Oil change with front mount oil cooler

[Anders]

Hi,

I recently purchased an R with a front mount oil cooler. The problem being that a good 1.5 litres of oil gets trapped in the cooler and and the hoses, so only about 2/3 of the oil is released during the oil change.

Has anyone figured out any trick to remove the oil in the cooler and hoses without taking it apart or is this something I have to live with?

Cheers,

Andy

 

[jasegould]

I would presume that you have to live with going by the fact that ive never done anything different on a car with a factory fit oil cooler :?: :?:

 

[skiddusmarkus]

You could try removing the cooler from it's brackets and making it the lowest point on the car.This should get rid of most of the oil in it.

 

[Anders]

Thats already the problem mate and putting it any lower will trap even more oil. The oil cooler hoses go from the filter up and across the side of the engine and then down to the front of the rad, hence a lot of oil is trapped from the highest point all the way down to the cooler.

 

[ashills]

well un bolt and lift it up then

 

[Anders]

:lol: Sure but its a RPITA to get to :lol: I would just undo the hose if could get to it without stripping half the front end...

 

[skiddusmarkus]

If you hold the cooler rad above the engine,gravity will see that all the oil drains to the lowest point ie the sump.Either prop it up or stand there like a lemon for 10mins while it drains.

 

[Fast Guy]

If you hold the cooler rad above the engine,gravity will see that all the oil drains to the lowest point ie the sump.Either prop it up or stand there like a lemon for 10mins while it drains.

Only thing to watch I'd say is, if you have a thermostat fitted, it might all drain out when hot, but when you refill it a while later, the new oil is cold and the thermostat could be closed when you run the engine, hence the oil cooler is empty. So if you're blasting along a road and your empty oil cooler kicks in, you'll have no oil supply till it fills up again and then your sump will need topping up again. Just a thought!

 

[Anders]

skiddusmarkus, If only I could get the bloody thing off! :roll:

I spent an hour the other night trying to either disconnect one of the pipes to drain some oil or unfasten the cooler itself. I was unable to do either. Its in such a position that I can't get a spanner to the hose fittings and I have no chance of removing the cooler without A. removing the bumper or B. removing the Rad etc.

Fast Guy, I had thought about that but I think its just a case of bringing it up to operating temp to the point the oil cooler kicks in and then top it up. The way I see it is if I fill the sump to the upper marker, the cooler will not consume so much that the oil level falls below the lower marker. After a few oil changes I should have an indication on how it will behave.

I have an idea but I'll start a new thread

Cheers,

Andy