Oil Cooler leaking....

[wwwabbit]

So, I got a fairly major oil leak (a 80 km run into town and back has left some good marks on the underside of the truck, and when parked it leaves a puddle about 2-3 inches round after a few hours)
Plus there seems to be some small drops of coolant in that area as well. I attached two pictures, one being the bottom of the front mount of the oil cooler, that is where the coolant drops are. The other is the two bolts on the back side of the front oil cooler mount, they look like a good place to start for my oil leak, I can't see anything really "wet" looking above that top bolt.

So, is there oil behind/close to that bolt, is it normal to have that rubber o-ring looking thing between the two washers there? I am going to guess that I will need to re-seal it onto the block, that should seal the water and oil leaks... should it not?

This looks like a big pain in the butt job, as I can't see there being much room under there to remove this thing. I am going to guess that I need to remove the whole thing (both front and rear mounts) When it's off, should I replace the seals in the cooler it's self, or just don't touch it if it's not leaking?

 

[towcat]

PM Geo....he can walk you through how to to it under two hours.

 

[wwwabbit]

I didn't see any Geo users, would it be geonc that you are refering to?

Thanks!

 

[towcat]

Oops....."geonc" (george ivins)

 

[argve]

Doing the cooler is actually easier than most think - yes it's messy but not bad.

First drop the four bolts off the rear header, then slide the rear header/bundle assembly out of the front header.

Now drop front header and replace the gasket for the header/block mating, then reattach it to the block.

Now slide 4 new o-rings on the bundle and insert the bundle into the rear header, then aim the bundle into the front header - get a decent sized pry bar or 2x4 and lever the entire thing back into each other. Now bolt rear header on to block and enjoy...

Oh and grease up the o-rings a little to make them slide easier... Don't pay attention to the caution that says you should put the o-rings in the header first because trust me that's the fastest way to cut them. I like to use just a dab (very little mind you) of smurf poop as it's called Forma-gasket on the header to block surfaces just to seal off any uneven places to combat future leaks.

 

[wwwabbit]

That sounds workable... It actuly looks like running it a bit might have done it some good. it looks like last time I parked it, it dripped very little oil, so who knows. I am still going to be taking a close look at it though. Does that top rear bolt on the front mount look right with what looks like a o-ring or something around the bolt?

 

[argve]

Nothing should be under that bolt other than a washer... I suspect that someone at some point in time added that o-ring in a failed attempt to thwart the leaking by not doing the job right - which is pull the whole shezbang and replace the gaskets. I think I also forgot to mention that I would recommend throwing some of that smurf poop on the threads of the bolts - can't remember if they go into water or oil jackets but it's always better to be safe than sorry.

 

[geonc]

PM Geo....he can walk you through how to to it under two hours.

Not to brag, but I have gotten it down to 1/2 hr :Sly

Listen to Travis, like an I neglected to mention after lubing up the seal rings with plumbers grease, install them on the cooler bundle, as opposed to what may be printed in some manuals-installing them in the header--guarenteed leak

The cooler will slide in slicker than goose poop on a brass door knob

 

[geonc]

After looking a little closer at your pics, It appears that the PO done the same stoopid stunt I pulled that required the removal of my cooler.......

I "USED" to punch a hole in the oil filter when changing it with a pin punch and hammer.....those filter hsgs are TOUGH!...I loosend the filter header through the repeated hammer blows{shocks}

I have since converted to using an old cordless drill and bit to puncture the filter when changing it


You may have the same issues.............good time to change the cooler "O" ring anywayz! The newer ones are more resiliant and more tolerant of ELC type coolant

 

[The Warden]

install them on the cooler bundle, as opposed to what may be printed in some manuals-installing them in the header--guarenteed leak

FYI for those who haven't read about my project last summer, there's actually a reason that Ford's manual says to put the cooler O-rings in the headers. The oil cooler assembly design actually changed sometime in the 1984 model year. The older design had 3 O-rings per side (two smaller O-rings plus the one big O-ring), instead of the 2 O-rings per side used on late '84 and later trucks. Also, the old design had two deep-cut grooves on each header for each of the smaller O-rings...these grooves were deep enough that there's no way in Hades you can put the small O-rings on the bundle and get them to go into the grooves properly. I found out the hard way that my oil cooler's the old design, and got lucky in that I was able to return the new-style O-rings and the Ford dealer was able to find a few old-style O-rings left.

So, when the design changed, Ford in their infinite wisdom forgot to change their manuals to reflect the new design. Pete (cdnsarguy from the "other" site) sent me a picture from his '92 manual of the oil cooler assembly, with it still showing the 6-ring setup. Unfortunately, this isn't the only typo I've found in the Ford shop manual...my '84 manual also told me to put the thermostat housing gasket in opposite (in relation to the thermostat itself) of the way it's actually supposed to go on. Ruined a perfectly good gasket finding that one out...

 

[argve]

I "USED" to punch a hole in the oil filter when changing it with a pin punch and hammer.....those filter hsgs are TOUGH!...I loosend the filter header through the repeated hammer blows{shocks}

I have since converted to using an old cordless drill and bit to puncture the filter when changing it

Old walmart bag... Loosen filter and then slip bag around filter and spin filter off - just make sure to support the fitler as you spin it off or otherwise you will split the bag and get a face full of oil...

 

[HammerDown]

Old walmart bag... Loosen filter and then slip bag around filter and spin filter off - just make sure to support the fitler as you spin it off or otherwise you will split the bag and get a face full of oil...

rotflmao... thought (I) was the only one that did the "bag trick" and yes alot of times it's a Wally World bag

PS. once or twice I tryed the "drill a hole in the bottom of the filter" deal, takes tooooo long too drain.

 

[geonc]

rotflmao... thought (I) was the only one that did the "bag trick" and yes alot of times it's a Wally World bag

PS. once or twice I tryed the "drill a hole in the bottom of the filter" deal, takes tooooo long too drain.

...................................... when the bag breaks

It actually takes me a while to do my oil changes........after driving home{usually 50+ miles at 80 mph} I know the oil is good 'n hot so while letting the stack temp settle at idle, I drag out the goodies- drain pan etc...- I remove the drain plug , loosen the fliter a turn or so,and drill the filter.

After cleaning the drain plug and drill bit with brake cleen, I get the mail, have a smoke or cold drink and let all that mess just drain out.
Then it's a simple matter of removing the all but completly empty filter, prime and install the new one, install and snug up the plug and add 14 more qts to the eng

less messy that way :Sly

 

[RKOCH]

I just spin my filter off and spill a little oil in the drain pan.

 

[Agnem]

Warden, thanks for the reminder. I have two trucks now with the 6 ring cooler, and only enough rubbers to do one of them. I suppose it would behove me to start looking for 7.3 oil coolers to update my 6.9's, to keep the coolers serviceable longer. Geo, good to see you posting in the IDI section again. Keep those old memories going!