[Utah Smitty]

Hi all--

I've been a member for a while but haven't posted a whole lot. There's a lot of good info on the forum. Hopefully someone can answer my questions.

I bought an '85 F250 back in October and have been steadily working on it.

My current problem is this:

There is coolant running down the outside of the oil filter. I assume it's the oil cooler. Although I haven't found water in the oil, I'd like to fix it. Everything I've read says they're a pain to remove just to replace gaskets. If the cooler core is bad, they a new one is in the $400 to $500 range.

My question:

Has any tried making adapter plates to go on the block and route the oil through a cooler mounted on the front of the radiator? Rather than pay hundreds for a new cooler, an external cooler would be easier to maintain and repair.

How big a cooler did you use, and how did it work?

Details would be greatly appreciated...pictures are a definite plus.

Regards,

Utah Smitty

 

[ShayneIA]

Either way, you will have to pull off the oil cooler and clean the gasket surfaces on the block... Just pulled the motor out and pulled off the oil cooler and had a [email protected]&* of a time getting the gasket off, had to use a razor blade, lots of brake cleaner and finally some emory cloth to make sure that everything was smooth and clean. I know you can just use gasket material, but I bought the gasket set from O'Rielys. I believe Chuckster told me that there are a set of O-rings in the heads of the cooler, possible just a blown O-ring. If you were to pull out, you could make a couple of flat plates and water test the water side to see exactly where the leak is coming from. The cooler hold ahold more oil than I thought.. made a big mess on the floor, so just be ready.

 

[drinkypoo]

I want to do this project and plan to cut off some cooler manifolds to do it. Still haven't got my hands on any though, people who have them think they are made of gold.