Removing the factory oil cooler from a LS3, 2013 SS

[econ]

Getting ready to remove the oil cooler.

Do I need to drain the oil? I notice the "send" and "return" ports going to and from the cooler are at the top of the oil pan. So my gut tells me the oil pan does not need to be drained. But I could use a second opinion here. Don't want to drain it if I don't have to.

And the coolant? The coolant will be drained at the radiator. I will be doing a coolant flush at this time.

But the oil...

Does it need to be drained?

[TheBrightSide]

Originally Posted by econ

Getting ready to remove the oil cooler.

Do I need to drain the oil? I notice the "send" and "return" ports going to and from the cooler are at the top of the oil pan. So my gut tells me the oil pan does not need to be drained. But I could use a second opinion here. Don't want to drain it if I don't have to.

And the coolant? The coolant will be drained at the radiator. I will be doing a coolant flush at this time.

But the oil...

Does it need to be drained?

Drain as much engine oil and coolant as you can. The coolant, you won’t be able to avoid having drain out from the oil cooler lines, as they’ll be stagnant there even after draining. As far as the oil, the only spots they come out from, is the oil feed on the side of the oil pan.

And be ready to fight with the engine block coolant fitting… oh, and all of the goddamned retaining clips in the coolant lines… Make sure your intake/airbox are fully removed. Idk if you have a 10-11 or a 12-15, but you probably already know the gist with what else to cap off, or if you need to swap the upper radiator hose.

[econ]

Originally Posted by TheBrightSide

Drain as much engine oil and coolant as you can. The coolant, you won’t be able to avoid having drain out from the oil cooler lines, as they’ll be stagnant there even after draining. As far as the oil, the only spots they come out from, is the oil feed on the side of the oil pan.

And be ready to fight with the engine block coolant fitting… oh, and all of the goddamned retaining clips in the coolant lines… Make sure your intake/airbox are fully removed. Idk if you have a 10-11 or a 12-15, but you probably already know the gist with what else to cap off, or if you need to swap the upper radiator hose.

Thing is I literally JUST did an oil change....grrrr.

So really though, how much oil is really going to come out of the oil feed to the cooler? It's way at the top of the pan. Is draining the oil pan really going to make a difference?

And I have the improved racing kit, I have all the block off parts and I wont need to change the radiator hose. Mine is a 2013 SS.

[TheBrightSide]

Originally Posted by econ

Thing is I literally JUST did an oil change....grrrr.

So really though, how much oil is really going to come out of the oil feed to the cooler? It's way at the top of the pan. Is draining the oil pan really going to make a difference?

And I have the improved racing kit, I have all the block off parts and I wont need to change the radiator hose. Mine is a 2013 SS.

Tbh, I wouldn’t know because I think most of us drained the oil to be safe (or so I was always told?). I know that even after draining the oil, expect at least a whole quart, give or take, to come out through the oil pan feed, for the oil cooler.

Tbh, I would just drain the oil and re-use it… If you end up losing a bunch of your oil through that oil pan feed, I’m sure you’d re-use that too, wouldn’t you? Lol

And I forgot, my bad, I thought you were also adding your own oil cooler. Yeah, you should be all set after that. The hardest part IMO, is probably the retaining clips to the coolan/oil cooler lines, and the block coolant fitting. You might want to attack everything from under the car as much as possible, while alternating a bit above from the engine bay, once the coolant block fitting has been loosened up enough to freehand thread it off.

[0stones0]

Originally Posted by econ

Thing is I literally JUST did an oil change....grrrr.

So really though, how much oil is really going to come out of the oil feed to the cooler? It's way at the top of the pan. Is draining the oil pan really going to make a difference?

And I have the improved racing kit, I have all the block off parts and I wont need to change the radiator hose. Mine is a 2013 SS.

From another cooler delete thread…

“ 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.”

[Aqua Blue RS/SS]

I wouldn’t ever consider re using oil. Ever. Just me though.

[econ]

Originally Posted by Aqua Blue RS/SS

I wouldn’t ever consider re using oil. Ever. Just me though.

Yeah, not so sure I would trust the cleanliness of my oil catch pan, or any other pan. I want it to come straight from a clean factory oil jug.

[0stones0]

Originally Posted by econ

Yeah, not so sure I would trust the cleanliness of my oil catch pan, or any other pan. I want it to come straight from a clean factory oil jug.

Catch pan is for “catching” the oil/coolant coming out of the cooler/block. I wouldn't use it either. Pour in new.

[econ]

Got it done..

[econ]

For the record...

There is no need to drain oil or remove filter. My oil level was full and I lost maybe a tablespoon or two.

I went with the improved racing kit and it went together easily and without issues.

Oil temps seem unchanged.

Happy so far with this modification.

[acutron42]

The oil level sensor is below the filter. Glad to see it all went well.

[TheBrightSide]

Originally Posted by econ

For the record...

There is no need to drain oil or remove filter. My oil level was full and I lost maybe a tablespoon or two.

I went with the improved racing kit and it went together easily and without issues.

Oil temps seem unchanged.

Happy so far with this modification.

Wait, seriously? Only that much oil came out? When you look at the cooling “block”, two of the lines are from coolant (block and radiator), and two are from the ports at the oil pan feed.

When I took off the block, a mix of both coolant and oil came out, but leaving it to drain, there was at least maybe a 1/4 of a quart in the entire cooling block. But yeah, I’m sure the coolant was a mess, huh? I get wide rectangular drain pans and some oil spill pads, to help catch any excess splashes or spills.

[Trawz]

Originally Posted by econ

For the record...

There is no need to drain oil or remove filter. My oil level was full and I lost maybe a tablespoon or two.

I went with the improved racing kit and it went together easily and without issues.

Oil temps seem unchanged.

Happy so far with this modification.

Keep in mid that the oil temp is calculated and not actual.
The computer calculates the oil temp based on oil pressure and coolant temp.
Because the computer doesn't know you removed the factory system or added an aftermarket cooler, the temps will be unchanged.

I added a 32 row oil cooler and deleted my factory oil cooler in June.
The temps on the 4-pack gauge have not changed.
The oil cooler delete kit I got from Improved Racing has 2 sensor ports on the block off plate that I will use to add an actual oil temp sensor in the future.

[econ]

Originally Posted by Trawz

Keep in mid that the oil temp is calculated and not actual.
The computer calculates the oil temp based on oil pressure and coolant temp.
Because the computer doesn't know you removed the factory system or added an aftermarket cooler, the temps will be unchanged.

I added a 32 row oil cooler and deleted my factory oil cooler in June.
The temps on the 4-pack gauge have not changed.
The oil cooler delete kit I got from Improved Racing has 2 sensor ports on the block off plate that I will use to add an actual oil temp sensor in the future.

Thats is a good point. I knew it was a calculation but I didn't know how it was calculated. I will have to measure actual temp when the gauge reads 100 degrees and again at 200 degrees to calculate for myself how accurate the gauge is.