Rebuilding oil cooler, what do you guys do to clean it?

[6 Nebraska IDIs]

How do you guys get all the crud and crap cleaned out of the barrel? Or do you guys buy the $400+ new barrel for them?
Also, how do you tell if the barrel is bad or not?

 

[Dirtleg]

Nebraska, I don't have your answer but I too will going down this road soon and had a question to ask you.

Can you measure the o-rings that are in the kit? Both the cord diameter and the I.D./O.D.

I am trying to find out if they are a common trade size o-ring or not. I am playing hell on the getting the kit (Ford and International are not in my regular routes) and have found just the cooler gasket set (no o-rings) for $5 at NAPA. If I could determine whether or not I can source the o-rings myself it will help me make the decision on what to do.

As far as crud goes, if it's burnt oil or the like I would try Easy-Off. It took the carbon buildup off my turbine housing and impeller very well.

 

[h2odrx]

When I did mine it wasn't really that bad in side? the water tubes were dirty and i used a wire on them. the rest looked good.

I can get the o-rings from ford for ya mine were $6? they come in packs of 4 so i was going to buy them just to have them. I'll go Monday and see if they have them in stock if not I'll order them and let you know.

 

[Dirtleg]

$6?? That's a great price. Let me know how this turns out. Paypal?

 

[6 Nebraska IDIs]

I think he means $60+. I've never seen any place have them for less than $60.

 

[h2odrx]

I think he means $60+. I've never seen any place have them for less than $60.

Now that I think of it, it wasn't $6 ...
My local Ford dealer gives me a great price.....
Qty. --Description--.. ..List.. .Net.. Amount
(2) ..1C3Z 6C610 BA : _4.51 _3.61 ___7.22
(2) ..1C3Z 6K649 BA : _10.82 _8.66 _17.32
Then add the tax for the grand total of $26.20

Add the gasket I got from Advanced for $3.97
Then add the tax for the grand total of $4.24
So it cost me 30.44 to R&R my oil cooler.

They do come in packets of 4 so that would be 49.08 +tax some where around $53 to R&R Two oil coolers....

I'll swing buy on monday and let you know. yes paypal is cool. or check is too i know you are good for it.

 

[Diesel JD]

I was going to say that $6 sounds really cheap but $60 sounds way too high. $30-40 is what I paid for the gaskets and orings. I don't know if you can use common trade orings. The best way to do that would be to get some old ones from somebody and take them to a CAT dealer who usually stocks a ton of orings, by size though. I didn't do much to clean out my bundle, I sprayed it out thoroughly with fresh water and ran some biodiesel through it. I cleaned all the crud off it and had it pressed back together.

 

[GREASE FIRE]

what exactly is the barrel? is that the entire oil cooler? and it really costs $400?
how do you know when it is time to replace the oil cooler?
thanks,
paul

 

[Diesel JD]

The barrel is the center piece of the oil cooler. It has a header that bolts to the block near the water pump a header that bolts to the block near the oil pan. In the middle is a barrel or bundle that has little passageways inside it. The oil passes through the passageways and is cooled by the relatively cooler coolant. They are kept apart by 4 heavy duty plastic orings on each sideof both headers and the bundle. You know to replace it when it starts leaking oil or coolant externally or if you has oil in the coolant. Could be a headgasket or cavitation but usually coolant in the oil is oil cooler orings. It can also dump the oil right on the ground if it fails externally. They are very messy to replace, challenging to push together and difficult to reach with the heads on and engine in the truck. Both mating surfaces need to be spotlessly clean and the orings need to be pressed on until they seal or else you'll be doing it again.

 

[IDIJunkie]

Sean, if I remember right a 22 cal gun cleaning brush will work. What I did was take some small pieces of paper towel and roll them up then pushed them out with a welding rod. Here is what my cooler looked like when it was taken off. It had 15 of the 27 tubes plugged. Also make sure that you either sand blast or wire brush the cooler really good. I wire brushed mine really good, painted it, and put it on, then started it up and it spewed oil like crazy. I guess the cold oil pressure just poped a hole in the thin rusted spot. I was able to weld the hole shut but save your self some trouble and look over the cooler really good for small rusty pinholes.

 

[HammerDown]

Did my OC few weeks back...spotless inside, zero crud.
Guess the frequent oil changes actually did something.

 

[Dirtleg]

The oil cooler design is commonly referred to as a shell and tube heat exchanger. Basically you have the outer housing (shell) and then the tubes that the other liquid flows through. Typically your coolant would be in the shell and the fluid you are cooling in the tubes. In this case the oil.

Now I haven't confirmed the flow of the oil coolers on the IDI but it's been my experience in industrial applications that they flow in opposite directions through the cooler to maximize the heat transfer.

Plate and frame heat exchangers are more compact at the same efficiency. I would say however that from what I've seem of oil coolers in automotive applications this is a good sized and most likely efficient unit. Not bad at all for stock.

 

[LUCKY_LARUE60]

Take a look at the oil flow thru the oil cooler.

 

[oldmisterbill]

If you do a lot of highway miles you probably will find the oil side of the cooler will clean up easily.I used a gasoline flush-then filled it with laquer thinner let it set for a while then a couple gasoline fluses for good luck.It cleaned up nicely. make sure it is dry inside-lots of air through it or set it on something dull blackin the sun.You'll be fine. If you do a lot of short trips it will have more varnish buildup,laquer thinner will cut this too.I changed the oil after a 1/2 hour run to make sure there were no residual crud or chemicles in the oil.

 

[6.9poweredscout]

anybody have any tips on what to use to clean the passages out with? i bought a .17 Cal cleaning brush and rod from wally world to clean it...too bad the passages are .16! i used a piece of wire and a metal rod, about 6 were blocked and needed a good ramming to clean out. they had hard white pieces crammed in them and lots of brown goo... i need some sort of wire brush to clean it really good. also i probably should add a coolant filter to prevent this from blocking again? any tips??

Thanks
-Jon