Oil Cooler $2,000....

I have been twice told I could order a new oil cooler for $2,000. Given the leak might only need a quart of oil every 1,000 miles and does not seem to have worsened in the last 4,000 miles. That comes to, well, about 400 quarts of oil? Perhaps I might wish for a quart every 500 miles and then never bother to change the oil?

I had several cars like that! For instance, the 1974 Vega Station wagon would flash the oil light on hard right hand turn every 500 miles and I would simply add three quarts. Worked fine for at least a year till I got an overhaul! The 1965 Corvair was worn out the day I bought it in 1979 paid little attention to oil and oil changes since it was my firm intent to have it overhauled right away. Just ran the bejeezus out of it as is my general practice till overhaul.

Well then there is this. I am the absent minded sort and remembered to get that overhaul thirty years later. That was after at least an additional 40,000 vigorous miles. I think I went two years between changes at least once. Not sure we even changed out the rod bearings since they were all the same and all the top end of new spec. And it ran about the same after the overhaul as before.

But I digress: will not need a $2,000 oil cooler! The wise choice is a bypass hose and be done with it. The fan on the leaking cooler does not work anyway and even with my semi-vigorous driving [pretend 6,500 rpm red line] and even in the warm weather we now have [80-85F] oil never above 210 F. When I was driving stupid vigorous and pushing 8,000 rpm would see 230F and back off.

However, if the cooler is not all that difficult for my local wrench to get at I might either re-install the same unit after repair, or the used unit I just ordered off of Ebay that also has two hoses. Might even get the fan fixed!

So its all good enough.

 

Have a used one on order from Ebay with two hoses and will be considering a simply bypass as well. I plan no actual track work that might need an oil cooler and even the leaking one does not have a working fan. Even with spirited driving around these mountain roads I seldom see much more then 210F oil temp anyway.

So its no great matter. But $2,000 for an oil cooler seems a bit high even for Ferrari! As I recall, someone not all that long ago posted about an after marked unit he rigged up. I rather doubt I need an oil cooler anyway. Another recent poster - sorry I forget who - mentioned many people have frozen cooler fans because they are never activated anyway!