Oil Cooler

[plowe1255]

Has anyone had experience of replacement oil cooler for a 1990 3.6 ? Just bought my car recently and found the cooler has been disconnected ! I therefore suspect a leak in the system which will be checked out soon. SNG Barratt price appears to be about £360 + vat but I have found a specialist oil cooler manufacturer who quotes £68 + vat ! (Think Automotive - part no. OC5191-12). Comments appreciated, please.

[dhdove]

Has anyone had experience of replacement oil cooler for a 1990 3.6 ? Just bought my car recently and found the cooler has been disconnected ! I therefore suspect a leak in the system which will be checked out soon. SNG Barratt price appears to be about £360 + vat but I have found a specialist oil cooler manufacturer who quotes £68 + vat ! (Think Automotive - part no. OC5191-12). Comments appreciated, please.

Plowe
It is my understanding that unless you are going to tow a caravan up alpine passes the 3.6 oil cooler is not required. This assumes the rest of the cooling system is in good working order.
When I bought my '89 3.6 the oil cooler was disconnected. My local specialist fitted an XJ40 mod. A small cast housing that bolts onto the side of the block over the oil cooler pipes outlet with a couple of o-rings and simply routes the oil straight back into the engine. This allows you to ditch the oil cooler and associated pipework. I ran the car every day for three years like this with no problems. I think the mod kit is about £80 new.
Be aware that if you do decide to replace the cooler, if the pipes need replacement its rad, aircon evap etc out to do it. (The pipes wont route through otherwise!)
I hope this is of help to you.
Best Wishes
DH Dove

[poprivet]

The transmission cooler is integrated in the radiator (water circuit).
If the banjo connections have been bypassed at the gearbox I would think it more likely the hoses were leaking as they follow a difficult and hot route with mixed sections of steel tube and rubber hose. How much of the original system is in place?
Pop

[dhdove]

Sorry Pop, there seems to be some confusion here, I zoomed down the BB and didn't pay attention to the section ie transmission.
I assumed engine oil cooler at fault since prices quoted for a replacement ( eg Specialist quotes £68 plus Vat - thats a very cheap rad.!) Also if gearbox cooler leaking engine coolant would be somewhat "Gooey"
There again perhaps Plowe as a new owner has ID'd the engine oil cooler as the transmission oil cooler?
Perhaps Plowe1255 can clarify?
Regards
DH Dove.

[plowe1255]

Thank you both for your prompt replies. Apologies for the confusion but I did mean gearbox oil cooler - that's why I posted under "Transmission". However, I may have been mislead. The car broke down recently and was trailered home ! The chap pointed out "the oil cooler is disconnected". A local mechanic who came to fix the car (starter motor) said it was the gearbox oil cooler. Identified the cooler as the separate radiator at the front of the engine just behind the front grill - am I correct ? See SNG online catalogue, page 23. I now see this comes under the sub-heading "Engine". The main reason for the query was the difference in prices for the offending part. Specialist manufacturers can often be cheaper as they concentrate on a specific product line and churn out the volume. The "cheap" supplier is at http://www.thinkauto.com/index.htm - ref OC5191-12. I sometimes wonder if the "Michael" is being extracted from we Jaguar drivers ! When I have got a spare hour or so I will post everything wrong with the car. That will keep you busy !
Thanks again,
Pete Lowe

[Mark_B]

Amazing about the difference in price when buying generic parts.

I probably don't need a cooler anyway, but some things I noticed when replacing my leaking oil cooler hoses a couple year ago with used parts. Might be useful info.. When you try remove the hose from good oil cooler, it breaks off with broken parts each side the cooler still inside the hose connectors, writing off the oil cooler and rendering the hose useless until the aluminium is dissolved out the connector with caustic soda. Then if you'd decided to work with a used replacement cooler, it'll usually come with hoses already attached, the donor car bodywork has to be cut a lot to allow it to come out without dissasembly! Then this replacement cooler needs carefully removing from the hoses and destroying these hose connectors in the process.

[poprivet]

Pete, it sounds like the engine oil cooler, it's the small radiator with bottom connections. The A/C condensor is the large thin one and I'm sure you can work out which is the water radiator, which has the gearbox cooler connections in the R/H (sitting in the car)vertical member. If your cooler has been bypassed in a correct manner as DH described, then I personally wouldn't worry about reinstating it. If you take up racing, towing or touring in hot countries it might be worth considering.

DH I would be interested in knowing more about the by-pass kit, is it a Jaguar part number or made by one of the aftermarket parts suppliers? I'm bound to need one in the next twenty or thirty years
Pop

[dhdove]

I would be interested in knowing more about the by-pass kit, is it a Jaguar part number or made by one of the aftermarket parts suppliers? I'm bound to need one in the next twenty or thirty years
Pop

Pop
Twenty or thirty years
As far as I know its a genuine Jaguar mod kit for "later" XJ40 3.6 engines, fitted at build, when they realised that the engine oil cooler was superfluous to requirements.
Sorry have no idea of part number (no parts cat.), but I think all Jag. specialists will be familiar with it. It seems to be a pretty common retro mod to sort leaking oil coolers/ pipes on XJS/XJ40.
Plowe1255........ I should ditch the engine oil cooler system complete and fit the mod above, if youre getting rid of it you can hacksaw/angle grinder through the pipes without any other dissasembly to remove, messy though ........It seems to work a treat.
All the best
DH Dove

[poprivet]

Twenty or thirty years
My xj-s is a long term project
Thanks for the bypass info.
Pop

[plowe1255]

Thanks for all your advice - just needed to know a bit more about what goes on underneath the bonnet for when the mechanic says it needs this, this and this..........
Pete

[keithmervyn]

Have just read all replies to this one. If it gives you any confidence, the oil-cooler rad on my '92 4.0 AJ6 convertible blew up 3 years ago. The standard by-pass kit was fitted and we then spent 2 weeks, up down and around the Pyrenees, often in 100 degrees F plus air temperatures (too hot to have the roof down !) No cooling problems whatsoever then, or over my 14,000 miles since.

[plowe1255]

Thanks for that, Keith. Confirms what my mechanic said, that the cooler is not really needed and has been correctly disconnected. Panic over for now ! Just got to worry about replacement discs and pads all round, gearbox mounting, several areas of corrosion underneath and something to do with a rear fulcrum ?.................
Pete

[Mark_B]

I think we could sum up the Oil Cooler in 4 words:

More To Go Wrong!

[Telsmoneypit]

If we are talking ENGINE oil cooler, why pay good money for the by pass kit?

Just take the 'sandwich' device out of the loop and bolt the filter housing directly to the block using shorter 8mm bolts....

That's my plan anyway....

Tel

[ptjs1]

Tel,

Pop seems to think that it may not be quite as easy as that.

http://www.jec-xjs-forum.org.uk/xjsbb2/ ... php?t=1545

Paul