Well I backed the truck out of the station bay today and found a pretty good size oil spot. Pulled in back in and got underneath it. It appears to me like the oil cooler is leaking. So with that being said, how hard is it to replace the o rings on the oil cooler? Time wise what am I looking at?

 

I can only speak with the water pump off,it was really easy,it was time consuming for me because I can get a little picky with cleaning,If I could of done one a second time it would took half the time.careful to lube orings & mating surfaces & clean the mounting surface well,there's been people that had to pull twice due to leaks & cut orings.

 

I was going to degrease really well before wrenching. It sucks that it waited until it is cold outside to do it

 

I did mine like the vid on you tube where the guy leaves the front header bolted to the front cover in place. Worked great for me & took about 1 hour total time, took longer to drain the coolant & oil than actually doing the o-rings.

 

I used a very slick trans assembly lube as recommended on a write up here,it was far slicker [better film strength] than Vaseline or some other lubes mentioned

 

Is it just me or it's kinds weird that it leaked when I pulled it in the warm garage but not when in the cold? I guess it could have started leaking when it was cold and stopped once it warmed up too.

 

mine leaked last winter for a few minutes when started cold, after it warmed up would not leak again until it got cold (overnight)

 

from another thread read: it's fffing impossible

 

I have only done it with the motor out,as far as putting it together I used a ratchet strap to pull it together,it didnt go evenly and i used a soft faced hammer to even it out,didnt take much.When i went to install it one problem i found was it had compressed too much so i tapped both sides with a hammer a little looking to split the difference and bolted it up.I havent started it yet so at this point all i can say is im hopeful but the rathchet strap does work use some oil as a lubricant first before trying to squeeze

 

btw i tried at first just banging it on with a block of wood and hammer and that got me nowhere if you can press it if not i would recommend a strap

 

I have just recently (month ago) changed the oil cooler o rings on my 02.I had the kit from Bob (Diesel O rings) for a few years just waiting beings my truck has 316k on it.The removal of the cooler went good.I marked the end caps where they were installed from the factory so I would put them back in the same place.There are pins but I felt better with my own marks.Put the cooler in the vise and was able to tap both ends off with a rubber hammer.The o rings were not broke but flat and brittle.I set the new o rings in the sun while I cleaned the parts up.I lubed the o rings with Molycoat 55 o ring lube which I use on all o rings at the job.I put a 2x4 on the ground and used my weight (182lbs of me) and was able to press both ends right on.Not sure I was just lucky because I have read stories of this part being pretty tough for others and cutting o rings.I think the sun and good lube made it easier for me.
The re-install was a little tricky but with my wife holding the front end I got the two bolts started in the back end and then the front bolts were easy.The rest was just tightening all 4 bolts.
My block heater element had alot of calcium buildup on it so I pulled it out when I had the cooler out and cleaned it up with sandpaper.They are made of copper so I just shined it up and re-installed it.Seems to work fine the few times I have plugged it in the last several weeks.
Just take your time,clean the block surfaces and the cooler and i bet you will be ok.

 

Somebody else just went through this and I posted pictures of my oil cooler pull. It seemed to answer a lot of questions, so I'll do that here:




Block Heater Size





Oil Cooler Gasket Gouge





Oil Cooler Anatomy





Oil Cooler Surface Scale





Oil Cooler Seals





Lippy Mouth





Shortcut Strap

 

Thank you guys for all your suggestions and pointers. I order the parts from bob last night. I do have a 20 ton shop press so that will not be a problem. Where can I get this I ring lube? Apparently this has been leaking for a while because the under side of the truck is pretty nasty. I am hoping that it warms up a little before I have to do this.

So for cleaning up the lips on the ends should I us quad steel wool? Or sandpaper?

 

I used emery cloth to clean up the lips & wheel bearing grease to lube things up to slide together

 

McMaster-Carr