Unfortunately I'm back with another issue that just popped up. I have a pretty serious oil leak that I think is coming from the oil cooler, but I wanted to be sure that's what it is. The truck sat for about 6 days without being run at all while I was on vacation. I got back and tried to fire it up today and the batteries were dead so I jumped it to get it going. I happened to look under the truck and noticed a pretty steady leak coming from underneath. It never leaked that profusely before, so that's why it caught my eye. At first I thought it was coming from the oil filter, but after looking at it more closely I noticed that it was coming from above the filter. I looked around a lite bit and I came across two possibilities, one being a head gasket and the other being an oil cooler leak. I'm not sure why all of the sudden it sprung such a leak. The temps changed pretty quick where I'm at from 40's- 50's to mid 20's, but I didn't know if that would cause an issue or not. I figured this would be the best place to come since everyone here is so helpful and I've gotten a lot of advice on my truck since I've owned. I took a few videos, one at idle and the other at idle after a quick drive around the block. Before a drive, at idle: http://youtu.be/iYEaVxAGLHQ
Possible Oil Cooler Leak?
- Thread starter rellerman
- Start date
After a drive, at idle: http://youtu.be/hOqCOHS407Y
FarmerFrank
Full Access Member
Looks to me like your oil cooler bundle rusted though. I have an extra one if your interested
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
your o-rings are definitely shot.
time to pull that badboy, thoroughly inspect, and see if its rusted through.
time to pull that badboy, thoroughly inspect, and see if its rusted through.
never pulled one while in the truck.
may have to unbolt the driverside engine mount and lift up.
the aluminum on the headers like to suffer the effects of electrolysis and get eaten for lunch.
like i said, inspect thoroughly
may have to unbolt the driverside engine mount and lift up.
the aluminum on the headers like to suffer the effects of electrolysis and get eaten for lunch.
like i said, inspect thoroughly
Hydro-idi
Full Access Member
Jesus your driving it like that? That's not a steady drip, that's a steady stream. Really not that hard to pull out but you might need to loosen engine mounts and slightly lift engine a few inches For easier removal.
Make sure you buy the oil cooler gasket kit with the green & black o-rings. Felpro has a good kit that I used most recently. I took my oil cooler into shop to get resealed. Didn't cost much & saved me the hassle of doing it, but a guy could do it in garage with a few tools. Be prepared for a face full of oil & coolant. Messy job
Make sure you buy the oil cooler gasket kit with the green & black o-rings. Felpro has a good kit that I used most recently. I took my oil cooler into shop to get resealed. Didn't cost much & saved me the hassle of doing it, but a guy could do it in garage with a few tools. Be prepared for a face full of oil & coolant. Messy job
lots of grease and a floor jack, a 14 mm, 18mm, and a 11 mm, thats all it takes 
watch some youtube videos. its actually pretty easy, and minus the part of oil and coolant going everywhere, its really not a hard job.
the hardest part is cleaning the headers and block of old gasket material.
should only take a couple of hours in a nice warm dry area.
the hardest part is cleaning the headers and block of old gasket material.
should only take a couple of hours in a nice warm dry area.
icanfixall
Official GMM hand model
Sorry but as already posted. Your leak is the oil gooler bundle shell or the o rings of both. No matter. If you remove it to repair you are gong to need the o rings anyway. Best bet right now is clean it and look for the bundle to have a hole in it. If you can get it clean enough you might be able to place a piece of rubber and a hose clamp around it till you can correctly repair it. Nice vids but I really can't see where the actual leak is coming from. It appears to be very close to the rear header. Reason it leaked faster and more after the test drive is the oil warmed up. I bet you could pump out all the crank case oil in about 3 miles of driving so please don't make things worse by test drives any more. Really not sure why you drove it anyway. This forum can walk you thru the different ways of changing this cooler or any part of it. So far a member has offered a really nice deal to you.
I appreciate the response. If the cooler itself is bad, I'll definitely buy that oil cooler bundle that FarmerFrank has. Thank you guys for all your advice. This forum really is great for trouble shooting and general advice.
Runningaford
Registered User
You may not need to unbolt the motor mount; I unbolted the steering shaft, and was able to use that extra space to turn the cooler, then pull it down near the bell housing. Also, gotta drain both oil, and water before you attempt the cooler removal, or you'll have one heck of a nasty bath.
draining the block will also minimize the mess, theres a plug on either side of the engine, the one behind the starter is the one i used.
