Installing Oil cooler

Have you done so much to the car today that it just doesn't fit into one section, or are you too damn lazy to split it all up? Either way, this is the section for you.

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Briano1234
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Installing Oil cooler

Post by Briano1234 »

I went to the yard and stumbled on a Volvo 940 Turbo that had a Wahler Oil cooler on it.
It takes either a 28mm socket, and a 19mm to remove the oil lines and the cooler off the car, if you don't have a 28mm then using a large crescent take the whole shooting match off.

You will need the following:
85 volvo 740T intercooler Oil Cooler. Volvo number 1276680
The Feed tube for the oil filter Takes 28mm to get nut off oil cooler and 32mm to remove the assembly off the block.
To remove the 28mm nut, you will either need a deep well (very hard to find) but I had a 1 5/32 inch deep well that I had from plumbing work to remove it.

2-VW oil cooler nuts 27mm Will need a deep well to get off.

For the o-ring I went to a plumbing supply house, they matched up the o-ring to fit the cooler, so I bought 3 of them 6 bucks.

10' Tranmission Oil Cooler hose
4 hose clamps
4 10 inch wire ties

1 full size Chevrolet Van or Truck transmission oil cooler heat exchanger. There are 4 types that I have seen. 1 is huge, 1 is medium with fittings, 1 is medium with fittings and then there is a lower profile one that is still about 10 rows and either has fittings or plain barbed connections and it fits nicely in behind the grille in front of the A/C condenser.

8 Washers

1 roll of 3/4 inch wide Stick foam, to pad the oil cooler heat exchanger from the condensor, and to pad the washers
Depending on which heat exchanger you get you will need the following from BORG (Big Orange Retail Giant-aka Home Depot)

2 a-294 Hose Hdapter 3/8 Barb X 3/8 MIP For the Chevy heat exchanger (won't be needed if the heat exchanger has barb fittings.)
2 a-176 Coupling 3/8 flare X 3/8 FIP for Chevy heat exchanger (won't be needed if the heat exchanger has barb fittings.)
2 a-298 Hose Barb Adapter 3/8 barb X 3/8 FIP
2 a-186 3/8 to 3/8 Flare to Male Pipe Elbow
1 Roll of Yellow (gas pipe Teflon tape)

Flush out the oil cooler and heat exchanger with Brake-Kleen or Carb Cleaner.... you have to get out all the Crap that may be in there.


Oh by the way... look what years of using the wrong hose clamp will do... They used the standard screw claps and not the spring clamps.
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I found a Transmission oil cooler on a chevy monte carlo... so I took that, It was low profile...
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There is one large 32mm feed bolt holding the whole assembly to the block a large crescent wrench one smack with a hammer. Remove the 2 feed lines and you are good to go.

Will it fit?
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I had to shim the a/c condenser out of the way a tad, like a 1/2 inch.
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Used plenty of.
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Got the new barbed gas fittings tight.
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Mounted the hoses to the unit.
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Took 8 small fender washers and covered one side with foam.
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Using wire ties I pushed them from the front of the cooler to the back through 2 washers foam side against the cooler fins and back through the vanes to the front (got that trick from a tranny cooler kit I just installed).
I used 4 wire ties and 8 washers 2 each side.

I used denser foam to place between the oil cooler and the frame.

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Here is the standard vw oil cooler pipe, next to the Volvo pipe, you have to have the Volvo one.
I used the standard 27mm nut to sandwich it all together, as I couldn't locate a 28mm deep well no where local.

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I removed the Oil filter pipe out of the flange, it was a pain in the ass.....but I got it, The trick is to use one of the 27mm nuts and screw it on the pipe thread so it is flush with the end. I used a small pair of vice grips to clamp the nut to the in side of the feed pipe, and unscrewed it. Used the same trick to install the new one for no thread damage.

I used Brass 90 degree gas pipe fittings, and barbed connections. I screwed them in to the sandwich plate but couldn't get them fully tightened till on the car, and it was 1 more rotation of the 90 degree elbow.

I screwed on the barbed fittings using Teflon Tape.

I ran the hose to the battery side of the car, then under the Radiator Fan Switch, and made the connections.
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So far I got the car up to 80 degrees at idle in the garage with no leaks, getting ready to see how it goes. The side of the cooler is stamped 95degrees.... I would assume that is centigrade.
Last edited by Briano1234 on Sat Jun 02, 2012 8:39 am, edited 8 times in total.
Briano

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Briano1234
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Re: Installing Oil cooler

Post by Briano1234 »

Road Test results. Temp 50 degrees F...

Cruised the car @80mph for 1 hour.... I couldn't get the oil temp above 110 c on the gauge, it didn't matter if I took the top down, nor if I turned on the a/c. Checked twice for leaks there wasn't any. The water temp was lower than normal to the left of the mark.

When I stopped the idle speed was 950rpm, I had 1.1bar at 110 degrees.
Tore off back home, got in stop and go traffic, the water rose to normal a tad over the center mark.
After driving at a stop I had 105 degrees, and I had 2.0 bar at idle at a stop.

I ran in to Walgreens to pick up some drugs, and Hershey kisses dark and regular ten minutes later.
Car sat off Turned the car on, it was 80 degrees 2.0bar at idle..... A lot of difference for such a little upgrade.
Briano

Yes as matter of fact, I have the Luck o'the Irish...everything I touch turns to fertilizer of the bovine variety.
You can lead a user to a link, but you can't make him Click.... :screwy:
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Calimus
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Re: Installing Oil cooler

Post by Calimus »

Very cool brian. I going to be adding an oil cooler to my rocco durring this build. I figure it certainly can't hurt.
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Briano1234
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Re: Installing Oil cooler

Post by Briano1234 »

Here are the numbers... tooling down the road 70-75 for 4 hours already @ 8:33am
Ambient air temp 52 degrees F.

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Image
Briano

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Re: Installing Oil cooler

Post by gull »

Nice write up.

One caution I'd add is to be careful when using a used transmission cooler. If the trans has had "hard parts" fail there can be metal shavings trapped in the cooler, not what you want in your engine.
VW fan who fell to the Honda side of the force
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Briano1234
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Re: Installing Oil cooler

Post by Briano1234 »

gull wrote:Nice write up.

One caution I'd add is to be careful when using a used transmission cooler. If the trans has had "hard parts" fail there can be metal shavings trapped in the cooler, not what you want in your engine.
That is why you flush the cooler out prior to installing, I used brake clean, hot soapy water, lacquer thinner, finally alcohol all the while tapping it slightly there was no residue of anything left in that cooler at all.
Briano

Yes as matter of fact, I have the Luck o'the Irish...everything I touch turns to fertilizer of the bovine variety.
You can lead a user to a link, but you can't make him Click.... :screwy:
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Calimus
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Re: Installing Oil cooler

Post by Calimus »

damned work img blocker. I'll have to check the images when i get home. Thx for posting up the pics Brian, I'll be checking them out later tonight.
16' Challenger ScatPack
05' Yamaha FJR1300
02' Honda VTX 1800C
User avatar
Briano1234
Whats that smell?
Posts: 4105
Joined: Mon Mar 21, 2005 5:45 am
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Location: Duluth, Ga
Contact:

Re: Installing Oil cooler

Post by Briano1234 »

updated with part numbers and quantities.
Briano

Yes as matter of fact, I have the Luck o'the Irish...everything I touch turns to fertilizer of the bovine variety.
You can lead a user to a link, but you can't make him Click.... :screwy:
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