How many oil cooler o-rings?

[mattplumber]

So i've been gathering my parts to do a complete cooling system rebuild and am running into a snag.
I remember several years ago on my first idi i had to rebuild the leaking oil cooler bundle and bought a fel-pro gasket set that had all the gaskets and o-rings in it from o'reilleys for like 15 bucks or something. remover the cooler and cleaned it up, BOOM done.

Went to o'reilleys again today to get the same kit and now all thats available is a fel-pro GASKET kit with 3 paper gaskets for 5 bucks. Am I missing something here? They couldn't locate anything anywhere that showed any o-rings for the oil cooler. You apparently have to buy a lower engine gasket set for 134 bucks to get the o-rings. ***?

So i went to Ford and they said I needed a total of 6 o-rings that were gonna be like 12 bucks each special order. They even printed an exploded view of the cooler for me and it clearly shows 6 o-rings. I seem to remember there being only 4 rings when I did it the last time. Coreys write up only shows 4 rings as well.
Where is the best place to buy this stuff because ford is obviously being retarded as usual, and the parts stores have nothing for me.
Best place to find reasonably priced o-ring, or better yet the whole kit like I bought a couple years ago????????

Many thanks!

 

[mabc926]

When I rebuild my oil cooler earlier this year I went to Ford and get 4 o-rings and 2 gaskets. cost me close to $50


If I did some looking I could get the parts # for you.

 

[icanfixall]

What do you have for an oil cooler bundle... There were three differant bundles made... Now there is only one. Thats the turbo bundle with more fins per inch... thats a good thing too. The very first early coolers required 6 o-rings. then it was changed to the newer 4 o-ring bundle... then you could buy either the non turbo 4 o-ring bundle or the turbo bundle ... Same amount of o-rings.. Then all we could buy was the turbo bundle so all is fine... Better oil cooling never hurt anything. So as of now we don't know if you have the 6 ring or the 4 ring bundle.... I suspect you have the 4 ring but you will not know till you have it apart... then its too late if you have the wrong o-ring set... The 6 o-ring set as far as I know is no longer available... I have no idea why Ford would try to sell you that set.... Usually the after market stores sell the multi set gasket sets. They fit the van and truck headers. You can buy the specific header gaskets of either rig thru Ford. I usuall buy two gaskets of each. I bought one one nite very late... around midnite from a Ford factroy shop that just happens to stay open for guys like me... Got home and sure enough... the gasket was torn from some outside pressure to the plastic package... I even looked at that when I bought it but thought what are the chances of it being lined up with the tiny cut and be damaged.... Oh hell yeah I check everything now.... But I still usually buy two... Usually buying two of everything is cheap insurance..... And I still have enough room under and behind my rear seat to "store" these spares..... Gees.... I wonder how much better my mileage would be if I cleaned out my rear seat parts department....

 

[Dsl_Dog_Treat]

Depending on the year of your truck it is possible to have a 6 ring cooler and as Gary said there's a couple different models.

The oil cooler install gaskets for Felpro parts number es70689
Oil cooler orings are 1C3Z*6K649*BA and 1C3Z*6C610*BA. Should need 2 of each for the 4 ring cooler. IIRC the 6 ring cooler orings aren't available.
Orings shouldn't cost ya more than 36 bucks.

 

[typ4]

I have 4 extra sets for the late cooler unless you are in a hurry. I wont be home till the weekend. What year is your engine?

 

[The Warden]

Unless something changed, Ford was planning to discontinue the smaller O-rings for the 6-ring cooler when I got the rings for my oil cooler in 2004...according to the guy at the parts counter, I bought almost the last ones in the region. Maybe his info wasn't correct or maybe Ford decided to start stocking them again...but, if you have the older 6-ring oil cooler (really only used in '83 and early '84 engines), you may want to consider replacing it with a later 4-ring cooler. Alternately, IH may still have them, but I don't know either way...never looked.

Also, FWIW I don't think Ford ever updated their shop manual or parts catalogs to show the newer oil cooler design, so there's a possibility that the parts counter guy was inadvertently showing you the wrong diagram. I'm sure you've heard about how the Ford FSM describes how you need to put the small O-rings in the header, which is a great way to cut the O-rings on the 4 ring setup...but, on the 6 ring setup, you HAVE to do it that way.

Confused yet?

Here is a pic illustrating the differences between the two styles:

You must be registered for see images attach

In any event, it's VERY important to find out what model year your engine is...ideally, you'll want to find the serial number. The cut-off point between the 6 ring and the 4 ring cooler is 6.9D U2U 061494.

