How to repair leaking oil cooler

[mpm]

Can you loosen the bolts on the base plate? You may be able to loosen those and get the unit off. Not sure if it's possible but you might be able to get to them.

I'm currently in the process of removing the accessories on that side of the engine in hopes that I can get to the base plate bolts. I can only imagine that I managed to put too much force on the stud and caused it to cross-thread inside the house. What an AMAZING design!

 

[SilverNotch]

Any luck? Keep me posted.

 

[mpm]

Any luck? Keep me posted.

I did not make any further progress. I need to remove the alternator and power steering pump. I will take a look this evening. I expect this to be a slow process.

 

[P49Y-CY]

....back at it again. My leak grew worse and now I have a whole new problem. I have the driver's side wheel off, the sway bar removed, and pulled the snazy plastic curtain out of the way. I started cranking the filter stud clockwise and found that the further I wrenched the stud the more resistance I encountered. Now I'm at the point where a breaker bar nor an impact wrench will turn the stud. My guess is that one of the o-rings on the stud has moved and is causing interference. Here's the real question. Will I be able to remove the adapter if I am not able to remove the oil filter stud?

This has become a giant mess and I'm about to light the engine on fire...:xpl:

The oil filter stud isn't moving. I'm putting so much torque on it that its moving the engine and starting to flex breaker bars.

Even with heat applied to the aluminum housing surrounding the oils filter stud, nothing has loosened up.

:??: you're trying to loosen it, yet you are turning it clockwise? If you are referring to the center stud that uses a 1/2 inch center hex, that is NOT left handed thread :shrug:

(at least as far as I can remember, I took it off once a few years ago)

 

[SilverNotch]

Yeah it's a regular counterclockwise.

 

[mpm]

:??: you're trying to loosen it, yet you are turning it clockwise? If you are referring to the center stud that uses a 1/2 inch center hex, that is NOT left handed thread :shrug:

(at least as far as I can remember, I took it off once a few years ago)

I can't find the source off-hand, but the oil filter stud is supposed to be reverse threaded. It also started to loosen up upon initial turns and even released coolant.

My fear is that somehow the end of the stud has electrolysis on it, causing interference once I start backing the stud out.

 

[SilverNotch]

It isn't reverse thread see if you can back it out

 

[mpm]

It isn't reverse thread see if you can back it out

While turning CLOCKWISE, the stud backed out and released coolant. I really don't care what it is at this point. The alternator and bracket are off. I have one final bolt on the power steering pump to remove it. This will give me access to the hidden middle bolt if the oil filter adapter.

This factory cooler is not going back on. A remote filter with cooler will be taking it's place.

Once I have everything off the front of the engine, any suggestions on new accessory pullies, or should I just replace their bearings?

 

[SilverNotch]

What will you do with your factory cooler?

 

[mpm]

What will you do with your factory cooler?

Melt it. Donate it to Obama's '16 campaign. Maybe use it for a canoe anchor. Either way, that system isn't up to the task of high temp cooling, so I might as well step up to an adapter on the block with oil lines for a cooler and filter.

 

[SilverNotch]

Well Id take it as a back up or something if you don't want it.

 

[jgp137]

How to repair a leaking oil cooler

Once cooler is clean and dry you’ll want to tack the rear o-ring in place since it just sits in a shallow groove. I used black RTV since that ring holds oil. Not sure if that is best thing. You have to align the 2 pieces carefully to slide them together – definitely use some silicone grease or some kind of lube on the other o-rings, but be careful not to mess up your RTV.

Now the cooler is assembled use some Silicone grease or RTV to hold the o-ring on the back side and maneuver into place. Don’t forget to replace & lube the ring on the coolant adapter. Torque spec for filter stud is 41-53 ft-lbs – I used 50 fwiw. Now you can refill the coolant while the oil ring RTV sets to insure no major leaks. Next day I filled with oil and burped the cooling system. Been several days and just checked and its completely dry. Hope this is helpful.

Hello,

Thanks for the write-up and pics, its the best one on the net I could find! I have one question, once you pull the inner condenser out is there a specific orientation with how it goes back in? For example, can you insert it in a wrong way and block the flow of coolant? Note, in your third picture where you are pointing out where the coolant was coming out - there is a small hole near your finger at 6 o'clock, what if t hat was at the 3 o'clock? Does it matter?

I've got mine apart and didn't put a mark on each piece to line back up for reinstallation.... I just want to make sure I put it back correctly.

Thanks.

 

[SilverNotch]

I didn't find any special orientation it just went together. As far as the core I couldn't get it totally sandwiched together until I put the pin through the middle and cranked in down. Let me know if you have more questions.

 

[SilverNotch]

Did everything work out?

 

[OutKast]

The way you pull the cooler all spelled out in my original post below.

Btw, my car is lowered and has a tremendous sway bar previous owner installed. The sway bar was hitting the bottom of the oit cooler and pinching the hose. Probably cause my leak too. You may want to make sure when there is no weight on the wheels there's still plenty of clearance from the sway bar. Also, adding weight to the wheels will pivot the sway bar out of the way so its easier to remove the coolant hose.

Yellow rag, if u r still on here...

This may be a long shot since this is an old post, but do you think the swaybar is a Steeda? It would be a larger than stock diameter. The reason I ask is because when I installed my Steeda swaybar for the 03/04 cobra, it hit my oil cooler and split the water line to the thermostat housing. I am now leaking oil from that area, which is how I found this thread.

I have been talking with Steeda to try and resolve, so I wanted to let them know I may not be the only one with this problem. I bought the swaybar, endlinks and swaybar brackets all from Steeda. I could not get it to fit right and have since put the factory bar back on. The only thing I kept on was the brackets (which btw, are wonderful!), because the factory ones bent.

Anyway, I want to tell Steeda about your situation so I can help them fix their design for terminators. If u know what endlinks are, or were on there, that would help. I think the Steeda endlinks are too short. Steeda ones only have a top nut and a bolt head on the bottom. Factory have nuts on the top and bottom.

And once again, more kudos for the write up, I will be testing it out soon.:thumbsup:

 

[Pantera1]

Bringing this thread back...so like in the original post, coolant is leaking by my oil filter. If I understood everything correctly all I have to purchase is the 3 o rings plus the one around the stud?

 

[SilverNotch]

Are you purchasing the kit from speed concepts?

 

[SilverNotch]

If so, the speed concepts kit includes:
Included parts in basic kit:
● O-ring for center pin (1)
● O-ring for coolant passage seal (1)
● O-ring for oil passage seal (1)
● Hex socket tool (1)
● Replacement oil cooler to engine block gasket (1)

+10 dollars for the core gaskets.

 

[Pantera1]

I was hoping to just grab the ones I need and do that but it would probably be wise of me to just go for the whole thing while I'm in there, huh?

 

[SilverNotch]

Honestly, I would you spend more in coolant then you do for the kit. So, I'd recommend just doing it all because it's messy and you only want to do it once. If you need more advice let me know.