Solved - Leaking AN / Speedflow fittings for oil cooler

[OnAll-FOUR]

Hello,

I appear to have made a fundamental error some where because I think almost every fitting is leaking and quite a lot as well.

As I understand it you are not supposed to and thread sealer or anything similar it just relies on a good fitting for the seal?

- What things should I be checking?

- Should I just use plumbing tape on the threads like the interwebs says works but no company recommends?

I know I shouldn't buy cheap crap out of china but when you get all the lines and cooler for less than $150 shipped to your door it is hard to say no. Surely it is fit for purpose?

[shelldrake]

Were all the fittings assembled onto the hose when you got it all?

[jonathan yee]

The tape on threads would just need to be done carefully so that none actually gets into the pipes.

Ie: dont wrap it close to the start of the thread. Also, use the thick gas fitters tape. I see that as your only option if the fittings themselves wont seal as they should, or fork out for new lines and fittings.

[MWP]

Do not use tape on AN fittings! Its not needed and may make things worse.
The thread doesnt do the sealing, its the flare that does.

Where exactly are they leaking from?

[OnAll-FOUR]

With fading light last night it was hard to see exactly where they are leaking. There was a lost of oil everywhere so I'm not 100% sure yet. I will have a good look at it again tonight.

From what I could see It seemed to be from the back of the threaded fittings where it should be o ring sealed.

I did assemble and tighten all then fitting when I installed it. That photo was just from me test fitting everything. To make sure it all screwed together.

I am wondering if I got all the fittings tight enough. They all screwed down nicely finger tight the I was able to nipp them all up about a quarter of a turn with out excessive pressure and they seemed secure.

I will try nip them up further and see if it improves.

[Cuzzo]

Thread sealer or tape i would do.

Chinese flares might be well.......chinese.

[1JZ-Rolla]

Put it all in the bin Ben surely you don't trust the lifeblood of your engine on cheap inferior parts?

Anything you do to fix this kit is just a bandaid. Not worth the risk, might cost you more in the long run

[dnegative]

Yeah, go spend $1000 on speedflow fittings lol
Sounds like the hose is not in the fitting correctly, probably a simple fix

[OnAll-FOUR]

Thank you Phil and dnegative, perfect angel and devils on my shoulders To me a milled aluminium part is a milled aluminium part but I suppose the tolerances here are the critical factor for this type of seal. Just didn't think it would be that hard to seal considering that you can hand tighten the oil filter and never have a problem.

This is the first time I have used these fittings and it was so bad I still suspect it is something I have done wrong.

[1JZ-Rolla]

Tolerances are critical for sure when you have two tapered surfaces being the only thing doing the sealing...... oil filter has a flat rubber seal and is a totally different kettle of (oily) fish

There's nothing wrong with the way you installed them, you want to be careful not to overtighten them, cause they will oval and guarantee massif leaks then.

They look like cutter style hoses (hard to see in that pic properly though), so unfortunately you can't take the hose side of the fittings apart without having to cut some off to re-assemble them. Is there enough extra length in the hoses to do this if all else fails?

As MWP said, don't go near the teflon tape or thread sealer......


Good luck mate, hope you get it sorted. Let us know if you work out whether it's leaking at the hose or the flare.


Cheers
Phil

[trdee]

Are they actually speedflow fittings or some cheap china "AN" fittings?

The chinese shit leaks, I know from experience.

[dnegative]

I would be more worried about the hose than the fittings, its not rocket science to machine a fitting.
If your still having problems, just replace everything with cheap steel JIC stuff unless the 50g of extra weight is too much to deal with.


Seriously, you can pay $50 a pop for earls or speedflow or $5 for the same fittings in steel from your local hydraulic fitter, rated to 300 odd bar so don't give me spiel about how speedflow are somehow stronger or more reliable.

[1JZ-Rolla]

And the upside of the steel fittings is that it's more difficult to damage them by over-tightening also (provided both sides of the coupling are steel of course)

You're right dnegative, it's not rocket science, the design is a tried and true principle, but quality control is another thing

[Cuzzo]

Usually the steel stuff is bulkier though.

[1JZ-Rolla]

Very true cuzbro. and often have a smaller orifice than the speedflow/earls equivalents.

With limited budget always comes compromise