Oil cooler replacement - need help (pics)

[maxhofer]

Hello all,

I had oil in my coolant, so I removed the oil cooler (housing+cooler) to see if the problem came from the seals or from the cooler itself. Turned out to be the cooler:



I got a cooler and housing from ebay (used in good condition) and now I have to reassemble all.

The following is a picture of the engine block showing a white plaque ring along the surface that connects to the cooler housing.

My question is: is there a groove under this hard white plaque? or is the surface on the engine block just flat?




Thanks,

Max.

[mikepellegrini]

It's been a while since I did one, but no, I don't believe there is any lip underneath that corrosion. What does the replacement housing have?

That's awful nasty looking.

You need to clean that all up down to metal or you'll never get a good seal.

Here's Clark's procedure: Oil Cooler General Information and Seal Replacement

[maxhofer]

Mike,

Here's a picture of the replacement housing I got. It's the one on the left, on the right is my old housing.





The housing has a grove to fit the green rubber part of the new gasket:





I'll be cleaning all of that corrosion prior to assembly, just want to know how far I should go with the scraping.

[Grandad#3]

That Oil Cooler was not able to do its job at all being so clogged up. The white crud on the mount plate is corrosion build up. Be very careful cleaning the surface or you will gouge the aluminum surface. Plug the hole with a rag and go over the surface with a block of wood and 600 - 1000 wet/dry sandpaper. Keep it flat on the mount surface. Most seals go on dry, but you may have to use a THIN, THIN coat of Hondabond on both sides.

Cheers,
Larry

[Slam]

Very ugly! No groove under the white corrosion - that surface should be nice shiny aluminum, dead flat. One thing in your favor is that there's a lot of meat on the green seals. When you're done changing those seals you'll want to flush the whole system very, very well and then put in distilled water with your coolant - looks like too much tapwater ran through that engine.

Have you got the OPRV alignment tool handy?

[maxhofer]

Thanks Slam.

I do have the OPRV alignment tool, I bought it from our host.

I'll be cleaning that ugly surface with some radiator cleaner and later use 1000 wet sandpaper to smooth out the surface.

I guess you're right about the tap water. Looks like the PO didn't use coolant and/or distilled water.

[RM512]

For the oil in coolant (milkshake) dilema, Porsche also recommends that you replace the rod bearings.

[maxhofer]

Originally Posted by RM512

For the oil in coolant (milkshake) dilema, Porsche also recommends that you replace the rod bearings.

Wow!!!...that would be a major repair!!!

Do you think its really necessary?

[RM512]

If you caught it in time you should be ok.

[Rasta Monsta]

Rod bearing replacement isn't all that bad. Beats tossing #2 (pun intended).

But, you said you had oil in coolant, but no coolant in oil?

[maxhofer]

Originally Posted by Rasta Monsta

Rod bearing replacement isn't all that bad. Beats tossing #2 (pun intended).

But, you said you had oil in coolant, but no coolant in oil?

Fortunately no coolant went into the oil, so i guess my bearings are safe...