RXrick

My oil cooler leaks. I removed the radiator cover and everything on top and removed the 4 bracket bolts that hold the cooler in place. I thought I could remove the cooler from below then realized maybe it has to be removed from above. But to remove from above, the AC is in the way. Can I remove it (drop it down) from underneath the car?

Does anyone know what steps to take? Do I remove the oil lines first? How do you remove them/get to them? From the top or from underneath the car? (I've already read a post about what wrenches to use and how to tighten the hoses, etc.)

If I can get the oil cooler out and repaired, I was then going to replace the oil cooler lines with braided ones from Mazdatrix, but then realized in order to replace the hoses I have to remove all the power steering mechanism. Good grief.

I'd post a photo to show but I don't see how/where to add an attachment.

Anyway, maybe I'm in over my head... Does anyone know how much it would cost for someone to do all this for me?

Thanks for reading.

Siraniko

iTrader: (13)

You need a grind or thin out a 7/8 or 21mm wrench to hold the inlet fitting in place while using a crescent wrench to un-do the lines from the oil cooler.

Front cover is tricky so you need to remove the fan shroud to for access. Use the 21mm to loosen the fitting from the front cover and remove the fitting and the short line as one piece. For the rear, 23mm wrench or socket.

RXrick

Thank you, Siraniko. So because I have to remove the fan shroud I gather I access the fittings from above. Do I have to remove the cooler from above? Or is it possible to remove it from underneath the car? Thanks for your help!

RX-7 Chris

iTrader: (19)

it is easier to remove the cooler from underneath. The last time I did it, I pulled the battery, battery tray, and the left side radiator support.

Siraniko

iTrader: (13)

Remove the belly pan only to gain access for the OC and 10mm wrench or similar to undo the mounts

RXrick

I removed the battery and the tray and I was looking at the left side radiator support today and wondering... But I don't want to continue dismantling everything just to find out later that it was not necessary or the wrong thing to do.

If I can remove the cooler from underneath, then I can get a better grip on those cooler lines. Does that make sense to do?

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

Just remove the air box, intake boot, and coolant tank. Remove the fan and shroud and then the radiator. Remove the radiator mount plates and disconnect the oil cooler lines at the front cover and the rear iron. Then remove the four 10mm bolts that hold the oil cooler mounts to the body and left the oil cooler straight up and out of there. Its a simple job that should take no more than 30 mins.

LongDuck

Somebody else said it above, but be REALLY danged careful to use 2 wrenches when you remove those lines. It's more of a risk when tightening them, but the -SE oil coolers are known for getting hairline cracks that leak and get worse when you tighten the cooler lines without using 2 wrenches - one to hold the bung straight and another to tighten the fitting.

Also, Pro Tip: use a new copper crush washer and tighten them ONLY until oil doesn't leak - AND NO MORE. Seriously, the best approach is to get it a snug (barely more than finger tight) fill the oil and let it warm up and then tighten with 2 wrenches only until it stops leaking. Good luck with it,

RXrick

So the cooler can be removed from the top but only if you remove the radiator. I guess that solves getting around the AC that is in the way (on top of the cooler.) Also with the radiator removed, this will give good access to the cooler lines.

Actually I was hoping to avoid removing the radiator. This is turning into a much bigger job than I expected.

RXrick

Thanks for the tip, LongDuck. I'm sure this is exactly what happened in my case. The mechanic who replaced my cooler lines years ago didn't tighten them correctly. I've always had a small leak. So now it's time to repair the cooler.

I've been thinking of selling the car while it's still is very good shape. During the smog test the mechanic said he'd never heard or seen such a nice running engine with 200,000 miles before (it purred.) Looks like you have one just like mine?

RX-7 Chris

iTrader: (19)

I took my cooler to an aluminum welding shop to have the hairline cracks repaired that LD was talking about. It cost me $20.

I had a lot of trouble getting the lines off the cooler without pulling the left side radiator support. I also didn't want to remove the radiator. Your best bet is to try without removing anything from underneath. you can always remove more if needed.

RXrick

After I drain the oil from the engine, can I expect a lot excess oil to spill out of the lines and cooler? Just trying to avoid any unwanted surprises...

