Zero10

When I was re-assembling my engine, I was having some trouble with the placement of the oil cooler. If I install both bolts that hold it in place, the metal line coming from the top of the oil cooler sits directly infront of the opening on the radiator for the lower rad hose. If I push the oil cooler up ~1" then the lines both clear each other, but there is nowhere to bolt it and the ducting doesn't line up.
I suspended the oil cooler from a bracket above so that it wouldn't crush or break anything on my highway trip, but now that I have it parked for the next month or so and up on ramps it's time to fix it.

First off, what did I do wrong?... Do I have the cooler installed completely upside-down?
This is how it has been every time I have worked with the oil cooler, and it was suspended from above when I bought the car. Whenever I get to this point in the job I am usually in a hurry so I just re-do it how it was when it came apart.


Next up, one of my oil cooler lines is cracked badly and I can see the strings inside of the hose, and the other one is showing surface cracks.
For those who have replaced the oil cooler lines with new fittings and hoses, what did you use, and did you delete the metal hose that is bolted to the oil cooler?
Also, what did it cost (if you don't mind me asking)?
I am thinking it will probably be cheaper to build new hoses for the oil cooler than to buy OEM replacements, and I don't see the point in putting used hoses on to save cost here. I figure while I'm already saving up to fix my ball joints, I might as well fix this before it fails altogether.

Thanks for any info

Tony951

I replaced my oil filter housing/oil lines (except hard line)/oil cooler recently. I found it was important to orient the line coming off the front of the oil filter housing so it would subsequently place the hard line properly (and not kink). You may have to loosen that line coming off the front of the oil filter housing (not the one w/bracket) and re-orient it. Also, my oil cooler had been hit and was bent up, as were its mounting flange and the bracket next to the radiator. Make sure you have the correct bushings and metal inserts to mount the oil cooler to the flange next to the radiator. I had to bend both the mt flange at the radiator as well as the oil cooler mt flange a bit to get them to fit up properly. I still have clearance issues btw the hard line and the lower radiator hose. How are your engine mounts? A collapsed engine mount can change the alignment btw hoses and radiator/oil cooler.

Also, a hydraulic component/repair shop should be able to properly crimp hoses for you for cheap.

badcoupe

I did mine in braided stainless/AN fittings. I got my adapter fittings from hoseandfittings.com IIRC. I used 3 straight fittings and one 90 or 45 it's been awhile since I did it. But it looks great and you can route the hoses however you want. the afore mentioned site has a lot of the metric fittings our cars use.

theedge

The lines can be replaced with AN fittings and SS braided hose. The adapter fittings can be sourced from Bat Inc, or I have some if you want. Im not using the stock cooler anymore, so I have no use for the metric adapters. Theyere to -12 AN. Going this route means getting rid of that metal pipe, the adapters get threaded directly into the oil cooler.

Zero10

So I have to bend the bracket to get the metal line in the right place?
Which side of the rad hose should it go on? Mine runs right across the center of the hose when I let the cooler down.
This has nothing to do with how the hoses are routed coming off of the oil filter mount. I'm talking about the metal line that is almost part of the oil cooler. I could try to post a pic of what I am talking about if it would help at all?

theedge, how much do the metric adapters cost? I don't quite understand what you mean. Do you remove the male-male adapters on the oil cooler? If so, wouldn't that be a big pain to remove to drain the oil cooler when changing your oil?

Tony951

I had to bend my bracket slightly (on the oil cooler as well as the flange on the side of the radiator) to make the oil cooler fit properly. Remember, my old oil cooler got hit and bent that bracket next to the radiator a little. Yes, it does have a lot to do with how the flexible hose comes off the oil filter housing - you need to loosen the large nut at the oil filter housing connection (you need something like a 32mm open-end wrench) so you can pivot the line at the oil filter housing, connect it to the hard line, and connect the hard line to oil cooler housing top inlet (loose again, so you can pivot it). In this way, you can properly orient the oil lines (the flexible one and the hard line) while they are loose while you bolt up your oil cooler. Basically, loosesning up these oil lines will allow you some freedom of movement when you attempt to bolt up the oil cooler. If you force them, you will likely end up kinking the flexible line. This is how I did it, but it is very tight in there and my lower radiator hose still rubs the hard line a little. I forget if my hard line is on the top or bottom of the lower radiator hose. Also, your hard line has a mounting tap on it - you should try to verify whether or not your hard line and/or mounting tab are bent.

Zero10

The flexible lines seem to be run correctly no kinks and they line up just right to the hard line. Should the oil cooler hard line go above or below the lower rad hose? My head says above but I want to check before I go bending brackets. I'll loosen the nut at the top of the oil cooler and try to rotate the line a bit to get some clearance.

Tony951

I wish I could send you pics of my setup, but I lost my camera charger. I did for sure have to loosen the flexible line coming off the front of the oil filter housing so I could orient it (the other flexible line has a bracket at the oil filter housing and can't be pivoted). I am almost certain the hard line is located above the lower radiator hose - but it's tight. You may be able to reduce the abrasion btw contacting hoses/oil lines by applying a rubber tape to one or both... I believe 944online has a reasonable diagram of the oil cooler mounting + all the hardware required. The oil cooler is mounted on rubber bushings with metal inserts for the bolts - this hardware will influence its position a bit. Good luck!

Zero10

I think I know what you mean about the mounts? Mine has rubber grommets around the holes in the oil cooler, then a metal bushing inside of that. Should there be anything more in there? Perhaps there is a mounting problem with my oil cooler.....

Perhaps some pictures would help. I could try to take some pictures of mine. Perhaps somebody can show me where it's gone wrong?