"Deleted" my oil cooler on my 6.2..

[diesel4me]

The other day while repairing the fuel injector return line hoses,I noticed the oil cooler hoses/lines on my engine were oozing oil where the rubber portion is crimped to steel tubing ,that comes out of the block...I knew the tubing was getting flaky and thin,and for some time I've been expecting them to fail and spray oil everywhere (and hopefully I'd see it and shut it off soon enough to prevent severe engine damage)--but I didn't expect to see the aluminum "crimp collars" were completely corroded away on the bottom side you cant see easily!--one had popped open,it was a miracle the hoses didn't just blow right off the tubing!.................................................................................................I ended up using a sawsall to slice off the tubing at the block ,after trying to unscrew one of them and twisting it into macaroni about 10 turns before it finally broke off,the tubing was still pretty thick there,but thin and ready to pop near the exhaust manifold....................................................I put two 3/8" NPT pipe plugs in the holes in the block,after removing the adapters GM used for the OEM hoses (which are special I guess,the hose tubing has a flat shoulder instead of a flare,and the tube protrudes into the adapter fitting ,which has a plastic sleeve inside of it...I saved them because new ones cost 25 bucks and are hard to find,in case I ever replace the cooler lines)....................................................................................................The engine now seems to have slightly higher oil pressure,and the gauge does not vibrate the needle wildly as much as it used too....I doubt I'll ever put new hoses on it or an aftermarket oil cooler,I dont use the truck much and not for towing in hot weather,I dont think it really needs an oil cooler......now,if I could only replace the rotted oil pan,maybe I could save 10 bucks on oil every time I go to use it!.......................................................................................................So far I think I fixed what I thought was a leaky fuel injector by replacing the rubber "cap" that blocks off the "extra" return line nipple with some tygon fuel line with 1/8" I.D. and using a machine screw to block the other end of it,and I also used a peice of that hose from the injector next to the one that had the drippage (furthest one back on the drivers side,hardest one to get at of course!...)--ran it about ten minutes after douching everything with brake cleaner,and I didn't see any dripping,I hope it stays dry until spring..the injector line going to that injector looks VERY thin and rotten though,especially where in enters the cap nut at the injector...if it seeps a little I wont care,as long as its not dripping steady like it was......................the tygon hose needs no clamps ,and it would be impossible to install one on that injector without removing it--got the hose at a small engine shop,they use it on chain saws and weedeaters.........................................................................................I would reccomend anyone who has a truck with a factory oil cooler to inspect the hoses GOOD,before one fails and empties the crankcase,its a very common failure prone part on many GM trucks...gas engines as well as diesels have them now,even V6 ones,and I've seen many trucks spin a bearing thanks to the hoses failing......

 

[Cucv_M1008]

holy to much paragraph batman

 

[Deuling]

Someone took the lines off mine a long time ago and stuffed rags in it. Well i assume it was the oil cooler that wad bolted to tye core support. Took it off this weekend, was thinking of cleaning it outand using it, might keep the ole girl a little cooler in the dunes.

 

[Cucv_M1008]

You can buy replacement lines and there was a recall for the lines also.

 

[tRustyK5]

I had a line develop a pinhole a few years ago. Sprayed a nice fine high pressure mist of hot oil right at the alternator. Took a few seconds, but eventually there was much fire and smoke...good thing we were in BFE.

At least the fire went out as soon as soon as I shut the engine off.

 

[jake 03]

Both my brothers and my cucv had leaking oil cooler line when we got them.
About 80 bucks for some new Dorman oil cooler lines we were back in business. On the '82 c10 I bought the lines where leaking so bad that it was undrivable so I just went the pipe plug route and it never missed a beat.

 

[Russell]

Don't operate it with the pipe plugs in there!!!

Flow through that circuit is mandatory, you are bypassing your oil filter right now. If you want to delete the cooler, run a hose loop from one port to the other.

 

[diesel4me]

I read in a Motors manual that the oil flow curcuit in a 6.2 goes from the pump,to the cooler first,(and there is a bypass valve to prevent bearing starvation should the cooler clog up),then it flows out of the cooler,back into the port on the block above the oil filter,into the filter,then on to the engines main galleries...there is also a bypass to allow oil to keep feeding the engine if the oil filter clogged up too....however,I think Russel is correct,if the ports to the cooller are blocked off,the oil will still flow thru the engine,but probably at reduced flow and pressure,and it wont get filtered either..............................................................................................................So, I'm going to install a loop of 3/8" copper tubing today,I found 2 brass fittings with 3/8" NPT threads and 3/8" compression fittings in my collection of hardware,and I was able to bend the tubing in a tight raduis without kinking it --was nice having a junk 6.2 on a engine stand to use as a "dummy" to make the tubing fit perfect,to lesen the pain of installing it lying on my back on the truck...I was hoping to use 1/2" tubing but it'd have been dam near impossible to bend it that tight of a loop,and the stock cooler lines were only 3/8" I.D.anyway,so the 3/8" copper isn't all that much smaller inside,I doubt it will cause any troubles.....I'd rather use metal than rubber hose ad clamps,seeing one port is very close the the exhaust manifold..................................................................................................................If If I had the cash I'd just buy new cooler lines,but I doubt they would unscrew at the radiator,and they would cost more than the truck is worth now,I'm not about to wreck the radiator!..................................................My computer took a big dump over the weekend,I dont know if this post will go thru or not...cant sign onto the internet since they switched to fiber optic phone cables here,not sure if its my computer or what,but it has sucked not being able to use it all frigging week!....

