Is it possible to clean an oil cooler?

[colinmitchell111]

Well I'm planning on doing a coolant flush and an egr delete on my 04 I just bought. I was thinking while my truck is running perfect I should do something with the oil cooler while I'm in there. I would imagine the chemical flush should clean it out so there shouldn't be a reason to replace it if its not broke. So my question is could I pull the oil cooler and maybe soak it in solvent to get it 100% clean? Any thoughts?

[NYC F-350]

Originally Posted by colinmitchell111

Well I'm planning on doing a coolant flush and an egr delete on my 04 I just bought. I was thinking while my truck is running perfect I should do something with the oil cooler while I'm in there. I would imagine the chemical flush should clean it out so there shouldn't be a reason to replace it if its not broke. So my question is could I pull the oil cooler and maybe soak it in solvent to get it 100% clean? Any thoughts?

Without the proper gauges on your truck, you don't know what the condition of the oil cooler is. Why leave the ticking time bomb in there, especially if you have no clue? Especially if you already have it in your hand, just do yourself a favor and change it.
There is NO chemical treatment to clean out a plugged oil cooler. Anything that could do it would also dissolve the aluminum that the cooler is made out of.

[colinmitchell111]

Ok. I thought when you do the flush with the restore it gets all the gunk out of the cooler. And I was planning on checking the temps before I start the project.

[2 stroker]

X2 what NYC F350 said.
2 stroker

[2 stroker]

Originally Posted by colinmitchell111

Ok. I thought when you do the flush with the restore it gets all the gunk out of the cooler. And I was planning on checking the temps before I start the project.

There is no way the Restore products can remove all the junk that has dropped out of the Ford Gold junk plus the casting sand some guys have had higher deltas after the flushs than before meaning the cooler are plugged up more because it could not pass through to start with.
2 stroker

[Razorsedge]

When you flush with the restore it will probably get more gunk in the oil cooler than you had before the flush. I imagine if there was an effective way to clean the oil cooler rather than replacing it people all over the board would be doing it.

[NYC F-350]

Originally Posted by colinmitchell111

Ok. I thought when you do the flush with the restore it gets all the gunk out of the cooler. And I was planning on checking the temps before I start the project.

Due to the design of the oil cooler, that will never happen.
Liquid enters and exits through the top of the cooler. Anything that could possibly get stuck in there would get packed in hard enough that npo chemical will cut through it.
If you are changing coolant types, you will need restore and restore+ (or use Ford VC-9). Neither of which will help an oil cooler, and will likely have the opposite effect.
The restore chemical removes a chemical layer deposited on the walls of the cooling system left behind by the Ford Gold. A big chunk of this could get caught up in your oil cooler.
The Restore+ (or VC-9) will remove the rust scale on the walls of the cooling system. The rust scale is very close to a powder at that point, and will easily pack together real tight in the oil cooler.
What you would then be asking a chemical to do is impossible. You would be expecting the chemicals to cut through steel (rust scale) 8 inches horizontally, 0 inches vertically and to not harm aluminum in the process.

[NYC F-350]

Because of the reasons above, change your coolant a few WEEKS in advance of your oil cooler. Let all the junk settle in the old before putting in the new.

[colinmitchell111]

Ok makes sense thank you. I was under the impression that the restore and restore + would help the oil cooler. My truck has ford gold and I was going to switch to the cat stuff after the flush. Do you still recommend this? I just want to do what's best for my motor while not having to sell a kidney to afford it.

[NYC F-350]

LOL, hopefully it will never come to selling body parts.
Yes, I do recommend swapping out the Ford Gold garbage in favor of the ELC style coolant. Absolutely a much better choice for this engine.
If I was in your shoes, I might wait a bit. The only reason for that is that currently, the Ford oil coolers are on a nationwide back-order. It should be lifted in the next month or so, so wait a few more weeks to tackle the two-chemical flush, then monitor the temperature differential between the oil temp and the coolant temp. If it isn't 15°F, keep an eye on it for those few weeks after the flush and determine what your next step should be.