Date: Mon, 12 Sep 2005 17:01:11 -0400 From: "gw" <no.spamnospam.com> Subject: Re: nospam$# oil cooler!
"James Sweet" <jamessweetnospamail.com> wrote in message news:50jVe.10176$vQ3.4662nospamdc08... > > "gw" <no.spamnospam.com> wrote in message > news:uridnay3jeQTPrjeRVn-pAnospamphia.com... > > More a rant than anything else - > > > > Who's the brain surgeon who came up with the idea of putting the oil > cooler > > between cylinder banks on the V6?? First, it's oil-to-water, so the first > > indication of a leak is a Super-size milkshake in the coolant recovery > tank. > > > > Next, the upper, middle, and lower intakes need to be removed - only about > > 100 bolts and 4 gaskets to remove and replace. > > > > The cooler is a little radiator about 3" x 7" and costs $455.00 US ?! You > > also need to spring for a 32mm socket to get the damn thing out. Try > finding > > one of those on a Sunday. On top of everything else, the last idiot who > did > > the job torqued everything to about 150 ft/lbs. Spec is 22. > > > > So, it's in. And it leaks. It no longer passes oil into the coolant, it > > leaks it directly to the outside of the engine. I'm guessing the previous > > idiot deformed the banjo fittings with the high torque, and I'm not > getting > > a good seal with it only torqued to spec. I'll need to get all those > gaskets > > again and tear it down to the heads.... > > > > Arghhhhhhhh. > > > > > > It's a GM engine right? Can you get the oil cooler from a GM dealer or at > Schucks or other similar place? I don't really know if the engine is off the > shelf GM or if it's based on a GM engine but modified by Saab. > > I already bought the cooler and installed it, so it's a moot point. The only US car it might have showed up in was the Cadillac Catera. I didn't think to check at the time. It's the idiotic design that bothers me more than anything else. An air-to-oil cooler was fine for the turbo cars, and for just about any other engine I've seen. Why bury a cooler in the V of the engine? I've heard of these things failing in as little as 18,000 miles. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised after the timing belt fiasco.... Thanks again, GM.