zassou

The oil cooler on my 88 Vert has been leaking for a while now but I’m now having difficulty keeping oil pressure at a safe level. The dealership quoted an OEM unit at $1380 + tax (more than I paid for the car!) but there are none available in Canada. Has anyone had any success with a recore of the cooler? I’d prefer to stick with OEM if possible. Any suggestions for an aftermarket product that would be a relatively simple swap?

Aaron Cake

iTrader: (1)

What about a used OEM cooler? There are often people parting out cars on this forum and if you call a local wrecking yard, they may have some in stock or can order one in from another yard.

Have you been able to determine the location of the leak? It is very rare for the cooler itself to leak. Most likely any leaks from the crush washers at the banjo bolt connections, or from the hoses themselves. Sometimes the crush washer at the thermostat. You can completely degrease the area to remove all leaked oil. Then start the car and leave it stationary (driving will cause the oil to migrate) while you inspect the cooler lines, cooler and connections. Sometimes covering the area with flour, talc or other white powder (don't waste cocaine) will help as it keeps the oil from moving around too much, highlighting the leak.

If you are leaking oil to the point where it is lowering your oil pressure, you would be leaving an Exxon Valdez level oil slick wherever you drive and would have to feed oil into the engine from a jug just to get down the street.

zassou

Thanks Aaron. Admittedly, I’m using the diagnosis of a reputable shop in the area with experience working on theses cars. However I can’t say that I witnessed it leaking myself. Not a huge amount of oil but if I left it running in place for a minute there would be a loonie size drop on the driveway. I’ve already removed the unit and the banjo bolt connections seemed sound...but I’m no expert. I think I’ll research how I can test the cooler, now that it’s out of the car, to confirm if it’s the culprit. I also have a local rad shop taking a look at it this week to say whether they can recore it if I go that route but I’ll also research the wrecker/used market.

zassou

Thought I’d post an update. After pressure testing the oil cooler at 100 psi in a water tank, I could find no bubbling at all so clearly it’s good. I cleaned everything up, made sure the contact surfaces were true and clean, enlarged some crush washers that were too small ID, and reinstalled everything. No leaks so far and consistently higher pressure readings throughout the rev band. I’ve put about 40 km on it and it all seems to be good.
Thanks again Aaron for making me question my mechanics diagnosis of a pooched cooler...you saved me a lot of money! Let me know if you’re ever up Collingwod way and I’ll buy you a beer.

Aaron Cake

iTrader: (1)

Excellent! Glad it was a minor issue.

Your oil pressure observation is extremely confusing however. A little drip isn't enough to noticeably drop oil pressure on even a calibrated aftermarket gauge, let alone the OEM gauge/sender combination which is a "general idea" gauge.

If the OEM gauge is showing extremely low values intermittently, it would be best to verify with another gauge or test the OEM gauge/sender to make sure it is a gauge issue, and not an oil pressure issue.