Corroded oil cooler

[gotmud]

Had a case of the missing coolant and decided to track it down, thinking it was a HG but hoping it was something else. Turns out it was the oil cooler cover and it had a hole. A search of mud found that this is not a very common problem. One of the PO's selling points is that he used "lifetime" coolant when he first purchased it several years ago. He also had a friend of his replace the head gasket. Since I was already in there I did a compression and leak down test and it passed...whew!

Anyway, below are some pictures that are about what I expected given the PO's total lack of PM...

 

[gotmud]

More pics...

 

[Sc0-]

W O W, some nasty stuff...

 

[cpg]

More pics...

Is that rusted cast Iron? Is the cover aluminum?

That is real nasty

 

[LX_TREME]

Is that rusted cast Iron? Is the cover aluminum?

That is real nasty

Its aluminum but that holes

mine below, just lil reminder don't forget to order those 3 oil cooler gaskets.

 

[CJF]

How did you figure out that that was the problem??

And was it just a coolant leak, or a coolant/oil contamination issue?

Curtis

 

[NeverFinis]

I just did mine at 150K and hoping that was where my oil->coolant problem was. Mine looked tons better than yours! That is nasty!

 

[Jacques Villeneuve]

A dumb question but just where does that part sit in the engine bay ?

 

[e9999]

any indication as to what caused this?

 

[EricE]

A dumb question but just where does that part sit in the engine bay ?

Front right(PS) side of engine near the Thermostat just under the head. Trace the large hose off the bottom of the Radiator. It goes back to about mid engine then up and forward to the Thermostat.

 

[gotmud]

A little background on why that looks so bad...

1. The PO never did any PM in 140K miles
2. He overheated the engine big time, which warped the head so badly it had to be replaced, not rebuilt.

When it over heated, all of the sludge and sediment in the oil cooler became solidified in the housing.

The shop that repaired the head never looked any further than replacing the head. In fact, they totally missed the fact that the fan clutch was shot and the top radiator tank was split!

The PO stated that he had the cooling system flushed at 24K miles with a "lifetime coolant". -Guess we now know how long that actually protects!

 

[gotmud]

Well, $97 later and I have a new cover and 3 gaskets. This could have been a lot worse! All the little parts inside the cover cleaned up real well and could be reused. This was also a good time to remove the PAIR set up and plug up the empty holes in the manifold (1/2" pipe plugs work great for this) . Looks like I also lost my cat in the process

FYI, to avoid having to remove the two down pipes coming off of the manifolds, spray the studs with some PB and wait an hour. Then tighten two nuts against each other on the studs and remove the studs. Your manifolds will then lift right off without much fuss. This will make a job into a job.

 

[LX_TREME]

Looks like I also lost my cat in the process

Hmm... may I know why

 

[gotmud]

Hmm... may I know why

The flanges were completely rusted, and I had to use a blue wrench to remove the bolts. Now I have two shiny pipes in its place and more ground clearance

 

[Beowulf]

Missed this thread the first time around.

Those pictures should be the poster child for those that are using the "long-life" coolant and not doing an annual coolant flush with 50/50 and distilled water.

Yuck!

-B-

 

[gray]

Anyone have a preferred Toyota approved radiator flushing solution? Time to do mine again; I have used various methods in the past; looking for feedback on what worked for others, without harm of course.

 

[Beowulf]

Anyone have a preferred Toyota approved radiator flushing solution?

Sure. It is called DHMO, also referred to by some as dihydrogen monoxide.

-B-

 

[gray]

I know some Toyota dealerships use the Wynn's product and some use the BG product; haven't yet found a dealership that uses distilled water. I know the BG shop's procedure can use distilled water and Toyota Red if you bring it in for them. They just dump both into the holding tank of their flushing machine and turn it on; it pushes out the old, replacing it with what every you poured into the tank.

 

[robertaleon]

Resurrecting an old thread.

How are folks cleaning the block chamber that receives the oil cooler? I've plugged most passages with paper towels to eliminate possible crud going into the water and oil passages. I've been scraping away with dental tools and mild detergent on the cooler and cover but need something more aggressive for these as well as the block

 

[ybhc]

Resurrecting an old thread.

How are folks cleaning the block chamber that receives the oil cooler? I've plugged most passages with paper towels to eliminate possible crud going into the water and oil passages. I've been scraping away with dental tools and mild detergent on the cooler and cover but need something more aggressive for these as well as the block

some non-residue cleaners, didnt even bother clogging the holes since i was flushing the coolant system with water before i put antifreeze back in.

I wouldn't worry too much about cleaning it up all pretty, since it won't make much of a difference anyways. I tried all manner of solovents to try and break down the buildup, to no avail. Just got the big and obviously flow-impeding chunks and anything that came off easily.

Anyone have a preferred Toyota approved radiator flushing solution? Time to do mine again; I have used various methods in the past; looking for feedback on what worked for others, without harm of course.

I don't know about toyota-approved, but if i did everything the toyota approved way, I would be long broke on cash. Hell, if i just replaced the throttle body gasket every time i removed that, like toyota says to...

Napa makes and sells radiator flush and fast flush stuff, they also sell the prestone version. All I've used it for was to clean oil out of the coolant, which it breaks down into... white stuff, which seems to collects at the top of the radiator, which i was replacing anyways.

Only reason I used it was for the oil, since water obviously wasn't going to work. Otherwise, just fill it with water, run till its circulating, drain, repeat till satisfied.

And stop looking for toyota's approval in everything. Though I suppose you could take it to the dealer and pay them 50 bucks labor to drain and refill the system though.