oil cooler lines

[mhagie]

I am converting my oil cooler from the radiator to external,surprising enough the original cooler lines don't leak.
Is there o-ring fittings available to adapt to my original lines out to the external cooler?
The new cooler is pipe thread which is no big deal but to hook on to the original lines where they transition from hose to metal requires a o-ring fitting,are these available or am I forced to change cooler lines all the way back to the engine block?
Thanks, Merle

[arveetek]

I would do away with the original lines that are prone to sudden catastrophic failure and go with farm-grade hydrualic hoses. I did the same thing, using an external cooler, and it's a snap to use the 1/2" hoses which thread into the cooler and into the engine block. They're very heavy duty, and will last a long time. My original tractor hydrualic hoses were 8 or 9 years old, and I wasn't planning on replacing them during my engine rebuild, until I saw some heat damage were I had routed them too close to an exhaust pipe. Just make sure they stay away from heat (shouldn't be a problem with the Banks turbo exhaust routing) or make some heat shields.

Another plus is that the hydraulic hoses are really cheap! I think I paid about $30 for the pair of hoses from a farm and home store. You'll also need a couple of swivel fittings on one or both ends, to help aid in installing the hoses. What I did was thread the hoses into the cooler, then fished the hoses back to the engine block, where they hooked into the swivel fittings, which allowed me to hook the hoses to the block without rotating the hoses. I also used 90 degree elbows coming out of the block to aid in pointing the hoses in the right direction.

Casey

[aloharovers]

Casey,
what size external oil cooler did you use?
Are you using botht he external and stock one?

Pete

[arveetek]

Pete,

I'm using a B&M SuperCooler, rated at 28,000 lbs GVW. It's designed for automatic transmissions, but will work for any oil cooling applications. It uses 1/2" NPT fittings, so it fits our diesel applications really well. It measures 8" x 11" x 1.5". I ordered mine from Summit racing, part # BMM-70266.

It's smaller than the huge DSG 6.5L oil cooler kit, but at $60 vs. $500, I couldn't see spending the extra money.

I'm strictly using the external cooler...I did away completely with the stock radiator cooler.

Casey

[aloharovers]

Originally posted by arveetek:
Pete,
I ordered mine from Summit racing, part # BMM-70266.
Thanks for the part#
Pete

[mhagie]

Mine is a MAKCO 29,000 btu $65.00 1/2 female pipe fittings.
Big cooler,Little price :D
Merle
I can't take the credit for the cooler I believe it was GMC Hauler had a post mentioning the MAKCO, It be a good one $73.50 at my door

[aloharovers]

Originally posted by mhagie:
Mine is a MAKCO 29,000 btu $65.00 1/2 female pipe fittings.
Big cooler,Little price :D
Merle
Thank you Merle.

Are both of you mounting the cooler in front of the radiator? Are you using an auxiallary fan for the cooler?

For my cooler lines I bought a 10' section of #10 braided hose and 4 swivel ends and 4 #10-1/2" adapters. All of it was under 100$ shipped from summit.


Pete

[mhagie]

Mine is mounted drivers side in front of a/c condenser.
Using stock radiator shroud with a 350 HD small block 7 blade fan and a Bill Heath fan clutch.
Merle

[arveetek]

Mine is on the passenger side in front of the a/c condenser in front of the radiator. Similar-sized tranny cooler is on the driver's side. I mounted it that way because my lines ended up being a bit too long.

Casey