Oil Cooler Delete
 

Every time I change my oil I am reminded of the annoying leak coming from the oil cooler. It’s funny when my dog marks his territory but not so much when my car does it. :facepalm:

I was initially thinking I should just replace some of the gaskets and O-rings. I found some great write-ups and videos on the forum but when I go to look for the parts, GM has discontinued several of the parts.

After searching on Camaro5 some more, I realized that the most direct way to resolve the oil leak would be to simply remove the oil cooler in its entirety. Since my Camaro is not a daily driver, nor is it a road track warrior…this may be the easiest route to take. Improved Racing has this nice kit available. From what I can gather, it sounds like a lot of people have deleted the factory oil cooler over the years, but where the search trail goes cold for me is if anyone ever went back later and installed an aftermarket cooler.

For example, I was also considering installing something like Mishimoto’s oil cooler. I read a lot of positive reviews, but it was designed to work in conjunction with the factory oil cooler. So if I went with Mishimoto and no factory cooler, I suppose it would be better to have an oil cooler with a thermostat. As a side note, since I have a 2010, I realize that my oil temp gauge is calculated and not an actual reading. I’m just thinking if the oil temps without the factory oil cooler hooked up are in the 240-260 range, then an air cooler should knock it back down by 30-40 degrees...which would be back near the stock range.

Anyway, if anyone deleted the factory oil cooler…did you also end up going with an aftermarket cooler? And if so, which one did you use?

Thanks!

Been oil "cooler" delete since 2014. Rolled 190k miles this year.

I'm in the process of rebuilding my engine right now and that's exactly what I'm doing, improved racing oil cooler delete and installing the mishimoto oil cooler. Which I can't really confirm the actual oil temps right now but will have everything done in about 3-4 weeks. I unboxed the oil cooler and one thing I will say it is very nice quality stuff. I did find the o rings for the factory cooler at one of the gm suppliers and replaced them but still had a drip on it every time I looked at it.

Oil cooler (heater) delete here for about 18 months now. Oil temps show 220-230ish on the digital DIC and 195-200 on both the Aeroforce Interceptor & Banks iDash gauge. I used the ICT oil cooler delete plate on mine.

I remember seeing some of your older posts about deleting the cooler, but wasn't sure if you ended up installing an aftermarket. So thanks for the update...that's awesome to know!

That must have been frustrating to go through all that to replace the o rings to only have it leak again. Good luck with finishing the rest of your build, and if you think of it, please post back how it turns out. Just out of curiosity, did you go with the thermostat option on the Mishimoto?

Thanks for the info! That's not nearly as drastic of an increase as I thought it would be.



I do feel a lot better going with at least the delete kit for now. Unfortunately, I just changed the oil a few weeks ago so unless the wife decides she wants to take a road trip to California out of the blue, I probably won't tackle this until next year.

No I didn't go with the thermostat because I live here in Texas. I think I'll survive without it.

What Leaks on them an O Ring? Can't be matched up with one? Its crazy that GM and other manufactures offer no support.

Good call...even though Philly has its fair share of winter, I won't drive it unless absolutely necessary when the temps drop below 50. Summer tires in the cold = poor traction. The main reason I'm considering a thermostat is to help bring the oil temp up a little faster...especially on the cooler days.

Yeah, its usually an o ring and/or the gasket where the lines go into the block. Here's a great thread with a link to a video (around 1:40 he shows the diagram with the parts he ordered).

https://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=446107

They are also known to leak coolant at the fittings that go into the oil cooler. I think GM started putting oil coolers in Vettes around 2008-2009, and have probably redesigned it since then...but 5th Gen Camaros are known for leaking. It's not a constant drip or anything, just enough to be annoying.

Where do the gauges get their temp reading from?

I deleted mine when I built my 416ci stroker, 2yr ago. It wasn't leaking ,just in the way and not needed! No issues with temp.

If you search around some more, you will see that the gage isn't even a real gage, It's a CPU generated value based on other parameters that input into a GM provided program.

I've been trying to figure out that for a while because I have a 2012 and my oil level / temp sensor has 3 wires going to it. 1 for a ground, 1 for the level, and 1 for the temp?

Yes I did change all the green o rings and gasket.