oil cooler replacement

[sailboater]

hey guys can any one tell me how hard it would be to replace the oil cooler on a 96 7.3 . I have a oil leak when the engine is really cold. ive been told by some one on this site that its the oil cooler that is leaking. any suggestions or tips on how to do it would be great . thanks ken

Where is the oil leak at, can you see it leaking from the cooler area? Its not hard at all to get the cooler out and back in, i pulled one and rebuilt it this weekend in abotu 3hrs.

[TexasR.N.]

Here's a break down of the parts. It took me about 3 - 4 hours to complete and that was going nice and slow. Take the wheel and inner fender cover out to help get access to the oil cooler.
Good Luck,
Craig

[PoweredByPotato]

Be prepared... it is a MESSY job


Tip of the day....

drain the coolant and oil FIRST

The worst bolt to get too is the top bolt on the front of the cooler, i got to it from the wheel well. The rest were easy to get to from under the truck. Make sure you give it plenty of time to drain out, i opened the radiator, dropped the oil and pulled the heater out in the oil cooler (block heater). Mine drained for an hr or so over lunch break and there wasnt much left to leak out by the time i got back to work. It took me about 3 hrs to pull it, replace o rings and get it back together.