oil cooler leaking!!!

[jon*jon**]

just bought a 89 f-250 with a 7.3, not a pretty truck but a steal at $220. so here are the problems: oil leak, bad water pump, and oil cooler leaking. the first 2 are easy fixes, gonna change the gaskets and have the new water pump ready to be installed. my only problem is the leaking oil cooler. its leaking from the front housing. small pinhole leak at first and under inspection it grew from a little poking around. here is my question, can it be welded, the housing metal seems unusually thin. i also found a cooler on ebay but it looks a little different from mine, will it fit? here's the link: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...ksid=p3907.m32 any help would be grately appreciated. thanks again.

[Gavetticus]

Hey jon*jon**, I have a '90 73. My oil cooler sprung a leak also. To remove it, I followed this procedure:
1. drain oil, 2. Drain antifreeze, 3. disconnect telescopic portion of steering column (one bolt at top, in the universal knuckle and one bolt w/ 10mm wrench head at split collar which attaches to steering box splined input.) 4.Adjust the power steering pump so to slacken the belt. 5. Remove the P.S. Pump and its bracket as a unified unit. 6. use a small needle nose vise grip or a hose clamp plier to pinch off the power steering hose which is attached to the nipple on the power steering pump reservoir's bottom rear side and the pull that hose off the reservoir. (my reservoir is plastic and the hose slips on and is secured with a pinch type hose clamp) 7. I was able to set the pump aside and rest it atop the air filter housing. Beware of fluid leaking from the reservoir. You may need to cap it. I used a flexible vinyl cap of the sort that is used to protect the end of a tube, cap a vacuum line or cover the rough end of a cut end of a typical closet shelf wire end. 8. Remove the radiator hose from left (driver's) side of Rad. Take the hose out of the truck. 9. If you want more space, you can remove the weather neck, by which the rad hose was connected to the block. I did not remove that part but managed to work with it in place. 10. remove the bolts from the cooler and wrangle it out of place. Watch out for oil and coolant which will spill from the cooler. I got the cooler to exit downward and had a helper support it while I manipulated it. It actually came out quite easily.
Cooler remediation: Mine was rusty, crusty and greasy. I degreased, scraped and wire wheeled it. I then used a screw driver and then an "O" ring pick to clean the circumference where the steel tube met each aluminum header. I then soaked the mating positions with Aerokroil from Kano Labs. Any good penetrating oil ought to help. I carefully knocked off one header with an oak block against the edge of the header mouth, setting the oak against the aluminum and hitting the block with a steel hammer. I applied blows alternatively to one side of the mouth and then the other so I did not **** the assembly. The second side did not want to budge, so I juiced it up again with Aerokroil and held it vertically, the casting down, above a pile of shop rags (to protect against it being damaged when it flew off and hit the bench or the floor). I then repeatedly struck all around the edge of the casting mouth directly with a steel hammer (about 12 ounces). I hit it pretty hard but stayed mindful to not break the casting edge. After about three minuted of persuasive beating, the casting broke loose but did not separate. One of the seals ("O" ring) was brittle and held the tube in the casting. I was able to break up and remove the brittle "o" ring in pieces and then the assembly came apart. I cleaned up all parts, removing oxidation from mating surfaces, and carefully scraped off the old gaskets. Got new seals and gaskets from Ford dealer (about $70.00). I had some pin holes which I brazed closed and I slathered more braze over some of the thinner sections of the pipe which had been compromised by rust pitting and flaking. Before you braze, I recommend rinsing the finned core of the cooler tube thoroughly with solvents and then blowing it dry with compressed air, to evaporate the solvents, unless you like fire and smoke. I chipped off most of the hardened braze flux and thoroughly degreased the tube exterior with old fashioned Brake Clean. Then I painted the exposed part of the tube with Rustoleum Rust Reformer spray paint. I will apply a coat of spray enamel and then reassemble everything, with plenty of Vaseline on the "O" rings. I've read that the headers ought to be pressed onto the tube. I suspect that is best to do for good control of the assembling procedure. I do not think the press is needed for its force capability but is desirable to use for ability to control the process. Be sure to align the cooler tube entry and exit ports with the corresponding ports in the header castings.
I suppose larger holes in the tube can be restored with some bits of heavier sheet metal and careful brazing. It is a bit of a rig job, but then, do you plan on driving this rig til your dying day?
Remember to clean your bolts and use anti-sieze compound.
I also pulled apart the telescopic steering column section, cleaned and greased it.
That e-bay oil cooler looked pretty good and I would have tried to snag it if I had known earlier.
I expected a tougher job than it turned out to be. Good luck!

[jon*jon**]

thanks for the reply and all the info. i won't be doing the job for a while though due to a dislocated shoulder. most likely i'll be going to same route. the seals seem to be good just some pinhole leaks in the casting. planning to change the water pump at the same time and get some other headaches out of the way. once again thanks for the help and happy new year.

[Gavetticus]

Good luck with the shoulder. If you are going to go through the trouble of tearing down the cooler, doing the seals any way might be money well spent. Also, the brazing work I did was on the steel tube, not the headers. My headers are aluminum and are in good condition. If your aluminum castings need some metal filled out, a good weld shop that can handle aluminum is a way to go. (Tig welding? ? )
I put the cooler back in the truck today and test ran it. No leaks. When I ordered my seals, the parts guy screwed up and ordered double. They came in a sealed pack and, wanting to just get it done, I bought the whole mess. So, I have a set of "o" rings available (two # 1C3Z-6K649-BA and two 1C3Z-6C610-BA) at a discount. They are brand new and spotlessly clean and in original Ford package. If you are interested send me a private e-mail to ilbarbuto@patmedia.net
The gaskets for my header were: One # E3TZ-6A636-G & One # E3TZ-6A636-H, My headers were marked 1805846C1 and 1805847C1 My tube was stamped 1805865 1A11434.
Anti-inflammatory herbs can help the shoulder.

[94OilBurner]

I had the same problem with my 94 non-turbo IDI diesel and it had small rust holes in the tube itself, here is my thread.

I ended up finding one on ebay like you did. It was from a 93 van but the tubes are all the same, the only difference is the angle of the oil filter housing since on the vans, it's angled for more room for the headers. Since my filter housing was good I used the tube with a good cleaning and fresh paint and brand new o-rings and all is good. It has been about 5 months since with no leaks. I probably should have updated my thread.

BTW, the local Ford dealer wanted $500 for just the tube!

[blowinsmoke4life]

Originally Posted by 94OilBurner

I had the same problem with my 94 non-turbo IDI diesel and it had small rust holes in the tube itself, here is my thread.


BTW, the local Ford dealer wanted $500 for just the tube!

lucky, my dealer wanted 700 and 1300 for the part and labor,double