system with multiple points to fail. I'll leave it on - we'll see. At least the cooler makes the silly-ass plastic cowls bolted on the tank look like they have some purpose now.

[tknj99]

@old_airhead: im confused by your remark about aligning the banjo bolt holes with the cooler lines.. The banjo bolts have the hole on either side for the oil to pass thru, i was under the impression that they MUST be aligned with the oil cooler line in order for oil to pass thru assuming that if they were not aligned then the oil flow would be blocked. Is that not the case? If it can be mounted without the need to align the hole then that makes things alot easier for sure as i was paying alot of care to make sure i aligned those holes.

I also see that you installed the oil screen on the oil inlet line, i have mine on the bottom sump line, do you think its better to have it on the inlet line instead?

By the way, still have a slow leak at the oil adapter, either from the adapter or one or both of the attached lines. To be on the safe side, i have a warranty replacement on the way and will swap out the adapter and banjo bolts and washers when they arrive. I'm guessing as well that when it comes to these banjo crush washers, they are a 1-time install thing and need to be replaced anytime the line is removed