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Oil cooler line question

bammax

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My '88 Blazer has a factory oil cooler which is leaking like mad. Does anyone know what kind of fittings are on the stock lines? If it's a flare type then I'm going to make up some new lines, but I need to know before I get the fittins and lines. If it's some kind of screwed up fitting like the fuel lines use then I'm probably going to run rubber FI fuel hose. I searched the forum already and everyone suggested having a hydraulic shop make up lines but there aren't many of those places around here.
 
I beleive you can buy those hoses from some place like LMC. May not be the least spendy option, but it will solve the problem.
 
I cut my lines with a cutoff tool and installed an aftermarket oil cooler. I used hose barbs to connect the factory hoses to the aftermarket ones.
 
another method..

We have replaced many oil cooler lines on S-10's and later full size trucks--the GM replacememt hoses are crappy--cheap vinyl type hose and aluminum fittings that leak at the crimps easy--we had several last less than a year,and they are not cheap(one truck it cost over 100 bucks for the hoses!)..

My friend who does them at his shop was disgusted with the quality of the stock hoses,so he usually has a local parts store make up new ones out of hydraulic hose...(sorry,I dont know what fittings they use,metric,sae or what :doah: )...he did get one customer back on the road who broke down near his shop while on vacation here by taking the "crimped" portion of the OEM hose and cutting it with a whiz wheel and peeling it back,being careful not to damage the metal fitting or tube..and cutting away the hose with a razor blade..

This exposes the "barbed" part of the fitting--then he bought the correct rubber hose by the foot from a parts store(they robbed it out of an oil cooler kit!) and he clamped it on using two hose clamps at each end...it worked out well,and it was only 20 bucks for the hose and clamps...

I have to replace my oil cooler hoses on my 82 diesel soon--they are metal where they pass behind the radiator and come out of the block,and they are pretty rusty--and the rubber looks old and petrified too(probably original!-22 years old!)...I'm not even sure if they will unscrew from the radiator without twisting the tanks right out of it...might have to buy a universal cooler,or maybe see if I can get away with by-passing it altogether..any diesel owners taken off their oil cooler??--is it a MUST HAVE??--or just "Nice to have?? :confused: I have to do something about them before winter--dont need them popping during a blizzard when I'm plowing.. :doah: :(
 
Mine were leaking pretty bad too.I didn't have the $80 the shop down the road wanted to make new lines so I removed the lines and replaced the oil filter adapter with a non-cooler adapter.I got it off a Caprice at U-Wrench It for $3.Leak gone.It doesn't seem to run any warmer and I don't tow anything besides Jeeps.
 
I removed the leaking oil cooler lines from our '94 Suburban and took them to the local hydraulic hose shop. They cut off the old couplings, installed new hose, and crimped new couplings in place. $28 and they haven't leaked a drop in over 2 years.

Paid something like $90 to get new GM hoses for the '91 S-10. A year later they leak at every crimp. Real kwality stuff... :mad:
 
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