I'm sure Ken's method would work great and it is a good idea to change you
coolant.

But when the o-ring on my '86 GL gave out this winter I didn't have to clamp
off, cut or remove the coolant lines.  I simply took off the filter, double
nutted the shaft and then you can take the "box" out, replace the o-ring and
put it back together.

Good luck,
Tom

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Christopher Gronski
Sent: Thursday, March 03, 2005 1:12 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: replacing oil cooler O-ring

Ken certainly knows more about all things mechanical than I do, but why
would you drain you coolant and then have to go through the whole system
bleeding process when you could just clamp off the lines and top up as I
have suggested?

Chris

On Thu, 3 Mar 2005 11:36:34 -0700, Gerald Masar <azsun99@earthlink.net>
wrote:
> This has come up before, so you may not have to remove the coolant
> lines to replace the o-ring. Here is a write-up from Ken at Vanagon.com:
>    This is not too difficult if you have new coolant hoses to put back
> in place (I would recommend this) when you remove your cooler.
>
> If you are going to replace your oil cooler:
>
> Drain your oil.
> Drain your coolant.
> Remove the oil filter.
> Cut the coolant hoses going to the cooler (two) Remove large nut that
> holds cooler against block.
> Cooler will drop straight down and come off of engine.
> Remove the cut up coolant hoses from the metal lines and the cooler
> itself.
> Replace oring on top of cooler when replacing cooler.
> Put cooler back up in position with new o-ring fitted.
> Reinstall big nut.
> Install new coolant hoses and clamps.
> Put on new oil filter
> Refill oil
> Refill and bleed coolant
> You should be done.
>
> If you are just trying to replace your oil cooler o-ring you can
> ignore the above directions.
> Drain your Oil.
> Get another large nut that will fit on the pipe fitting that the
> cooler sits on and then jam the two nuts together.  This should allow
> you to remove the short threaded pipe that allows for the oil cooler.
> Unscrew this threaded pipe section from the block and pull it out.
> Push down on the oil cooler.  You should have about an inch gap.  Now
> you should be able to remove the o-ring on top of the cooler and
> replace it.  Screw the threaded pipe back in and reinstall the large
> nut.  Put on a new oil filter and refill the oil.  Should only take
30mins.
>
> We have new coolers and o-rings and coolant hoses in stock.
>
> Hope this helps,
> Ken Wilford
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Christopher Gronski" <gronski@GMAIL.COM>
> To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> Sent: Thursday, March 03, 2005 8:10 AM
> Subject: Re: replacing oil cooler O-ring
>
> > I'm not sure about the sealer / lubrication question, but assuming
> > you are talking about the o sing behind a water cooled engine oil
> > cooler I do have a bit of advice.
> >
> > The oil cooler o-ring won"t come offwithout disconecting the oil
> > cooler from your colant lines. Get a couple of pairs of needle nose
> > vice grips and put hose over each of the claws, this way you can
> > clamp off the coolant lines to avoid loosing too much coolant in the
> > operation.
> >
> > Chris
> >
> > On Thu, 3 Mar 2005 07:12:12 -0500, Edward Maglott
> > <emaglott@buncombe.main.nc.us> wrote:
> > > Bentley mentions using some kind of sealer on the mating surfaces,
> > > and also talks about lubricating the O-ring with motor oil.  What
> > > is the list wisdom on this?
> > > Edward
> > >
>
>