Oil cooler removal/necessity

[oogs]

A few years back I put an 82 2f onto my FJ40. Now I'm changing out all the hoses. The pipes and hoses that go to oil cooler are $$$. It Would be one less source of aggravation if a leak occurred in a bad place and time. Also, if it fails, isn't it a monumental disaster for the motor?
So

1- is it necessary to have an oil cooler in the mid Atlantic for a periodic wheeling mostly weekend driving rig?

2- I would love to remove it which shouldn't be a big deal. Has anyone done it and what do you put in the block to plug the hole? I can the thermostat radiator side pretty easily.

Thanks

 

[tls3601]

I am in AZ, mine never came with one, not sure how necessary they are?? Mine is a pretty stock '78FJ40

 

[GA Architect]

FWIW - I recently installed an '86 FJ60 rebuilt 2F motor into my '77 FJ40. The FJ60 2F motor originally had an oil cooler, but my '77 FJ40 2F didn't come with one. I opted to keep the same '77 oil routing design, and did not reinstall with the oil cooler. But that was my decision.....Here in GA with over a 1,000 miles on the rebuild and very good oil pressure, thus all appears to be well.

There is a port/nipple on the water pump and thermostat upper housing that will need to be plugged, welded shut or install a new water pump and/or thermostat housing without the oil cooler port/nipple.

Also, if your 2F currently has the oil cooler and you want to remove it, I would suggest installing a new oil filter bracket that doesn't have the oil cooler appendage. It will look like the item on the right:

Notice the upper thermostat housing without the oil cooler port:

My new water pump without the oil cooler port.

HTH

 

[DSB345]

I had no idea you could do that.

FWIW - I recently installed an '86 FJ60 rebuilt 2F motor into my '77 FJ40. The FJ60 2F motor originally had an oil cooler, but my '77 FJ40 2F didn't come with one. I opted to keep the same '77 oil routing design, and did not reinstall with the oil cooler. But that was my decision.....Here in GA with over a 1,000 miles on the rebuild and very good oil pressure, thus all appears to be well.

There is a port/nipple on the water pump and thermostat upper housing that will need to be plugged, welded shut or install a new water pump and/or thermostat housing without the oil cooler port/nipple.

Also, if your 2F currently has the oil cooler and you want to remove it, I would suggest installing a new oil filter bracket that doesn't have the oil cooler appendage. It will look like the item on the right:

View attachment 1148943

Notice the upper thermostat housing without the oil cooler port:

View attachment 1148947

My new water pump without the oil cooler port.
View attachment 1148980

HTH

 

[DougAustinTx]

You can make the metal hoses using malleable copper tubing and never worry about them again. Go to Home Depot and get a few feet of the rolled copper. The brackets can be soldered on using regular old solder and flux. I would not eliminate the oil cooler if it were mine.

 

[GA Architect]

I had no idea you could do that.

You can....but......(see Doug's last comment above.)

 

[DSB345]

Doug, Nice stand! Did You make that?

View attachment 1149537 You can make the metal hoses using malleable copper tubing and never worry about them again. Go to Home Depot and get a few feet of the rolled copper. The brackets can be soldered on using regular old solder and flux. I would not eliminate the oil cooler if it were mine.

 

[DSB345]

Nice set up Rick! Did it cool the water temp down when you did that?

FWIW - I recently installed an '86 FJ60 rebuilt 2F motor into my '77 FJ40. The FJ60 2F motor originally had an oil cooler, but my '77 FJ40 2F didn't come with one. I opted to keep the same '77 oil routing design, and did not reinstall with the oil cooler. But that was my decision.....Here in GA with over a 1,000 miles on the rebuild and very good oil pressure, thus all appears to be well.

There is a port/nipple on the water pump and thermostat upper housing that will need to be plugged, welded shut or install a new water pump and/or thermostat housing without the oil cooler port/nipple.

Also, if your 2F currently has the oil cooler and you want to remove it, I would suggest installing a new oil filter bracket that doesn't have the oil cooler appendage. It will look like the item on the right:

View attachment 1148943

Notice the upper thermostat housing without the oil cooler port:

View attachment 1148947

My new water pump without the oil cooler port.
View attachment 1148980

HTH

 

[GA Architect]

Nice set up Rick! Did it cool the water temp down when you did that?

Thanks. I'm sure with all new components, my coolant system is much more efficient than before.

 

[B y r o n]

The factory put an oil cooler on the motor for a reason. My guess is that the factory radiator/cooling wasn't sufficient.

I lost my 6 cylinder when a line to the remote oil filter broke and I didn't catch it soon enough. I dropped in a V8 but kept the factory radiator. I also added an oil cooler to help with engine cooling. I've been running this set since the mid 80's without having overheating issues.

I'd say keep the oil cooler.

