Initial 912 oil fill with thermostat

[sfGnome]

For those of you who have a Rotax with a thermostat fitted, how do you do the initial fill? When cold, the radiator is bypassed, so it won’t get any oil. I have worked out a method, but I’m interested to see how others did it. Note: I’m not asking for people’s opinions on whether thermostats should be used. That already been thrashed in other threads. 😛

[FlyBoy1960]

warm it up (the thermostat) with a hairdryer/heat gun until it's nice and toasty and then add your oil  ??

[skippydiesel]

I have an oil thermostat - yet (never?) to fit.

 

At a guess, I would suggest, if at all possible,  prefiling all hoses & heat exchanger ie minimising air pockets. I would do this anyway when replacing hoses (5 Year Service) etc

 

FlyBoy1960 suggestion sounds good but I would be concerned the wax pellet would be rapidly cooled by the  cold oil, closing the thermostat - perhaps heat the oil to 100C.

 

"When cold, the radiator is bypassed"

 

Are you sure ?- In my limited experince, thermostats do not completely cut off supply, rather divert the bulk of cool liquid around the heat exchanger, back to the engine.

 

If I am correct - bleeding the lubricating system, as per Rotax manual, may still be possible😈

[skippydiesel]

SF Gnome - I suggest joining the Rotax Owner Forum - you won't regret it. Great for solving all these little Rotax problems.

 

https://www.rotax-owner.com/en/rotax-forum

 

😈

[rodgerc]

Just checking you familiar with the Rotax oil priming process utilising low pressure compressed air. 

[skippydiesel]

3 hours ago, rodgerc said:

Just checking you familiar with the Rotax oil priming process utilising low pressure compressed air. 

Is that a question or a statement?

If so, to whom is it directed ?😈

[sfGnome]

6 hours ago, rodgerc said:

Just checking you familiar with the Rotax oil priming process utilising low pressure compressed air. 

Yep, but that process won’t fill the radiator if the thermostat is blocked (and yes, it is fully blocked at low temperatures, unlike the coolant thermostat which does have a small bypass). 

[facthunter]

Fitting that thermostat creates a problem you MUST solve. You must  eliminate any Possibility of AIR in the supply side of the Oil system. Nev