[morepowerjoe]

Originally Posted by TheBrightSide

Yeah, I debated running it without the stock oil cooler/warmer, but since the front bumper was gonna be off and I was doing some other work (replacing top grille and fog lamp housings), I settled on a custom thermostatic oil cooler setup.

I basically just got the parts numbers from Improved Racing and set out to find the OEM parts I needed for cheap. For the oil cooler setup itself, I looked at the list of parts the Mishimoto oil cooler kit had, but settled on a oil cooler feed thermostat that would mount directly to the oil pan feed, instead of the oil filter housing (Mishimoto).

I think I’m pretty set on installing the oil cooler setup, as it’s fairly simple. I attempted to fix the stock oil cooler leak like 3 times before giving up. First time was simply tightening all the bolts, which didn’t help. Second time, I drained the coolant and oil, so I could replace all the gaskets (oil pan feed and oil cooler); this sadly did not help either. I ended up slathering tons of black Permatex RTV 90-minute, oil resistant gasket maker all over the oil cooling block surface itself; this also proved to be futile….

I think the mating surfaces of the oil cooler housing and block are warped/defective, causing it to inevitably leak. I saw it leaking like the 2nd day I checked underneath the car, and was quite frustrated. I brought it back to Chevrolet, and they fcked around with me 3 times; after another time (4th attempt) at a local Chevy STEALERship, I ultimately gave up. They kept telling me that my EXTENDED warranty fine print details stated that, the oil cooler and gaskets for it were a “gray area” regarding warranty fixes/repairs… and that if it gets “worse” from driving it daily, to just bring it back. You damn well know I said, FCK THAT. Worst corporate stealership experience I had with buying a pre-owned nicer car.

When you get started would you take some pictures for us?