 

[myquestoyota]

On that note I pull the oil pressure sending unit out when changing my oil so I get as much of the dirty oil out as possible. I had a situation where 8 qts overfilled my system and wanted to easily remove some so I chose that small hole. The oil that I drained out looked used even though I had just changed my oil so ever since then I drain the cooler too. Which makes me wonder how much flow I actually get through my cooler. Cooler was totally flushed when I rebuilt my engine.

 

[lostmarbles]

I go to Supercheap Auto (which is a car-part chainstore in this part of the world) with the old hoses in my hand and then buy whatever hoses I can find that are the same ID and have the bends that I want in them. (It usually involves cutting longer hoses to get exactly what I want.)

The end result is "completely OEM look" coupled with "low cost".

So on this basis I reckon ... keep the oil cooler.

 

[1911]

The factory put an oil cooler on the motor for a reason. My guess is that the factory radiator/cooling wasn't sufficient.

I lost my 6 cylinder when a line to the remote oil filter broke and I didn't catch it soon enough. I dropped in a V8 but kept the factory radiator. I also added an oil cooler to help with engine cooling. I've been running this set since the mid 80's without having overheating issues.

I'd say keep the oil cooler.

I have the stock one mine, but it's not really a cooler in the way we think of one now, it's more of a temperature regulator than a cooler. It's heat exchange is with the radiator coolant, so it's never going to cool the oil to less than the radiator temperature. I suspect that it is to help warm up the oil quicker in cold climates, as much as any "cooling".

 

[DougAustinTx]

Doug, Nice stand! Did You make that?

Yes, I built the test stand to be adjustable for almost any size engine. So far I've had a 2F, a 427 Chevy and a 283 Chevy on it. Very handy for finding and fixing leaks before the engine goes in the vehicle.

 

[DSB345]

That's very nice! I wish I had one

Yes, I built the test stand to be adjustable for almost any size engine. So far I've had a 2F, a 427 Chevy and a 283 Chevy on it. Very handy for finding and fixing leaks before the engine goes in the vehicle.

 

[oogs]

Thank everyone. I still want it out. Doug, do you know the part need for that bracket?


Sent from my iPhone

 

[sggoat]

View attachment 1149537 You can make the metal hoses using malleable copper tubing and never worry about them again. Go to Home Depot and get a few feet of the rolled copper. The brackets can be soldered on using regular old solder and flux. I would not eliminate the oil cooler if it were mine.

That cooler looks to be brass. I tried the same thing, but I wasn't able to get the heat/technique/solder to seal well. Ended up with just the copper as you did.

 

[1973Guppie]

FWIW - I recently installed an '86 FJ60 rebuilt 2F motor into my '77 FJ40. The FJ60 2F motor originally had an oil cooler, but my '77 FJ40 2F didn't come with one. I opted to keep the same '77 oil routing design, and did not reinstall with the oil cooler. But that was my decision.....Here in GA with over a 1,000 miles on the rebuild and very good oil pressure, thus all appears to be well.

There is a port/nipple on the water pump and thermostat upper housing that will need to be plugged, welded shut or install a new water pump and/or thermostat housing without the oil cooler port/nipple.

Also, if your 2F currently has the oil cooler and you want to remove it, I would suggest installing a new oil filter bracket that doesn't have the oil cooler appendage. It will look like the item on the right:

View attachment 1148943

Notice the upper thermostat housing without the oil cooler port:

View attachment 1148947

My new water pump without the oil cooler port.
View attachment 1148980

HTH

so I am working on an F engine here with an oil cooler that has a pinhole rust leak. I would like to remove it. Does anyone have a part # for the above new oil filter bracket. Ideally I would like to install this and move the oil pressure port to the bracket. SOR shows that they sell a later oil filter bracket but shows it fits 9/73 -76, would this fit a 1f? Thx.

 

[Totheredline]

So I’m in the process of simplifying the cooling system on my 3fe powered FJ62. I deleted the oil cooler and replaced it with an FJ40 oil filter housing without the cooler as pictured above. I also deleted the rear heater and all associated piping. I bought a 78 FJ40 2f water pump with two ports and I also bought a 2f thermostat housing with two ports. So, basically I’ll run one small connector hose between the thermostat housing and the pump and then two long rubber hoses to the heater core at the firewall.

basically I’m trying to run a 2f cooling system on a 3fe. One problem that I ran into is that the port on the 2F thermostat doesn’t exactly match up to the port on the 3fe block. As you can see from the pictures the 3fe port is wider. The 2f housing has a skinny port. When mates up to the 3fe head the 2f housing doesn’t have enough overlapping material to seal up properly.

I was wondering if anyone knows if there’s a 2 port thermostat housing that will match the 3fe block. Thanks!

 

[shelfboy1]

put a 2f in my 69 years ago and never used the oil cooler pulled the parts of another engine i had and never looked back im in pa and its not as hot here also used all the 69 parts carb.plus electronic ign