So it's okay to "delete" the oil cooler?

[el ess A]

If you don't drain it, it will do it by itself when you remove the cooler.

I drained both when I did my delete on the 2010 after 12K miles. I got all the new seals and junk, but decided just to delete it as I didn't want to keep fixing a continous leak. At first it was just a drop of oil on the garage floor. Then after about a month, got a drop of oil and antifreeze. That made the decision for me.

If you get GM blockoff plate and junk, you won't get the gasket and bolts. So best to get a "kit" if possible.

2012 and up I think takes a bit different procedure than the 2010-11.

[0stones0]

No oil drops but, plenty of antifreeze, as far as I can tell.
Got the kit from Improved racing so, all is good there. I was more concerned on how much oil/antifreeze will come out from the removal of the cooler. Will the entire system drain out or just what is in the line and cooler?

[el ess A]

If you got the block plug, coolant's going to come out all over the place. If you're changing the rad hose with the 2012 version, again, coolant's coming out. Same with some oil when you pull the cooler. Might as well plan on a coolant and oil change when you do this job. Get a big round open pan for under the cooler when it comes off. Trust me.

[0stones0]

Originally Posted by el ess A

If you got the block plug, coolant's going to come out all over the place. If you're changing the rad hose with the 2012 version, again, coolant's coming out. Same with some oil when you pull the cooler. Might as well plan on a coolant and oil change when you do this job. Get a big round open pan for under the cooler when it comes off. Trust me.

Advice I will soundly take.
Thank you!

[RickyC]

Originally Posted by 0stones0

As far as fluids, does all oil need to be drained for this procedure and also, how much antifreeze needs to be drained from the system?

Thanks

No need to drain the oil or remove the filter. Drain the radiator. Then use another drain pan and some pads down to collect the oil and antifreeze that comes out of the “cooler”. I did not have much fluid from the block.

[0stones0]

Originally Posted by RickyC

No need to drain the oil or remove the filter. Drain the radiator. Put some pads down to collect the oil and antifreeze that comes out of the “cooler”. You will be good to go from there.

Great! Was thinking I probably didn’t need to do the oil but, was unsure on the antifreeze. Makes sense to drain that, based on where the plug goes.
Thanks!

[0stones0]

Here’s the torque specs from Improved Racing for their kit.
10 ft lbs on the 2 bolts for the cover plate and 45 ft lbs on the block plug.

[TheBrightSide]

So, for me, I forgot what I did, but I ended up looking up all the OEM parts that were listed on the Improved Racing Kits, and ended up somehow getting most of the parts for cheap or about the same, all through Amazon Prime and eBay. I also have a 2010, so the 10-11 uses a specific upper radiator hose, which has an additional port/line going to the oil cooler assembly. The difference with the 12-15, is that it eliminated the additional port and line from the upper radiator hose, and had a direct port and line going from the oil cooler assembly to the bottom of the radiator.

I think the only other parts I bought outside of the recommended and specific OEM GM parts, was the oil block-off plate (make sure it has space for the oil ports to bypass!), a 30-row oil cooler setup for a Gen 3/4 LS engine, the universal row cooler mounting bracket, heat-resistant titanium wrap (for the oil cooler lines), and a thermostatic oil feed for Gen 3/4 LS engines. For things like the upper radiator hose and oil block-off plate, you can find generic options to save you a bit of money there. Same goes with an oil cooler kit; it’s cheaper and you can ditch the sandwich plate oil filter adapter if you want (most people opt to).