 

[madaro]

i bought replacement napa lines and the lower line bends at the block were so out of spec i cant wrestle the thing on there ... is dorman a better ( more exacting ) brand ?

 

[thearborbarber]

i bought replacement napa lines and the lower line bends at the block were so out of spec i cant wrestle the thing on there ... is dorman a better ( more exacting ) brand ?

The dorman ones I got for my 5.7 were bent just like the factory ones.

 

[diesel4me]

For the record,my copper "loop" by-pass tube is still on my 6.2,its gone over 3000 miles since my first post about ditching it...engine doesn't sound any worse for the wear either..

I chopped the stock oil cooler out of a junk radiator that was identical to my trucks radiator,and was surprised to see its only 3 stacked plates,about 9" long,buried in the radiator tank...

I know water transfers heat much better than air,but to me,it looked too dinky to do much cooling..

A friend working at a cranberry bog tells me he "plugged off" the ports on several 6.2's back in the day when the hoses blew,and those 1 ton dually's with dump bodies get worked pretty hard hauling berries to the processing plants...said he does not recall any of them blowing a rod or having oil related failures..they do routine oil & filter changes though,being fleet trucks..

Far as buying "exact match" hoses,I think its a crap shoot--you might order two sets with the same part numbers and find them not to be identical...

I bought front brake hoses for my '82 K2500 from Napa a few years ago-,and its a good thing I checked to see if they were "right"--after I bolted them up,they looked too short,but were the same length as the old ones..

I thought maybe there was a "right and left side",but trying the other hose made no difference,both were the same..
Ended up had to "tweak" the metal pipe at the caliper,(bend it some )- so the hoses would not get pulled apart on a full lock turn!..had I just bolted them on and drove off after bleeding the brakes,I would have had NO brakes after the first full lock manuver,plus ruined the brand new hoses...good thing I decided to try moving the front tires lock to lock while it was jacked up....

 

[campfire]

For the record,my copper "loop" by-pass tube is still on my 6.2,its gone over 3000 miles since my first post about ditching it...engine doesn't sound any worse for the wear either..

I chopped the stock oil cooler out of a junk radiator that was identical to my trucks radiator,and was surprised to see its only 3 stacked plates,about 9" long,buried in the radiator tank...

I know water transfers heat much better than air,but to me,it looked too dinky to do much cooling..

A friend working at a cranberry bog tells me he "plugged off" the ports on several 6.2's back in the day when the hoses blew,and those 1 ton dually's with dump bodies get worked pretty hard hauling berries to the processing plants...said he does not recall any of them blowing a rod or having oil related failures..they do routine oil & filter changes though,being fleet trucks..

Far as buying "exact match" hoses,I think its a crap shoot--you might order two sets with the same part numbers and find them not to be identical...

I bought front brake hoses for my '82 K2500 from Napa a few years ago-,and its a good thing I checked to see if they were "right"--after I bolted them up,they looked too short,but were the same length as the old ones..

I thought maybe there was a "right and left side",but trying the other hose made no difference,both were the same..
Ended up had to "tweak" the metal pipe at the caliper,(bend it some )- so the hoses would not get pulled apart on a full lock turn!..had I just bolted them on and drove off after bleeding the brakes,I would have had NO brakes after the first full lock manuver,plus ruined the brand new hoses...good thing I decided to try moving the front tires lock to lock while it was jacked up....

Robert, are you still happy with this mod? I broke the hard lines running to my stock oil cooler. After a couple rounds of fighting with leaks on the other truck, I'm not inclined to replace them. The engine lines dump out right next to the unused auxillary cooler for the old transmission. I don't like the smaller 3/8" lines, but it sounds like that's what you've been running?

Any loss of oil pressure with the smaller lines?

 

[diesel4me]

The engine has run fine since I deleted the oil cooler,and I notice no difference in oil pressure on the stock gauge--the needle has always pulsated since I got the truck,and still does,I assume the sending unit is to blame for that...it wavers back and forth rapidly about 5 psi either way while idling,at higher rpms it tends to smooth out..

While having the oil cooler probably is "better",I felt not risking having one of its hoses fail and run it dry while driving would be worse than having it by-passed..

If the truck was used in hot weather for towing or long distance highway use,or had a turbo, I'd prefer it to still be hooked up,but if I want one now ,I'd have to add an aftermarket one,because the oil cooler lines running to the radiator are all corroded and unlikely to come out of the radiator without destroying it..

When I removed the cooler lines from the block,hardly any oil came out of them,in fact they looked rather "dry"--some did ooze out of the radiator/cooler hoses,but not even enough to fill a shot glass,it soaked the inner fender ,and is now the only un-rusted spot on it..

I would find it interesting to see just how much lower the oil temperature would be with the cooler installed vs by-passing it..

Seeing vehicles used in some pretty harsh conditions never had a cooler (or even an oil filter,until the late 50's!),I think its kind of overkill for a daily driver like my pickup that rarely gets used too hard..plowing does heat the engine up good,but its also freezing cold during those conditions and I have never had it go over half way on the temp gauge regardless of the weather conditions..