Oil Cooler Leaks

[deuce72]

I've developed intermittent oil leak from the front just above the coolant reservoir. I cleaned it all up and waiting till morning to see potential  0 point. I suspect the P/N 11009 gasket. Is it that simple? Anyone have similar issues?? Other places or problems that may be common?

Deuce

P.S. Posting a lot lately. Trying to tidy up the bike for 2200 mile R.T. to Upstate NY in 3 weeks.

Thanks Everyone for input!!

[MAN OF BLUES]

Replace the washer, and snug it dow n, but don't be heavy handed... if it continues to leak, remove it, look closely at the internals inside the nport threaded areas.. many case of cracks developing in the thread bore, and causing leakage, which looks like a simple seal washer replacement, when in fact a fracture from previous ovortightening caused the split..
Please report back... and remember ebay parts are cheap, as long as no damage was done to the front of the bike.

[RFH87_Connie]

As a side note:  I blew an oil cooler line last summer.  It developed a very small drip so I ignored it for a while.  Then it just pretty much just gave up all st once a few weeks later.  The entire rubber lines were getting pretty brittle.   Found a nice used one and replaced it.

[MAN OF BLUES]

Hopefully we get some feedback from the o/p...

[Dan in Grand Rapids]

I have this same problem and wondered if anyone has been able to fix the crack in the oil cooler. I replaced mine with a used one about five years ago when that one started to leak. Now I have two cracked and leaking oil coolers. I can buy another used one, but there are no guarantees that it will not be cracked when I get it or develop cracks soon after. Can it be welded or modified in some other way to not leak anymore? I appreciate any ideas you have.

[VirginiaJim]

Try JB weld...

[MAN OF BLUES]

Try JB weld...

Problem is, the cracks are hairline ones, inside the threaded area, extending out to the outer face; getting the oil and contaminants out of the crack prior to doing the JB thang, just doesn't happen, and the only way to really do it is to apply a lot of heat to expand the metal.... problem there is... and I caution not to do this... when you use the solvents that do penetrate and cut the oil, those specific chemicals are ALL deadly when heated to vapor point...,  (chloranted solvents like BrakeKlene, Trichlor, and pentachlor types ) they create Phosgene gas, extremely deadly, and even breathing a whisp of the vapor can do major harm to you, irreversable damage to lung, kidney, and liver function, and also long lasting nerve damage... also irresversable..

I mistakingly subjected myself to this happenstance during a cleaning of parts prior to welding some, and within moments knew something was drastically wrong. I still, to this day, 8 years after, have a loss of nerve sensitivity in fingers directly caused from this. I still on occasion, get complete debilitating and painful cramping of my hands, where they clamp up like crab claws, uncontrollably after doing intesive wrenching. The first occurance of this was during the initial exposure, so i know for sure this was the cause. I also underwent some severe resperitory issues, and other symptoms for the year following the initial exposure, so I caution people about this.

The amount of vapor I inhaled to cause all that, was about half of what you would see by striking a single match, just one breath of it before I knew it was "not good"..

[gPink]

You are fortunate, Rich. Think WW1 trench warfare. bad bad bad

[RFH87_Connie]

Which takes us back to find a nice used one on eBay.  They're usually pretty cheap.  They're pretty much non-repairable for the long term.

[Lonestar Cruzer]

I've come across a few similar situations when working as a mechanic. The customers usually didn't want to spend the money to replace the part for 'just a drip'. I'd get an extra washer, and use some Toyota FIPG on the bolt/adapter after it was about 1/3 thread on already then tighten it down. I'd squish the washer down into the FIPG and carefully wipe around the washer to remove excess. I'd let it sit for about an hour, then finish installation. On oil coolers I preferred waiting overnight to let the FIPG cure a bit. The Toyota FIPG was strong enough to be used and abused like this. One mechanic used it on an F-350 rear diff case, and forgot to bolt it up. It was about a week later when he realized what these random bolts he had were, and the FIPG held the rear diff on by itself during a trip from Dallas to San Antonio and back! I digress, applying it this way ensures none gets into your oil cooler, and will make a water/oil tight seal between the bolt/fitting and the oil cooler, and the amount between the washer and oil cooler will create kind of an o-ring and also reinforce the area surrounding the crack. I don't know if regular parts-store liquid gasket will work, but in my experience it's easier, faster, and works more consistently than JB weld in the threads then re-tapping the hole. Red loctite would be my next recommendation, but you're almost certainly going to need to replace the oil cooler next time you undo that bolt/adapter with that in there!

[VirginiaJim]

Problem is, the cracks are hairline ones, inside the threaded area, extending out to the outer face; getting the oil and contaminants out of the crack prior to doing the JB thang, just doesn't happen, and the only way to really do it is to apply a lot of heat to expand the metal.... problem there is... and I caution not to do this... when you use the solvents that do penetrate and cut the oil, those specific chemicals are ALL deadly when heated to vapor point...,  (chloranted solvents like BrakeKlene, Trichlor, and pentachlor types ) they create Phosgene gas, extremely deadly, and even breathing a whisp of the vapor can do major harm to you, irreversable damage to lung, kidney, and liver function, and also long lasting nerve damage... also irresversable..

I mistakingly subjected myself to this happenstance during a cleaning of parts prior to welding some, and within moments knew something was drastically wrong. I still, to this day, 8 years after, have a loss of nerve sensitivity in fingers directly caused from this. I still on occasion, get complete debilitating and painful cramping of my hands, where they clamp up like crab claws, uncontrollably after doing intesive wrenching. The first occurance of this was during the initial exposure, so i know for sure this was the cause. I also underwent some severe resperitory issues, and other symptoms for the year following the initial exposure, so I caution people about this.

The amount of vapor I inhaled to cause all that, was about half of what you would see by striking a single match, just one breath of it before I knew it was "not good"..

Actually had an incident with perc at the IBM plant in Manassas in the mid-80s.  Had to go to the hospital and get checked out for just that reason.  When I asked them about the 'voices', they said I had to go to a different doctor.