Forced to do oil cooler reseal myelf: some q's...

[N.E fjord-by-fjord 2fiddy]

I have to do this oil cooler swap myself now. Just started her for a second, and the drip is now a gush. So much so that I wouldn't feel right driving it to my garage...

A few questions:

-What capacities do i need for my fuid drain? i remember i did 11 quarts (i put on the PS filter...) of oil, but i forget how much Zerex i used back when i did my rad....

-Where are the best spots to drain from? (doing this in my driveway, and i don't want any BP-like incidents...)

-Is it absolutely necessary to undo the motor mounts and pry the engine up to remove the cooler? Or is there a more "DIY gravel driveway" style...? Perhaps an approach through the driver fender/wheelwell?

-I also heard that no gasket sealant should be used, and mating should be dry... which I believe by looking at the built-in red sealant looking stuff on the inner edges of the gaskets... But I would also like this confirmed. Not a job I want to do twice due to something silly like doing gaskets wrong.

Any other things I missed, please let me know. I believe that mounting bolts are also 18 lb.ft. as well...

Will begin tomorrow after this thread has me confident enough to do the task. It always seems to do the trick posting here...

 

[typ4]

I have never j acked upthe engine, on a 2 or 4wd. Dry is best on the printed side of gaskets, BUT a spray of high tack wont hurt. Silicone is a no no.. you dont need to drain the oil fromthe pan, coolant will be 4 ish gallons, and itl be a gush when you remove the header no matter what, just clean it up and the rest will go easy. 18-20 lbs on bolts.

 

[sassyrel]

when I did mine,,i pulled the tube and back part off, took fine steel wool to the inside of the front tube casting,,lubed with Vaseline. did saem ot back casting,,put it together,,then slid it into the front casting,,and pried if forward with a long prybar,,EASY does it,,till the thing pops together...put rear bolts in,,and torque as said..i used NO sealant on the gasket.......

 

[nj_m715]

there are a couple good vids on youtube of guys doing it. a movie is worth a thousand words. sealant isn't needed but acts as a third hand to hold the gasket in place. spray glue works too

 

[franklin2]

I tried and tried, I could not twist and turn the thing to get it out over the crossmember. I only had to jack the engine up about a 1 inch, and that let it come on out. If you find you need to, all you do is take out the long bolt going through the mount(the engine won't go anywhere) and then get a piece of plywood cut to fit the lower part of the pan and put it on a floorjack and jack the engine up.

Above the cooler on the side of the block is a drain for the coolant. If you use this, most of the coolant will be out and you will get a smaller mess when you take the cooler off. Of course taking the plug out of the block makes a mess in of itself, but if you have one of those petcock valves screwed in it where you can slide a hose on, the mess is greatly reduced.

This is not the easiest place to work. I commented before that I put a small slit in my inner fender at the bottom, so I could fold it up out of the way and use a very long extension to get some of the bolts out of the front header. And I would also put some sort of glue or something on at least one side of the gaskets, just so they stay put when you put it back in. It's not a very graceful thing when you wiggle and turn it out of there, and it's like wise not that graceful putting it back in, so you need something to make the gaskets stick.

 

[OLDBULL8]

The trouble with youtube video's, is a lot of them are misleading by people that just want to be on there. Just follow the instructions on here and you'll be safe.

 

[Rot Box]

I didn't unbolt a motor mount however I did unbolt my steering column at the box and pushed it out of the way. It was well worth the effort..


Just be sure the get all of the old gasket material off of the block. I missed a tiny sliver of material and had to do it all over again


The hardest part for me was trying to stay dry