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Oil Cooler Removal?

14K views 6 replies 5 participants last post by  OBSboisterus 
#1 ·
Trying to take off my oil cooler so i can replace the seals and gaskets. I read on a different forum that you can take the front wheel and mudguard off to get to the top two bolts on a 2 wheel drive. Can i do the same on a 4x4? If not what can I do to make the removal and installation process easier/quicker?

Much thanks.
 
#2 ·
Are you just doing the o-rings? Or do you want to pull the front housing off the block too? If you're just doing the o-rings, you don't need to pull the tire. Just remove the oil filter, un-plug the block heater, and undo those bolts, I think there are 3. Then pull on the whole thing towards the rear of the truck. You could also use something to pry with if you absolutely have to, but be careful with that. I did mine maybe 2 months ago, and I'm 4x4.
 
#3 ·
Drain the block before pulling it too.

USE DEALER O-RINGS ONLY!!!!

I made a blender of oil and coolant in my motor by using parts store O rings.

There are videos on youtube that show how simple it is. The second time I pulled it apart only took 45 minutes. My front and rear gaskets were good so I didn't need to pull the front housing.
 
#4 ·
Well We wanted to pull the front housing off (it was leaking from what seemed like the front housing gasket) so we took the tire and guard off, made it super easy. After going under to clean the surfaces to place the gaskets on we noticed a large chunk of the timing cover was gone. . . So now I'm pretty much F###ED because no one sells them and from what I've heard I just have to scavenge the scrapyards or hope to find one on Ebay.
 
#6 ·
...ouch :(

I would always suggest just doing the oil cooler the way you did it anyways. For one, it's just a matter of time before that front gasket fails anyways. Also, it takes away possibilities of screwing something up trying to get the tube back in. Mine was pretty tough to get back together with the new rings and it would have been a nightmare trying to do that under the truck with the positioning of the cooler and all the junk in the way!

Another bonus is that you may find a surprise like corrosion or cracks in parts that you may have otherwise overlooked or not been able to see, like exactly what you found! It stinks, but hey at least you'll get the thing right if you have the time and patience.
 
#7 ·
I'm less upset about it now, me and my dad found one at a local shop that specializes in Powerstrokes and it turns out they were good friends, so we're getting it for a bargain of $75 compared to the $406 on riffraff. Definitely saved me some money! Probably enough to look into getting my turbo rebuilt and possibly an Aftermarket compression wheel! But getting that front wheel and cover out of the way was tremendous help. Really allowed us to get at it much easier.
 
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