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I just remembered something. I drained the oil before starting, and I was glad I did. Coolant is likely to drip into the oil pan, and I used a quart of "sacrificial" oil in the fill with the drain open to purge the little bit of coolant from the pan.
You may end up sacrificing more than a quart. I ended up pouring a gallon and a half through before I stopped seeing any trace of ELC in the oil. Since I couldn't guarantee I didn't get oil in the rear passages, too, I ran an entire sacrificial oil/filter change through it, then filled it up with normal oil and sent a sample to Blackstone after a test drive. Results aren't back yet.
If I had it to do over again, I'd drain the radiator (which I did), drain through the heater element (which I did), and drain the driver's side block from the drain port (which I didn't). I might even consider carefully pouring oil back through the *oil* ports while the cooler is off, so to get any coolant out of those passages.
Oh, if your water pump has the removable elbow on the inlet port, removing that makes those front bolts trivially easy to access. You'll want to replace that gasket, and probably use some RTV on it, as they are prone to leak.
...If I had it to do over again, I'd drain the radiator (which I did), drain through the heater element (which I did), and drain the driver's side block from the drain port (which I didn't)....
I did the block heater for cups and the oil cooler. It seemed to get it done each time - very little coolant in the oil pan.
I will only address the front bolt issue. Having done the bolts everyway possible I will never do or suggest any other way than through the wheel well.
You may end up sacrificing more than a quart. I ended up pouring a gallon and a half through before I stopped seeing any trace of ELC in the oil. Since I couldn't guarantee I didn't get oil in the rear passages, too, I ran an entire sacrificial oil/filter change through it, then filled it up with normal oil and sent a sample to Blackstone after a test drive. Results aren't back yet.
I just finished an oil cooler re-seal this past weekend. It took a few hours to do the job. The front top bolt was easily removed with extensions through the wheel well. The front bottom bolt was easily removed from below the truck. I removed the front wheel. The three rear bolts are accessed from below using the 10mm ratchet but can be accessed via long extensions through the side of the frame. I suggest a scotch brite pad for cleaning the stainless o-ring seats along with dry paper towels. Oil cooler was removed from the engine towards the rear then down below. It was installed within an inch of the engine, then after installing the front top bolt through the cooler, I hung the front gasket on the bolt, then installed bolt to the engine loosely. Aligned gasket with bottom front hole then installed bottom front bolt in that order. After this, I installed the rear gasket and three bolts and torqued.
Just after removal. If you look close you can see where the oil was leaking from the front seal on top. This is out of an engine with 396000 miles on it and still going strong.
I just remembered something. I drained the oil before starting, and I was glad I did. Coolant is likely to drip into the oil pan, and I used a quart of "sacrificial" oil in the fill with the drain open to purge the little bit of coolant from the pan.
When I did my oil cooler, I did Guzzle's coolant flush first. I stopped at the last distilled water drain and then started the oil cooler job. I didn't plan it for the above reasons, I just didn't wanna bathe in that crap when the cooler came off.
Getting water in the pan is still a concern, but not nearly as bad as coolant.
01-10-2015, 10:26 AM