Thanks for reading and helping.

Siraniko

iTrader: (13)

Lay some cardboard on the floor as most of us would do and toss the mechanic creeper as i have done many years ago. Cardboard is the best.

Front end must be on jackstand or ramp so doing an oil change is not a bad idea. Remove the belly pan to disconnect the lines from the OC using the tools i mentioned above and unbolt the fan shroud so you can work on the front cover. Its up to you if you want to reove the efan and shroud as most of time it is not necessary.

The rest is self explanatory; an oil pan is needed to catch any drips and all of the remaining oil on the line will sit on the banjo bolt/rear plate so this is last. you can also remove the top radiator lid so you can unbolt the OC if you cant unbolt it from the bottom. . its that simple and not very complicated

RXrick

Thank you, Siraniko! Yes, I lay on cardboard or a sheet, and I don't care what the neighbors say.

Tonight I removed the battery tray and it was an unnecessary pain. There are 5 bolts that hold that thing in place, and it wasn't easy to locate them (I'm not a mechanic so I don't know how to look for things like this.)

Anyway, now I can see the cooler lines FROM ABOVE. It looks like if I remove the left side radiator bracket (as RX7 Chris mentioned) I should have (almost?) full access to the lines from above.

What do you mean by belly pan? Is that under the radiator?

I'm listening and using everyone's thoughts and suggestions here and there and you all have been a really big help in technical knowledge and motivation and inspiration!!

Btw, I have been documenting this project with step-by-step photos. Do you know how I can post some of them on this forum?

Thanks again!!!

RXrick

Stupid question: Is it necessary to drain the oil?

Jeff20B

iTrader: (13)

Ok, I feel like helping now.

I yanked my GSL-SE oil cooler after it developed a common leak for this model; at the threaded bung. The way I removed it was almost too easy. But then my car isn't entirely stock.

I don't have a battery tray in the way, but something tells me it's not necessary to remove. There are two bolts down between the battery tray and the radiator support bracket thing (the big stamped steel thing that I don't really know the name of). Look down and you see the bolts. The two bolts on the other side can be accessed when you remove the top sheet metal panel and look down. 10mm socket, 1/4" drive, lots of long extensions, are what I used. I also removed the belly pan. It's the very large sheet metal panel under the radiator and extends to the main crossmember, also extends forward to the plastic grill/fascia whatever. It is held in with several 10mm bolts and ties everthing together under there.

You need a 21mm wrench, a 23mm wrench and a 24mm wrench. I don't have a 24 so I use an adjustable wrench (Crescent or Diamond brand) with the upper part ground way down.

Use the 21mm on the front cover fitting to keep it from turning as you apply force on the 24mm wrench to turn/loosen the AN style fitting. It is good to remove the fan shroud and fan for this part, or so I'm told. I have an electric fan so do what you have to do on your car.

The rear banjo bolt is 23mm. I like to cheat with the 21mm wrench in the 23 to make it longer. Or I hit the 23mm with a hammer. Sometimes the banjo bolt is on there kinda hard. It will have copper or aluminum crush washers. The copper can be heated (anealed) and reused. The aluminum is so soft it can probably be reused unless it's been crushed too much already.

No need to drain the oil from the pan(sump) but DO have an oil collection pan under the banjo bolt to catch the several ounces that will pour out of the hole and the line. I let it hang there and drain while I loosen the front. Usually none spills out of the front but I like to keep small pieces of paper towels all twisted up into an insertable shape just in case.

I don't think I forgot anything. Oh yeah, so I like to shove a paper towel in the long oil line and twist tie a plastic bag over the end so it doesn't spill all over when I remove the oil cooler. Same for front (short) line. Then make sure the 12mm support bracet bolt is removed (look down low on front cover) and pull oil cooler down and out while keeping an eye on the lines. Now I don't think I forgot anything.

