350 TBI Engine Oil Cooler Diverter Seals R & R

[89Suburban]

Tonight I ran out to the local mini mart to grab some smokes, and when I pulled out my rear tire spun real easy, too easy. I was like, WTF? So half way home, I smell oil burning and when I pulled up to a light and stopped, all this smoke came from the hood. I pulled over, click on the 4-ways, and opened the hood. All kinds of oil smoke poured out. I loooked under the truck and saw a puddle of oil. I shut the truck off, checked the engine oil and it was bone dry on the dipstick. I had a serious oil leak all of a sudden that was bad enough to lose 4 or 5 quarts in half an hour of driving. I was only a mile form home, so I fired it up and drove home, staring at the wavering oil pressure guage, it never dropped below 15 psi, and I made it home. I have to miss a day of work tomorrow to climb under the Burban and find the problem and fix that ****. Pics and posts to follow on this.....

 

[Irishman999]

Damn dude, thats a **** load of oil lost. If its smoking under the hood its gotta be dripping on your exhaust. I cant even think of what that would be, besides valve covers leaking. Even that should not leak enough to lose that much oil.

 

[Old77]

man that sucks!! I guess at least you caught it and weren't too far from home. Can you imagine the motor just locking up on your cuz it dropped all the oil on the grand in such a quick amount of time??? I hope it's not too cold where you are. It'd be a bear to do that where I'm at today where it's in the single digits today!

 

[89Suburban]

I found the leak, it's coming from the base of the oil cooler bracket that is between the engine block and the oil filter. It's leaking on teh engine block side. Anybody ever have one of these apart? Is there an o ring in there?

Digital camera is backyard mechanic's best friend to find problems.

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[Old77]

oh man! I'm not sure about that one if there is an o-ring or a gasket in there. Either way that's going to be a bear to get apart it looks like....

 

[89Suburban]

Well, uncharted territory, I'll take pics and share, I got to get this thing fixed today.

 

[crazy4offroad]

I think the block is made to take a filter just like the end of the adapter, so it probably has a rubber gasket/o-ring type thing, like on a filter. The lines also have o-rings, had one fail on a 91 s10 and at 60 psi that pig bled out quick. You might be able to take the lines loose and filter off and unscrew it like a filter pretty easy.

 

[Old77]

Definitely do share the end result with us. I know it's uncharted territory for man of us with this particular fix!

 

[skysurfer]

I just fixed that leak on mine a few months ago. It's a piece of cake, got the o-ring kit from AutoZone for around ten bucks. Get a couple cans of brake cleaner too so you can clean everything while it's apart. If I can find the part # I'll post it up.

 

[Old77]

I just fixed that leak on mine a few months ago. It's a piece of cake, got the o-ring kit from AutoZone for around ten bucks. Get a couple cans of brake cleaner too so you can clean everything while it's apart. If I can find the part # I'll post it up.

How did you get the part off to replace the o-ring? Does it just bolt onto the block?

 

[skysurfer]

Yes. Just two bolts hold the diverter to the block.

That should be a Felpro ES72671 oil cooler o-ring set. It's kind of a universal kit for many apps so you'll have some extra pieces in there.

Edit: That part # is for 4x4's only. The 2wd's use a different kit.

 

[Old77]

I give an A+ to SkySurfer for the good info!

 

[89Suburban]

What a pain in the balls. I miss laying on the ground, numb arms, rust in the eyes, wind blowing dripping oil in my face, and temps in the low 30's. This pic sharing thing keeps me motivated and makes me think somebody is under there with me suffering, lol...

Ramps, tools, rags, brake kleen, drain pan, parking brake on, filter wrench

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Remove oil filter

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Note to self, two hex socket head bolts holding base on, need to go to garage for hex drive bits.

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Another note to self, this is the most worst part of the job, removing nuts on oil tubes, no room, and need big wrenches. 1/8 turn, flip wrench, 1/8 turn, etc. Fuking brutal, and trying to do it without damaging something in the process, like nicking threads, the tubes, or knuckles.

Need 3/4" wrench for holding fitting, 7/8" wrench for loosening tube nuts.

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You need to hold that brass fitting with the 3/4" to keep it from spinning when you break the nut on the oil line. Also, the bottom nut is impossible to remove. You need to take the upper/outboard nut off first and slide it out of the way, and then tackle the lower/inboard nut, being very careful not to damage the threads on the brass fitting right next to it, this sucks.

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You need a 1/4" Hex drive to fit the socket head bolts. They came out fairly easy, almost felt like they were loose. I suggest anybody who has this setup on thier square box to snug these bolts whenever you have to change the oil filter. I know I will be from here on out.

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The cooler block came right off the engine block, no problem, but the oil lines are frozen to the cooler block pretty good. Had to grab some spray to soak it and I will use a rubber mallet to smack the housing away from the lines and hopefully it will pop loose.

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Oh ****, I just found out where my Oxygen sensor is, lol.....

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[89Suburban]

Yes. Just two bolts hold the diverter to the block.

That should be a Felpro ES72671 oil cooler o-ring set. It's kind of a universal kit for many apps so you'll have some extra pieces in there.

Edit: That part # is for 4x4's only. The 2wd's use a different kit.

You are the man brother!!!!!!!

 

[Old77]

Looks like you're getting 'er taken care of man. very good pics!! Thanks for the info, man!