[woodworker]

After much cursing and swearing, got both ends of the oil cooler off the motor. Did this because the cooler was leaking coolant. New O rings and some careful use of a pair of pipe clamps pressed everything together. Bolted it back on with new gaskets. All Ford parts. New upper and lower radiator hoses and new serpentine belt added. Upper hose now goes around the serpentine belt. Put in distilled water to flush system but water pours out of the motor near the oil filter end of the cooler. Gaskets are in right and bolts are tight. No leaks around the cooler tube. So what did I screw up? Truck is an '02 w/200k miles.

 

[Gator5713]

Might have cracked the housing. Or check the block heater, but my bet is on cracked housing. They are fairly fragile. Don't ask how I know...

 

[woodworker]

Not Leaking Through Block Heater

It does not appear to be coming through the port for the block heater. The rate the water comes out is a bit alarming meaning it must be a big crack.

Any chance this can be caused by improper assembly of the tube? I was sure to mark the tube when I first took it out. It came out with the rear end cap which holds the oil filter. The front cap stayed on the block but I could not get the tube pressed back in. So I found what I needed to remove to be able to get the front cap off the block. I am really stuck here as the Ford dealer really did not want to work on the truck in the first place and I am running out of $$ for the rental car that gets me back and forth to work!!!

I will see when I can get the cooler back out for an inspection!

 

[Gator5713]

The end housings are pot metal and really easy to break. By now you can probably figure out how I know this...

 

[SuperDutyTrooper]

Next time you might want to try the "ratchet strap" method of pulling the unit together. You did say you used the pipe clamps carefully, but the ratchet strap method has no metal-to-metal contact therefore it should be easier on the ends and lessen the likelihood of cracking them.

I just did this repair myself 2 weeks ago. The cooler came off easy in one piece, pulled together easy with the ratchet strap method, and installed fairly easily. The only difficulty I had was getting it apart, which took quite a bit of prying and some tapping on the ends with both a rubber mallet and lightly with a metal hammer (the only risky part).

 

[petwolf]

Mine came off motor easy. may have cracked it. Not pot metal, die cast aluminium and fairly strong. we tried to break them when cast in early 90's

 

[Gator5713]

I've done several without any real problems, but the first one I did broke. And it seemed way too easy to break so now I'm just super careful.

 

[woodworker]

I will drop the cooler again this weekend. I hope the cause is easy to find. Coolant water was not just dripping, it was pouring out! Thank you all for your help. Any tips on where to get new parts? Quirk works looked like decent pricing and they are local for me.

Paul

 

[Uncle Salty]

With water pouring out it should be obvious where the leak is. Maybe try putting air pressure (low pressure) on the cooling system rather than using water to find the leak. I would try to locate the leak prior to disassembly. No idea on parts availability in your neck of the woods.

 

[woodworker]

No broken parts!

So, I crawled back underneath and observed while my son added a few cups of water. The water is coming from the joints between the cooler and the block! Interesting!

So I took the cooler down again and inspected how I installed the gaskets. Both gaskets looked proper, not reversed or upside down!

I then leveled the cooler and filled the end cap with water unti it came out the other side. No leak down after over 3 hours so O rings are good. So what stupid thing could I have left out during the reinstall? I used no sealer or gasket cement of any kind. I torqued the bolts tight but did not use a torque wrench.

Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated!

Paul

 

[Googs]

If it's coming from between the block and the cooler and you used a new gasket the mating surfaces must have some foreign matter on there, clean both surfaces real good and reinstall.
Also check the cooler ends for straightness , i mean use a straight edge to check if one end is distorted.

 

[handier Andy]

I'd be willing to bet that the mounting surfaces of the cooler were not exactly even. Those o rings inside the cooler are pretty tight and even with the proper torque on the mounting bolts it may not have been enough to even them out. Hope that helps or that you've figured it out.

 

[woodworker]

Googs was right on the money! I dropped the cooler again and filled the coolant tube. No cracks or leaks after hours. Sooooooo! Temps here near Boston hit a record today so I took the afternoon off and had at it! I checked that both cooler mounting flanges were in the same plane and they were. So I carefully scraped them again, cleaned them with brake cleaner, cleaned them with 220 Emory paper, more brake cleaner, 600 grit Emory cloth, and more brake cleaner. I then did the same to the engine block. I made sure the new gaskets were clean and undamaged and reassembled things once again. Now I know how to quickly remove the serpentine belt and nudge hoses to get at the #%^}{ upper front bolt! Torqued everything down properly and added water. NO LEAKS! New filter and oil and fired it up. Alternator light on! Turned it off and sheepishly leaned under the hood to reinstall the serpentine belt! So nice to not have to deal with 20 degree temps under the truck. No wonder I must have done a substandard cleaning job!

Need to run some more with distilled water as a flush before I drain and refill with an ELC coolant.

Next tasks, leaking at Hpop and the fuel bowl drain valve.

Thank you all so much for your help and advice.

Always remember that experience is what you get just AFTER you needed it. Thanks again for sharing yours!