Now, for me, the main PITA things for the install were: getting picks and prying out the quick disconnect clips, for the coolant lines; trying to remove the coolant fitting from the engine block with long tube headers intact; and the mess that is still made from the leftover coolant and oil (mostly coolant). I actually had success with maintaining most of the mess with two long rectangular drain pans; although you might wanna keep one of them separate or have an extra 3rd pan to collect the oil/coolant mixture from the stock oil cooler/heat exchanger assembly…

Other than that, I basically used Mishimoto’s install videos to install my custom oil cooler setup their same exact way, minus the sandwich plate adapter that they use, which goes to the oil filter housing instead of the engine oil pan. I went with a 212 F degree thermostatic oil cooler feed, which was Gen 3/4 LS engine specific. If you buy the universal oil cooler kits for the Gen 3/4 LS engines, they will come with everything you need, except a thermostatic oil cooler feed, a direct LS engine oil cooler feed (depends on the kit), and the oil block-off plate (separate for just a plain stock oil cooler delete).

And yes, you will wanna drain ALL oil and coolant BEFORE doing ANY of this. Draining the engine oil is the easiest, and then drain the coolant while you’re at that. After those crucial drains, you undo the oil cooler/heat exchanger block, which will get rid of most of the remaining oil and coolant, in one nasty mix… The only other semi-hard part (depending on your available tools), is replacing the upper radiator hose, which has a huge spring clip. If you wanna avoid that and don’t care for a “OEM” look, just get some worm gear hose clamps and call it a day.

I haven’t had any issues with any of my parts so far (knock on wood), although if I ever get the chance to take off my front bumper, I will for sure re-check the torque on my oil cooler mounting bracket, and the oil cooler line fittings. People who run the Mishimoto kit with the sandwich plate adapter, tend to have it leak, so I kinda wanted to avoid that; not to mention you don’t have to have your oil filter cartridge sitting lower from the adapter stacked on top of it. I ran teflon (PTFE) tape on all of my AN fittings (all 10-AN sized I believe), as well as making sure everything that needed o-rings had them (went with nice Viton material o-rings). I’d most likely re-torque all the bolts and fittings, or at least check them, once everything’s been broken in and heat-cycled…

[RickyC]

Originally Posted by 0stones0

Great! Was thinking I probably didn’t need to do the oil but, was unsure on the antifreeze. Makes sense to drain that, based on where the plug goes.
Thanks!

How did your install go?

[0stones0]

Originally Posted by RickyC

How did your install go?

Has happened yet. Picked up a couple gals of Dexcool, as I plan on flushing the system when I do it. Around 64k on it nowadays so, might as well do it up right. We’re so close to the end of the riding season that I may just make it a spring project, next year. We’ll see.
Question for ya.. the line coming out of the block, I would imagine the large hex nut fitting comes out as well and then the plug is put in? If so, do you remember what size wrench you used on that?
Thanks

[Bluebagger06]

Just remember when adding antifreeze , elevate the front of car higher than the back and it helps the air to escape!, Read a lot of guys having difficulties with getting air out of system, Mine was a piece of cake with the front end up.

[0stones0]

Originally Posted by Bluebagger06

Just remember when adding antifreeze , elevate the front of car higher than the back and it helps the air to escape!, Read a lot of guys having difficulties with getting air out of system, Mine was a piece of cake with the front end up.

Picked up one of those specialized funnels just for that purpose. She’ll be up on the Race Ramps when it’s refilled.

[RickyC]

Originally Posted by 0stones0

Has happened yet. Picked up a couple gals of Dexcool, as I plan on flushing the system when I do it. Around 64k on it nowadays so, might as well do it up right. We’re so close to the end of the riding season that I may just make it a spring project, next year. We’ll see.
Question for ya.. the line coming out of the block, I would imagine the large hex nut fitting comes out as well and then the plug is put in? If so, do you remember what size wrench you used on that?
Thanks

1 3/8” socket for the block fitting then a 17mm hex socket for the new plug. The coolant filling funnel kit will make getting the air out of the system way easier and also avoiding a huge mess. Turn the temp up to full hot and the fan on high.

[0stones0]

Originally Posted by RickyC

17mm hex socket. Also, get a coolant filling funnel kit. It will make getting the air out of the system way easier and also avoiding a huge mess. Turn the temp up to full hot and the fan on high.

Thanks for the info on the socket. Does it need to be a deep-well?

That’s what I meant by “specialized funnel” in previous post. Used it before and really works well.