Oil Cooler Question
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Oil Cooler Question
Good day all,
My V10 is on my 2002 31' motorhome. Last year, the day before we were to leave on our 12,000 summer trip, I discovered lots of sludge in the coolant reservoir. Not sure exactly what it was at the time, I drained the coolant and refilled. We left on our trip from San Diego the next morning with fingers crossed. I have an OBD reader watching coolant temps and she ran fine the entire trip. I researched and found out about the oil cooler being a common issue. Each morning, after things had cooled and settled from the previous day's trip, I would siphon off the oil from the coolant, top off the coolant and engine oil and run it again that day. Never had any issues with it other than being a royal pain in the butt. Also, never had any signs of coolant in the oil. I had the parts delivered to my father-in law's farm and when we pulled in there, he and I swapped out the cooler, hoses, and flushed the system. It's a Dorman cooler along with Gates hoses. G-05 coolant and Mobil 1 full synthetic oil.
Since then, I've put about 6,000 miles on it and I check the coolant every day I drive it. Never had any issues so it's been great...until this week. After a 450 mile trip through the mountains and desert of the eastern Sierra, I noticed a slight amount of oil in the reservoir. Again, no performance issues and no sign of coolant in the oil although I have not changed the oil since noticing this. Oil change was done prior to leaving on this 1,000 mile round trip.
Did I just get another bad oil cooler? Is there something else I should consider? I've pretty much read every oil cooler thread on the internet and other than folks mentioning a head gasket, I don't know what else it could be? We are prepping for another trip to the farm. I don't really have the space to do the repair at home so at this point, I'm just thinking of doing the same thing as last year to get me there.
Thanks in advance.
Brentt
My V10 is on my 2002 31' motorhome. Last year, the day before we were to leave on our 12,000 summer trip, I discovered lots of sludge in the coolant reservoir. Not sure exactly what it was at the time, I drained the coolant and refilled. We left on our trip from San Diego the next morning with fingers crossed. I have an OBD reader watching coolant temps and she ran fine the entire trip. I researched and found out about the oil cooler being a common issue. Each morning, after things had cooled and settled from the previous day's trip, I would siphon off the oil from the coolant, top off the coolant and engine oil and run it again that day. Never had any issues with it other than being a royal pain in the butt. Also, never had any signs of coolant in the oil. I had the parts delivered to my father-in law's farm and when we pulled in there, he and I swapped out the cooler, hoses, and flushed the system. It's a Dorman cooler along with Gates hoses. G-05 coolant and Mobil 1 full synthetic oil.
Since then, I've put about 6,000 miles on it and I check the coolant every day I drive it. Never had any issues so it's been great...until this week. After a 450 mile trip through the mountains and desert of the eastern Sierra, I noticed a slight amount of oil in the reservoir. Again, no performance issues and no sign of coolant in the oil although I have not changed the oil since noticing this. Oil change was done prior to leaving on this 1,000 mile round trip.
Did I just get another bad oil cooler? Is there something else I should consider? I've pretty much read every oil cooler thread on the internet and other than folks mentioning a head gasket, I don't know what else it could be? We are prepping for another trip to the farm. I don't really have the space to do the repair at home so at this point, I'm just thinking of doing the same thing as last year to get me there.
Thanks in advance.
Brentt
Tuned
Joined: Sep 2018
Posts: 385
Likes: 19
It could be the oil cooler adapter gasket. I have not personally changed it yet but mine is leaking externally.
I have read that it can have a slight fail in the seal and allow for oil to pass to the coolant. Oil pressure is higher than water pressure at higher rpms. It’s a $8 gasket and a pain to change. The adapter is also part of the motor mount. You have to lift motor to get clearance to change.
I have read that it can have a slight fail in the seal and allow for oil to pass to the coolant. Oil pressure is higher than water pressure at higher rpms. It’s a $8 gasket and a pain to change. The adapter is also part of the motor mount. You have to lift motor to get clearance to change.
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