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[Ironingboard]

Can the oil cooler plate be resealed without removing the oil cooler or pipes?

I have a coolant leak around the edge of my oil cooler, I'm wondering if it can be lifted up enough to reseal it or could I run sealant along the outer edge of the plate to reseal it?

Any insights or knowledge would be appreciated  

[GPar]

You could reseal the cover but only by disconnecting pipes, removing it and lifting out the oil cooler to clean up everything especially the mating surfaces. You would also need new 'o' rings for between the top of the two inlet/outlet pipes and the cover. Doubt you will seal the leak for any length of time without doing this. If when you take it apart you have the old pre-stainless cooler I'd renew that anyway. Maybe facelift versions have stainless coolers, mine is pre facelift.  

Geoff

[Marks DTM Calib]

You need to pop it out to re-seal it.

And they all had stainless coolers from about 95 onwards

[Dazzler]

You need to pop it out to re-seal it.

And they all had stainless coolers from about 95 onwards

But still keep failing

[Marks DTM Calib]

You need to pop it out to re-seal it.

And they all had stainless coolers from about 95 onwards

But still keep failing

When badly maintained.............

[Dazzler]

You need to pop it out to re-seal it.

And they all had stainless coolers from about 95 onwards

But still keep failing

When badly maintained.............

I ad one fail on a Vectra 2.6 with only 38k on the clock and the antifreeze had been replaced.
I asked Vx parts man about it and he said the oil coolers are crap in there construction :-?

[Marks DTM Calib]

You need to pop it out to re-seal it.

And they all had stainless coolers from about 95 onwards

But still keep failing

When badly maintained.............

I ad one fail on a Vectra 2.6 with only 38k on the clock and the antifreeze had been replaced.
I asked Vx parts man about it and he said the oil coolers are crap in there construction :-?

And what would a parts man know about thier construction.......

[Matchless]

When the cylinder heads are fitted there is not enough room to lift the heat exchanger straight out. The process is:

Plennum, intake bridge and inlet manifold off
Coolant bridge off
Loosen oil pipes at oil filter end (Need crows foot spanners)
Disconnect oil pipes from heat exchanger and lift up as far as poss.
Undo nuts fixing heat exchanger to cover plate
Unbolt cover plate from block.
Lift off cover plate
lift out heat exchanger.

You have to clean and degrease (cellulose thinners etc) the block face and cover to get the sealant to stick properly.

New O rings on the heat exchanger and place in block.
Apply sealant to cover and fit, tighten the bolts evenly.
Refit nuts to heat exchanger and tighten.

Bits:
Heat exchanger O rings x2
Grey sealant
oil pipe washers x4
coolant bridge Dowty washers x4

You may find that the heat exchanger nuts strip the threads when removing. If this happens then get a replacement kit (part numbers in maintenance section).

[Ironingboard]

Cheers thanks for the info, what size of crow foot spanners do I need?

[Marks DTM Calib]

19mm crows foot!

[Ironingboard]

19mm crows foot!

Just the one? great at least I won't have to buy a whole set of tools I'm never gonna use again  

[Kevin Wood]

You need to pop it out to re-seal it.

And they all had stainless coolers from about 95 onwards

But still keep failing

When badly maintained.............

Stainless mounted on an aluminium cover is a bit of a liability with respect to galvanic action, so it's even more important to ensure the coolant's corrosion inhibiting properties are intact, although I'd expect the cover to suffer rather than the cooler.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galvanic_series

Kevin

[GPar]

And they all had stainless coolers from about 95 onwards

Well the one I just took out of my '99 V6 was def ally and looked nothing like the new shiny stainless one! Perhaps an old one off the shelf put in before I had the car?

Geoff

[Ironingboard]

OK I think I might be able to reseal my oil cooler plate without having to buy a new oil cooler and cover plate.

I seen this on ebay, does that mean I can remove the oil cooler with the plate still attached and reseal it without removing the cooler from the plate?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/VAUXHALL-OPEL-OMEGA-V6-ENGINE-OIL-COOLER_W0QQitemZ380036975036QQihZ025QQcategoryZ10404QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Is there enough space to do this?

Can this be done without draining the oil from the engine?

[TheBoy]

You need to pop it out to re-seal it.

And they all had stainless coolers from about 95 onwards

But still keep failing

When badly maintained.............

I ad one fail on a Vectra 2.6 with only 38k on the clock and the antifreeze had been replaced.
I asked Vx parts man about it and he said the oil coolers are crap in there construction :-?

Antifreeze changed at the ludicrous 5yr interval no doubt....