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

The radiator is SUPER easy to remove. You remove the fan and shroud. The fan is held on by four 10mm bolts. The shroud is held on by three bolts and two plastic clips. The fan and shroud can be removed together. 5 mins to do that. Remove the metal airflow direction plate that bolts to the radiator mounts directly behind the radiator. I think its six 10mm bolts. about 2 mins or less to do that. Drain the coolant from the radiator via the petcock and then remove the upper and lower radiator hoses and the bypass hose for the heater core. You'll have less than 10 mins doing that. The radiator is held on by four 12mm bolts. Remove those and then remove the radiator, 4 mins tops. Then remove each metal radiator support mount. Two 10mm bolts on each side. 4 mins on that. And the times I gave are pretty generous.

Removing the air box is three 10 mm bolts, disconnecting the air pump hose, removing the AFM connector and the variable resistor connector and then the two 12mm cap nuts on the throttle body that secure the intake boot to the throttle body. You may want to remove the ACV silencer that bolts to the front engine bay rail just to get it out of the way. Its one or two 10mm bolts and the clamp on the ACV itself.

Then don't worry about draining the engine oil. Remove the front oil cooler line from the fitting on the front cover. Do not remove the fitting from the front cover unless absolutely necessary. It just add more work. Then remove the banjo bolt from the rear iron that secures the long oil cooler line to the rear iron. Expect some oil seepage from the rear iron. Then you can remove the four 10mm bolts that hold the oil cooler mounts to the tabs on the front support rail.

Once you start digging into it you'll see how easily it comes apart and how quickly it goes. There may be a better way to do the job, but this is the method that I have always used and its worked great every time. If I can be of any help posting pics of any of the process that you'd like to see feel free to let me know. I can post whatever you need.

RXrick

This is my situation. I would prefer not to remove anything more than is necessary. From this photo, is it possible to remove the lines from the top? Or is it better from underneath? Thanks.

Siraniko

iTrader: (13)

Dude just do it from underneath and stop asking question until after your hands are dirty. Stop over analyzing as it isnt that complucated as some has posted lol

RXrick

Thank you, Siraniko. That was one of my most important questions nobody answered. Do I remove the lines from the top or underneath?

The reason I'm hesitant is because I can still drive it today and I've been toying with the thought of driving it to the shop and have real mechanics do the work. Once I wrench on the OC lines, if anything goes wrong, now my horse is dead in the garage.

I've been underneath the car many times and I can only get the car up so high. I'm not short and my nose is only inches away from those lines and I don't "see" any easy access to them from underneath and so I thought maybe they should be removed from above. Thanks again for your help. Hopefully I will have no further questions to post.

RXrick

And another thing, I can't remember if I mentioned this but the bracket broke from the OC a very long time ago (years?) but fortunately it managed to drop and rest on a cross bar so it never became a noticeable issue until I noticed a lot of oil leakage one day (who knows how long it had broken.) Perhaps this is the culprit of the whole leakage problem.

My investigation revealed the bracket cannot be replaced and I would have to buy a new OC ($500+). That is when I decided to use the plumber's strap to hold up the left side. So it looks like that is what I will end up doing in this case also. BUT, a friend of mine told me the rubber can be reattached to the metal side of the OC if I really wanted to do it.

Just a little more information stuff on my little project. If anyone has any experience on re-attaching that bracket on and -SE oil cooler, I would be happy to listen.

Thanks for reading.

KansasCityREPU

iTrader: (9)

If you have the other portion of that broken bracket you can drill a couple of holes and use some bolts to keep it together. Just don't tighten the bolts too much so the rubber and still take the vibration.

RXrick

Ok, I'm back. I put this project on hold because I had to travel and I have another life. Here's the latest. This weekend I took Siraniko's advice and I just went for it. I purchased a 21mm, 23mm, and 24mm wrench as instructed by others and none of them fit! Not one!

Attached are photos of the bottom (long) fittings. I don't know the terminology of these fittings. I itemized them A,B,C. If someone can tell me their names and what size wrench fits on them I would greatly appreciate it.

Secondly, I noticed from looking above that the extruded pipes from the cooler are not perpendicular but on an angle. Are they suppose to be this way?

Thanks for reading and any help anyone can provide.

KansasCityREPU

iTrader: (9)

The outlets are aiming in the correct direction. They are not perpendicular on purpose.

Siraniko

iTrader: (13)

The SEs inlet/outlet are not straight to clear the sway bar