10-4 in the oil. What year truck to you have? Did you leave everything in place when removing the oil cooler? Are you separating the tube from one of the headers before you try to drop it down? I only ask because everything I have read everyone is talking about lifting the engine/removing steering stuff.
I wouldn’t use rtv on the gaskets but I would is a permatex product called form-a-gasket “super300”. It’s a black thick non-hardening liquid that you “paint” on the contact surfaces of the gasket. It’s resistant to fuel and antifreeze and it’s worked pretty well for me over the years.
I used the RTV mostly to hold the gaskets in place, not really for sealing. While it's true that you don't have to lift the engine, it does give you more room to install the cooler. I've never pulled a header off of the cooler while it's in the truck. I believe that some have, I feel that trying to put the cooler together while under the truck is risky. I feel like there's a better chance of damaging an O-ring this way. This is why I lift the engine.
So I started the truck again over the weekend to try to pin point where it's leaking. I does not seem to be coming from the o-rings. Either I cracked the housing putting the engine back in or the seal between the rear header and the block is no good. I hope to get the cooler pulled out this week. I have another cooler that I plan to replace the o-rings in and have ready to go incase the actual housing is cracked on the one I have installed.
I started this fun job this evening. I have the oil cooler unbolted but I have not been able to get it to come out. I have not removed anything other than the battery ground strap that goes to the bottom front corner on the left side. Any great tips? Should I just lift the engine? If so have you all lifted from the pan from underneath or should I drop the truck back down and use the engine hoist from the top to lift it?
Don't try to use the oil pan to lift the engine. Use your engine hoist. As it sits, you don't have enough clearance to get the front oil cooler header over the top of the crossmember. You also should remove the exhaust from the driver's side manifold. You may have to loosen it at the passenger's side manifold as well. It will make the exhaust twist less and reduce the chances of damaging something.
As for loosening the exhaust are you just talking about the cross over pipe? I can pull that down pretty easy.
I finally got back outside and was able to move forward. I used a seatbelt on the exhaust manifold to lift the engine on the left side. Here are the block surfaces, I did not see any problems but I hit them with some fine grit sand paper and brake parts cleaner. Here are my two oil coolers (painted one was in the truck) and the surfaces of the oil cooler I removed.
....continued from the last post Here are the mounting surfaces of the cooler I installed. I used some form a gasket stuff on the gaskets this time as recommend by someone on this thread. Now it’s back together again. I have not added fluids so I don’t I know the outcome yet.
The rtv was just to hold the gaskets in place while you bolt up. You should be good. Turbo piped through the cowl?
Yeah I made my own cowl induction intake. I did this years ago when the hyper max cowl induction kit came out. I am using a 4” aluminum tube, with couplings and the fitting I got at Lowe’s that is hooked on the firewall. I made a thread about it years ago. I’ll see if I can find it. https://www.oilburners.net/threads/cardana24s-air-intake-thread.42425/