Oil Cooler Gasket Alternative

How much are the coolers separated from the actual radiator?
Have no idea how this looks,thanks.
Back in the day they were separate from ea other weren't they?

tungsten said:

How much are the coolers separated from the actual radiator?
Have no idea how this looks,thanks.
Back in the day they were separate from ea other weren't they?

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I looked for the pics but can’t find them. The trans and oil coolers are small, normal-looking coolers just like your power steering cooler but they’re inside the ends of the radiator. The fittings where they go through the radiator go directly into these coolers. The engine coolant flows around the fins of these mini coolers instead of air. So they’re separate in a way but integrated in the interior of the radiator and like I said the engine coolant is in contact with the entire exterior of them. If one of them starts to leak, the engine coolant and oil or transmission fluid mix and you’ll get a combination of oil/ coolant or oil/ trans fluid going to both the engine oil passages, the transmission, or the engine coolant passages depending on which cooler is leaking inside the radiator. Here’s a link to the member who apparently has an engine oil cooler leak inside his radiator. I just read the thread and he hasn’t finished his investigation yet.

Rocket Man said:

Yes you can if you don’t want the oil cooler anymore or if you’re afraid it might start leaking internally in the radiator like a recent post I saw here. The internal oil and trans coolers are great until they leak inside the radiator and mix coolant and oil or trans fluid. I know coolant getting into a transmission will quickly do major damage, same with getting it into the engine oil. I replaced my trans with a new OEM one at 150k for this very reason. I was relieved when I cut open the old radiator afterward and the internal coolers still looked new. So why not just buy a new radiator instead of losing oil cooling capacity?

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OR VietVet said:

Yes, but why would you do that? If there are no leaks and it does cool the oil and there is no oil cooler problems, I would use the oil cooler ability.

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I have been kicking around the idea to eliminate it after it continued to leak after replacing the lines with the "D" brand. I havent tried tightening the large allen socket bolt yet, which I will try. My radiator is roughly a year old, and I am reluctant to replace it considering its age.

Could one add after market coolers? Thinking a new rad in my $ is gonna be high compared to 2 after market air coolers.

tungsten said:

Could one add after market coolers? Thinking a new rad in my $ is gonna be high compared to 2 after market air coolers.

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I’m sure you can but you’ll also have to plumb the lines to it.

live2pull said:

I have been kicking around the idea to eliminate it after it continued to leak after replacing the lines with the "D" brand. I havent tried tightening the large allen socket bolt yet, which I will try. My radiator is roughly a year old, and I am reluctant to replace it considering its age.

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Rocket Man said:

I’m sure you can but you’ll also have to plumb the lines to it.

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After perusing ICT Billet website, I may keep the cooler and run one of their plates, quick disconnects on the rad side and plumb soft lines. This seems a more cost effective and cleaner route to take.

live2pull said:

After perusing ICT Billet website, I may keep the cooler and run one of their plates, quick disconnects on the rad side and plumb soft lines. This seems a more cost effective and cleaner route to take.

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Is that cheaper than OEM lines? Your problem is most likely the “d” brand lines which I assume is Dorman? There’s not many Dorman parts I’ll use, these aren’t one of those.

I don't see what the big deal is. The radiator leaking internally is extremely rare. Even if you look around here there are almost no posts about it. This is not something I would lose sleep over at night and delete cooling systems, at least with the OEM parts. I would never use an aftermarket radiator and the aftermarket oil and transmission lines look even cheaper quality. I just changed my radiator to one with the oil cooler to add it to my 2008. Buy the OEM parts and there's nothing to worry about, they're not even that much more money on Rock Auto.

Rocket Man said:

Is that cheaper than OEM lines? Your problem is most likely the “d” brand lines which I assume is Dorman? There’s not many Dorman parts I’ll use, these aren’t one of those.

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Yup, Dorman. I agree that these are most likely the issue. Initial investigation on pricing is comparable, maybe a little more expensive to go with ICT. For me, it is not about the cost, but fixing the issue. I like the design of ICT, and routing soft lines vs semi rigid is more appealing.

91RS said:

I don't see what the big deal is. The radiator leaking internally is extremely rare. Even if you look around here there are almost no posts about it. This is not something I would lose sleep over at night and delete cooling systems, at least with the OEM parts. I would never use an aftermarket radiator and the aftermarket oil and transmission lines look even cheaper quality. I just changed my radiator to one with the oil cooler to add it to my 2008. Buy the OEM parts and there's nothing to worry about, they're not even that much more money on Rock Auto.

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Deleting for me wasn't about fluid cross contamination, more about fixing a nuisance issue. I am not too concerned about the cooler and its necessity, 2wd trucks don't come equipped with them.

As far as commenting on the cost of OEM vs Dorman, I put the best quality parts on it I can afford at the time. True, Dorman parts are of less quality IN GENERAL than of OEM. I knew it at the time, and still know it. For me, Dorman has been hit or miss in terms of quality and at the time I was willing to gamble.

My 2WD 2013 came with the oil cooler.