how would one check the oil cooler to find out if thats the cause for a radiator full of oil...

 

Not sure bud but I'll ask my buddy and see if he knows how they checked it.

 

hey blue, can you give me some pointers on what to check with the oil cooler...i read there are some gaskets that may go bad. i wanna make a last check tonight before i go pulling the head off to find a good gasket

 

So let's tackle THIS question:

Why are the oil coolers failing?

Could it be the infamously high oil pressure spike associated with these engines when they cold start??? Repeated attacks of 150+ oil pressure are sure to stress the oil cooler, I'd think.

Oh, and thanks for the new (to me) info on 12V temps.

 

The oil cooler is behind the oil filter head in the block right next to #1 cyl.......one way that i can think of to check it would be to pull the filter head and check it. OR with the engine off and the filter off, pressure test the Rad and see if you get any coolant leaking where the oil filter screws onto the filter head.

My old boss had a 12V......AND that thing woudl not warm up for nothing! Full coolant, had to drive it 30 miles to get SOME heat out of the heater....we checked and checked...but just the nature of his beast......He ended up blocking off the rad with card board....worked after that.....but it was a werid bird to say the least......IN FACT i think i had a thread over it on here somewhere........

 

only real way to test a oil cooler is to take it to a shop and have it presure tested. alot of people say just check to see if the oil cooler gasket is blown. WRONG. all the gasket does is seal the block off. if the gasket went out, you would be leaking coolant from the side of your block. the ONLY way to check a oil cooler is to have it presure tested.

 

thanks...i guess ill go ahead and pull the head...if the gasket for some reason isn't blown im still o-ringing and studding it...but then ill also tackle the oil cooler problem if thats what it turns out to be.

any special way to flush out my rad?? i fugured id drain the oil mixture out of it, point the lower hose out the bottom then just flush a degreasing formula mix (like greased lightning dilluted with water) thru it with a hose until its pretty clean at the bottom. then when i put it back together and its running again ill fill with water, warm it up and do another flush to clean the block coolant passages out.

 

best thing i could find that worked better than every thing was CASCADE dish washing soap. not the liquid but the other stuff. works very very well and is very safe for the application.

 

the powder made for dishwashers? i have some of that...ill make up a solution and run it thru with the hose until it comes out clear

 

yup works great. safe on your motor and cleans better than anything. i ran about 2 cups through for about 10 min, then flushed. did this 3 times and it came out spotless.

 

How much and how hard are these heat exchangers to replace? Sounds like something thats pretty common.
Also how do you purge all the oil out of the cooling system after this happens? And also how if the oil is contaminated with coolant?

 

Good thing is that oil pressure will be at about 40 PSI or so (Once warm) and the coolant will be under 15 or so......more oil in coolant then....lesser of 2 evils at least. BUT i do imagian that some coolant can get into the oil once the truck is cool.....but one would hope that the issue can be caught before it gets out of hand.