leaking engine oil cooler?

[Christien]

I just removed the engine oil cooler to replace the three seals and found a whole lot of oil gunk at the bottom of where it mounts. Would this indicate the cooler itself is leaking, or more likely seals? Something is leaking around there - the heat exchangers are always wet. But I'm also replacing the flywheel seal which was leaking, and there's a slight possibility the thermostat seal might be leaking, and that might be weeping down there.

[Joe Bob]

Radiator shop and have it pressure checked.

[E Sully]

I would think it is either the seal, or the thin case casting issue.
Case imperfection - leave alone or JB Weld?

[theiceman]

are you sure that this is not the breather cover leaking down Christien ?

[Flat6pac]

See the little notch in the case behind the cooler on the le ft. Clean it up, wire brush it and add JBWeld. That's your leak
Now, on the outside under #6 youll see another match to that one, clean, wire brush, and JB too.
Bruce

[Christien]

Originally Posted by E Sully

I would think it is either the seal, or the thin case casting issue.
Case imperfection - leave alone or JB Weld?

Originally Posted by Flat6pac

See the little notch in the case behind the cooler on the le ft. Clean it up, wire brush it and add JBWeld. That's your leak
Now, on the outside under #6 youll see another match to that one, clean, wire brush, and JB too.
Bruce

This is the same thing, right? I did that just now - cleaned the living snot out of it and filled it completely with JB Weld. I only did the inside portion so far. I'm trying to figure out if it's easier to do the outside portion now with the engine out, or from underneath once it's back in. It looks ridiculously hard to access with the exhaust in place.

[Duc Hunter]

Mine is doing the same kind of thing, my Indy is convinced it is the seals. I agree, pressure testing the cooler would be an idea way to test it...after cleaning it up. Mine will be getting this treatment starting tomorrow.

[Christien]

Originally Posted by theiceman

are you sure that this is not the breather cover leaking down Christien ?

Yep. It's nice and dry around the breather cover. It's just a tiny bit damp around the backside of the thermostat, but that could be from this oil leak: Oil overflow tube - need some help understanding

One of the great things about having carburetors with rain hats is that that area of the engine is very easy to see and access, so even if it did turn out to be one of the triangle of death oil leaks, they're all easy fixes with the engine in. I've replaced the flywheel seal and I'll be replacing the oil cooler seals when I reinstall it.

[Christien]

So I took the cooler into a rad shop today to have it pressure tested - he said he didn't have the right equipment and would have to fabricate a steel plate to cover it, or order stuff in. A week or 2, $100 or so. Does this sound right? I mean, I could probably replace it with a known-good unit for not much more than that, and get it here faster.

Are these things prone to leaking? Or should I just button it back up and hope it was either the seals or the case crack, which I JB Welded a few days ago?

[theiceman]

You can always call waletail and get it same day . I know he has them.

[Jcslocum]

Only the upper 2 holes need pressure. He could plug one and use a rubber nipple on the other. You could do this at home if you have a compressor and a bucket of water.

[Christien]

How would I rig up something to inject air into one of the holes? I've searched around here for a DIY pressure tester and didn't find anything.

[DRACO A5OG]

HF has a vacuum/pressure tester cheap and it has rubber fittings.

Just get some piece of bike tires, plug one side and start pump, if you have a leak the gauge will bleed out.

To find the leak sub-merge into water.

$100, WTF??? for not have equipment he should have, really??? I don't you should be re-tooling a shop.

[uwanna]

Sure doesn't look like an oil cooler or seal leak (a seal leak would show oil at the top of the cooler). I think it's the thin casting problem, that you've already fixed. I'd just bolt it back on with new seals (the red ones if you can find them, or the green ones if you can't) and I think you'll be ok.

[Flat6pac]

Stomski racing makes a great oil cooler tester.
Agree the leak is the casting.
Bruce

[Geneman]

hi peeps.. not to hijack this thread.. but i have same issue with a front mounted setrab oil cooler in my race car.... its a slight leak some where i drained it and took it to 4 places today seems nobody does radiator repair anymore... at least not in philly region..

if i find the leak with air and water dip can i actually repair it with jb? i thought it would have to be soldered like the old ways..its a brand new aluminum setrab.

point me to some threads if you can thanks alot frank

[Christien]

Originally Posted by DRACO A5OG

HF has a vacuum/pressure tester cheap and it has rubber fittings.

No Harbour Freight in Canada, unfortunately

[Christien]

Originally Posted by uwanna

I think it's the thin casting problem, that you've already fixed. I'd just bolt it back on with new seals (the red ones if you can find them, or the green ones if you can't) and I think you'll be ok.

Originally Posted by Flat6pac

Agree the leak is the casting.
Bruce

Are the inside and outside both as likely to leak? I was able to thoroughly clean in the inside indent and jb weld it quite well, but the outside is near impossible to reach with the exhaust still on. Certainly mess in the pics above would indicate the inside is leaking somewhere, but there's no way to tell if the outside was as bad, because oil has sprayed everywhere, covering everything.

[Christien]

So any ideas on how I can make a homemade pressure tester? I've got all day tomorrow open. I can see plugging the holes easily enough, but I can't think of a way to run air into one of the holes such that it's airtight. And the guy at the rad shop today suggested as much as 50psi. I've read threads here that said 10psi should be sufficient, but really, if I'm going to the trouble to fab something up, I want to make sure my results are positive.

[Duc Hunter]

Originally Posted by Christien

A week or 2, $100 or so. Does this sound right? I mean, I could probably replace it with a known-good unit for not much more than that, and get it here faster.

Not sure you can get one for $100 even used...the new part is $1200 or $1600 at our host? At least for my '89.