Challenger Rotax 582 Installation

Section 2

Inverting the Engine and Moving the Slide Valve Reservoir

Tools required:
1 container for catching oil (clean 750g yogurt container), Sharpie marker, Utility Knife, Slotted and Phillips Screwdrivers, 4mm metric Allen wrenches, Metric and Imperial Wrenches, wire cutting Pliers, Tape Measure, short 12” length of 2×4 or 2×2 lumber, shop rags or paper towel, 6 extra stainless steel worm drive clamps for 3/4”OD hose, 10 extra stainless steel worm drive clamps for 7/16”OD hose.

Note: Although this is a new section, the numbered steps are continued in series from the previous section. Thus our first step in section 2 is step 6.

Step 6
This step involves tipping the engine to drain oil. You may need help. Be careful that you do not drop the engine or damage parts of it by resting the weight of the engine on them. You may need a second person to help with tipping the engine in this step.

Tip the engine and drain the oil from the white plastic slide valve oil reservoir into a cup with at least a ½ litre (½ quart) capacity. A clean 750g yogurt container is perfect. Tip the engine further and continue to drain the slide valve oil from inside the engine. When the oil is completely drained, tilt it back onto its mounting bolts.

Step 7
Using the arrows embossed on the plastic body of the reservoir as a guide, mark the direction of oil flow on the engine body with the Sharpie marker. This will help you later when the engine is inverted. Cut the tie wrap holding the reservoir, unscrew the two hose clamps at the base of the reservoir and remove the reservoir.

Step 8
Turn the engine up-side-down with the four mounting bolts pointing up. Have the short length of lumber in place to rest the engine on, to steady it. The engine will rest on the lumber and the large hose fitting coming out of the head. Make sure it is steady and will not tip over on its own. Keep it away from the edge of the work bench. (See picture: 582-figure-008 and 582-figure-009)

Note: Some more slide valve oil may continue to leak out of the reservoir hoses. Have some paper towel or shop rags to absorb this and clean up the drops.

Note: This is now the inverted configuration of your Rotax 582 engine as it will mount on the Challenger Ultralight. From now on in these instructions the top of the engine will be in this final inverted configuration with the engine mounting bolts facing up. The front of the engine is the end where the starter motor is mounted. The rear of the engine is the end with the drive shaft. The bottom of the engine has the holes for the spark plugs. The left side is where the carburetors will mount and where the slide valve reservoir is located. The right side has the exhaust manifold. The right and left side of the engine is determined by looking at the output shaft and will correspond to the right and left sides of the aircraft.

Note: At this point it is a good idea to look inside your engine to see the pistons. You can see them by looking in through the large exhaust ports on the right side. Note the metal finish on the pistons. Turn the shaft of the engine and observe them going up and down. The slide valve will also move on the carburetor side to block off and open up the inlet ports. This is one of the great advantages of the 2 stroke engines. You can look right into your engine and see the condition of the pistons without dismantling the engine. It would be a good idea to take a few pictures of the pistons for your future reference so as to be able to check the condition of engine wear and compare it to when it was factory new. (See picture: 582-figure-010)

Step 9
Cut the bottom slide valve oil hose so that it has about 1 inch of hose sticking out from the side of the engine, or if you have oil injection, cut it so that it clears the injection assembly. You can use a sharp utility knife or, if you have one, a hose cutter. Make sure the cut squares off the hose end. Do not discard the hose that was just cut off. We will be reusing that shortly.

Slide a hose clamp over the hose left on the engine and install one of the 90 degree 3/8 inch union hose barbs onto this hose facing up. Tighten the clamp.

Remove the long section of slide valve oil hose that goes into the top of the engine between the M10 mounting bolts. Use a 4mm Allen wrench to remove the hose clamp holding it on the side of the engine. Remove the barbed elbow fitting from the inlet port on the one end at the top of the engine using a 5/8” or 16mm wrench. Do not discard this long hose as we will use it again later. (See picture: 582-figure-011)

Step 10
Install the 1/4NPT x 3/8 straight brass barbed fitting into the port at the top of the engine where the elbow fitting was just removed. Use a 9/16” wrench. Put a dab of pipe sealant on the pipe thread but not too close to the end of the threads so that it will enter the engine oil compartment. Do not over tighten this brass fitting. You do not want to crack the aluminum housing or strip the pipe thread. The thread sealant and the tapered NPT thread will ensure a tight seal without excessive tightening of the fitting. (See picture: 582-figure-011a)

Now cut the shorter piece of hose left over from step 9 to about 2” long and push this over the hose barb and clamp it with 2 worm drive clamps. Install the second 3/8” hose barb union elbow into the end of the short hose with the unused barb facing up and clamp it. Cut a 2” length of hose off of the long section of hose left over from step 9. Install this onto the unused end of the barbed union elbow and clamp it. (See picture: 582-figure-012)

Note: You will likely need to purchase some additional hose clamps from the hardware store or auto parts supply store to complete steps 10 and 11. These can be miniature worm drive clamps for 3/4” outside diameter hose. All stainless steel construction is best. About 6 extra should do.

Step 11
Install the long piece of hose left over from step 9 onto the barbed union elbow coming out of the middle of the engine. Mark it so that it will be flush with the end of the other hose from step 10. Cut it to length and install it onto the union elbow with a clamp.

Now remount the slide valve oil reservoir onto the top of these 2 hoses using clamps. Take care that the directional arrows that you marked on the engine in step 7 match the direction of the arrows on the body of the reservoir. The down arrow should be going into the top of the engine. The up arrow should be coming from the middle of the engine. (See picture: 582-figure-013)

Later we will mount a bracket to the engine mount hardware to hold the reservoir in place more securely but for now it will just be held in place on these hoses.

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582-figure-008	582-figure-009
582-figure-010	582-figure-011
582-figure-011a	582-figure-012
582-figure-013