Hope this helps a bit...good luck!

 

[mattplumber]

My engine is a late 1993 factory turbo. It definitely is a 4 o ring style. Never seen a six ring cooler before, but it does make complete sense that the very first coolers were that design and that ford never updated their service manuals as it would be pretty self explanatory once you got the cooler off, that you didn't have what was in the diagram.........
I was just figuring that I could find the o-rings somewhere for less than 30-40 bucks. I mean they are just o-rings, I could understand if they were made of metal or something, but every o-ring i've ever bought has been anywhere from a few cents to a couple of bucks. I wouldn't be such a cheapskate if I already didn't have close to a grand or better in all new cooling system parts on the bench waiting for install. These are the last thing i'm lacking and the lil misses is already about to crack my skull for "wasting money on an old truck" so i really gotta watch what I spend on these last few purchases.

I will bow down now, I have to pay what I have to pay to get the required materials to do the job, but like I said in a previous post I remembered the last time I did this and there was in fact a kit available that had the 3 gaskets and all the o-rings in it-made by FEL-PRO and I paid about 12 bucks for it at the o'reilleys down the street. Just proves that our trucks are slowly becoming dinosaurs, and fewer and fewer parts makers are keeping the supply of old parts flowing. I just figured that kit would still be available since all 6.9 and 7.3 engines use that same cooler. Guess I was wrong.........

 

[Agnem]

My O-rings have lasted 28 years, and are still going. I'd EXPECT to pay $20 A PIECE for an O-ring that lasted that long.

 

[BlueBreadTruck]

I went through the same thing. Just buy the correct o-rings from ford, and you will most likely never have to touch the oil cooler again

 

[mattplumber]

To clarify, my cooler isnt actually leaking. I'm just doing this as PM since i'm replacing every component of the cooling system. I just know that if I replace every other part and skip the oil cooler, with my luck the oil cooler will be leaking inside a month.................
And to double clarify, nothing is wrong with my cooling system either. Just replacing everything as good measure since i'm doing a full system flush with new antifreeze and Evans Coolant. That stuff is too expensive to take a gamble on the oil cooler rings failing and mixing that stuff with the oil......
All this is being done to prevent cavitation, what killed my last truck and which i knew nothing about until I found OilBurners.

 

[OLDBULL8]

IH dealer oil cooler O'rings Large 1084414C1 Small 1807563C1
Ford Gaskets E3TZ 6A636-H E3TZ 6A636-G AutoZone, Oreilly, IH, Advance can cross reference the Ford # to get the gaskets.

The header to this Forum TECH ARTICAL OILER COOLER RE-SEAL

Just love it when, Just did my cooler, but no part numbers.

 

[typ4]

They are special orings, the buna n ones that come in overhaul sets do not last, I just did mine as they shrunk after 50K miles. Also did some for Jim aka ondaroad and his were shrunk also, the factory ones dont shrink, more heat resistant.

 

[Agnem]

To clarify, my cooler isnt actually leaking. I'm just doing this as PM since i'm replacing every component of the cooling system. I just know that if I replace every other part and skip the oil cooler, with my luck the oil cooler will be leaking inside a month.................
And to double clarify, nothing is wrong with my cooling system either. Just replacing everything as good measure since i'm doing a full system flush with new antifreeze and Evans Coolant. That stuff is too expensive to take a gamble on the oil cooler rings failing and mixing that stuff with the oil......
All this is being done to prevent cavitation, what killed my last truck and which i knew nothing about until I found OilBurners.

For at least the last 5 years, every June, I'm thinking about how far I will have to drive to get to the IDI Weekend, and every June, I picture myself along the side of the road in a pool of antifreeze and oil. However, (hey... maybe this is where my son gets it from???) I have not preventatively replaced them yet. Being garage kept, the Moose Truck has avoided rubber rot in lots of places where common outside trucks would suffer. My current concept, is to just haul around a refurbed cooler, ready to go in if needed. Probably not the best idea, but somewhere along the way I keep believing that I will need head gaskets, before an oil cooler, and that I will do them both together.

 

[Dsl_Dog_Treat]

Hey Mel I think you're gonna be safe. I've been seeing a trend lately on the Coolers I've rebuilt. The trucks coming from hotter climate areas are the ones showing a higher rate of failure. Coincidence? Dunno. But having a fleet of garage trophies, yer safe.

 

[icanfixall]

Mel... What are the chances your bundle is the 6 o-ring style....