PontiacBonnevilleClub.com

so I take my car to the GM dealer for it's annual service & inspection, tech finds a bunch of things to fix, I'll cover them one at a time, first was the coolant mainfold to intake manifold gasket - http://www.pontiacbonnevilleclub.com/fo ... 19&t=20907

second was the bypass hose - viewtopic.php?f=19&t=20946

third is the engine oil cooler hoses, these are the lines that go between the radiator (which has an engine oil cooler tube in the driver side tank) and the cooler adapter plate which is between the oil filter and the oil filter adapter. Lines are showing signs of oil seepage so the tech recommended replacing the 2 lines. it wasn't supposed to be a big job, but it does involve some work under the car which is much easier with a hoist, so I thought for this job I would let the dealer do the work.

when the tech went to disconnect the old hoses at the adapter plate he was unable to. According to the tech the fittings and adapter are corroded and it's possible the oil cooler lines have been disconnected before and were overtighted, anyway the tech was concerned that if he used any more force he would round the fittings or split the adapter ports. the adapter is aluminum and I think other members have mentioned problems with them splitting - viewtopic.php?f=26&t=5231 . Tech recommended to get a replacement adapter plate and then replace hoses and adapter as a single job.

Now I’m thinking of doing the job myself, I’ve got a new adapter plate on order, should be here next week. But I checked my factory service manual and I can’t find any mention of this operation in the service manual. Has anyone done this job? I think I need to know a torque spec for the fitting that holds the adapter plate in place. Also anyone know if I can just disconnect the lines at the rad and pull the old adapter plate and hoses as a complete unit out the bottom? thanks

I believe there is a clip or two holding the lines between the filter adapter and the radiator.

I used to get seepage from my lines, so I put in some new o-rings where the lines meet the adapter plate and it's been dry ever since.

disassembly for this job is now complete - I removed the oil filter then removed the fitting that holds the oil cooler adapter plate in place, so the adapter plate is just hanging by the cooler hoses.

to disconnect the upper cooler line at the rad I had to remove the air cleaner assembly first, then the line was easy to disconnect.

to disconnect the lower cooler line first I had to remove the splash shield, but the fitting on the cooler line was very corroded where it screws into the rad, soaked it with penetrating oil and was concerned I was going to damage the rad, but the line nut finally broke free. there was one large plastic clip on the bottom of the rad support that was holding both lines in place, released the clip and I was able to slide the entire adapter and hoses as a single assembly out the bottom of the car.

With it off the car it's much easier to work on the hose to adapter connections, so soaked it with penetrating oil and tried to remove cooler lines from adapter, was able to break one line free without any damage, but the other line the line nut was so corroded that although I was able to break the line nut from the fitting on the adapter plate, but the line nut is stuck to the cooler line, so the only way to back the line nut out of the fitting is to spin the line.

I will clean and inspect it, but I think I can reuse the adapter plate. I could probably re-use the line that's good with some new o-rings, but I would not even consider trying to re-use the line with the line nut that is stuck to the line. Since I've already ordered replacements for both lines and they're not that expensive, I will replace both with new.

when I go to put this back together I still need a torque spec for the adapter fitting, does anyone know what this is? I can't find info in the factory workshop manual. I'll take some pictures as I'm putting it back together, if there's anything specific anyone wants a pic of, let me know and I'll post it.

Now that I've got this apart, some things the tech said make a bit more sense. The oil cooler adapter plate is aluminum with fittings (brass?) screwed into the in and out ports. Then the line nuts on the cooler hoses screw into the fittings and are sealed with rubber o-rings.

So in theory, by using an open-end wrench on the hex of the fittings, and an open-end or line-nut wrench on the hex of the line nuts, there should not be any pressure on the aluminum adapter plate when the line nuts are loosened or tightened. This is easy when the adapter is off, but when the adapter is in place there's not alot of space to work with.

According to the tech (not sure how "official" this is since nothing is mentioned in the factory service manual) the adapter plate with fittings is a single non-servicable part. Parts diagram seems to confirm this -

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In other words the fittings do not have seperate part numbers, when a replace adapter is purchased it comes with the fittings and they are pre-installed in the ports (I'll confirm this when the new one arrives). These fittings are not to be removed and re-installed. If there is any oil leakage between the adapter and the fittings or the fittings are corroded or damaged, then the recommended solution is to replace the adapter.

aukc wrote: the adapter plate with fittings is a single non-servicable part ... In other words the fittings do not have seperate part numbers, when a replace adapter is purchased it comes with the fittings and they are pre-installed in the ports (I'll confirm this when the new one arrives). These fittings are not to be removed and re-installed. If there is any oil leakage between the adapter and the fittings or the fittings are corroded or damaged, then the recommended solution is to replace the adapter.

picked up the new adapter today:

Sorry about digging up this thread from a few months ago, I had intended to update my progress sooner but I forgot. Here’s what I did to install the new oil cooler hoses:

Make sure the old o-rings are all accounted for during dis-assembly. At one of the fittings (lower radiator) the cooler hose pulled out and left the old o-ring inside the fitting, when I noticed the o-ring was not there on the end of the cooler hose I had to make up a small wire hook and fish the old o-ring out of the fitting.

Connect the new oil cooler hoses to the adaptor plate, making sure the rubber o-rings are in place, use anti-seize compound on the threads of the hose-nuts, leaving the hose-nuts finger tight so the hoses can be oriented appropriately when everything is back in correct position. Using sandwich bags and rubber bands seal up the adaptor plate and “radiator” ends of the hoses so there is no contamination when the hoses are installed –



Here is the oil filter housing that oil cooler adaptor will be attached to, the whole assembly will be installed by sliding it in and up from underneath the car –



With the hoses/adaptor in position, the protective sandwich bags are removed from the open ends of the cooler hoses and they are attached to the upper –



And lower fittings at the radiator, making sure o-rings are in place and using anti-seize compound on the threads of the hose nuts –



The hoses are pressed into the plastic retainer and the retainer is clipped back together –



I replaced the large o-ring between the adaptor & housing, install the retaining nut/collar that holds the adaptor to the housing and is also what the new oil filter screw on to, then tighten the hose-nuts at the adaptor. Between the adaptor, hoses and filter I lost about 1 liter of oil, so I pre-filled the new oil filter and added the rest of the liter to the crankcase. Install air cleaner assembly, warm-up engine and check for leakage, install splash shield.

Sorry about digging up this thread from a few year but i need buy oil cooler adapter plate with line like this , is selling somewhere ?? thanks you for answer PavliCZek