I just did this job.  It was impossible to remove the oil cooler with the
hoses attached.  Someone posted that they could do it by removing the
threaded tube that the oil filter attaches to.  In my mind, that would be
the ONLY way to do it without removing the little coolant hoses (because
those hoses don't give you enough play to slip oil cooler off.

I recommend taking the hoses off and catching the coolant (preferably not
all over your t-shirt, the way I did it).

Or better yet, if it's time, do your coolant replacement job now (every two
years is recommended).  Drain the system, take off the oil cooler, clean it
up, put the new o-ring on reattach and fill 'er up with coolant (and oil, of
course).

Good luck!

Mark B.
1990 Westy 2.1

On Mon, Jul 27, 2009 at 8:24 PM, Dave Arthur <dave.arthur@nscc.ca> wrote:

> I thought I'd ask the question before I started work ... :-)
>
> '86 2.1 MV
>
> I have ordered a gasket (modified O ring) that goes between the engine
> block
> and the heat exchanger that is mounted above the oil filter. It seems to be
> relatively straight forward, remove the oil filter, remove the nut on the
> oil pipe, lower the exchanger and replace the gasket.
>
> The reason I'm doing this is that there is always a drip of oil in this
> location. I could torque the nut on the next oil change, but I'm thinking a
> cleanup and new gasket may be better.
>
> Do the coolant hoses need top be removed or is there enough slack?
> Opinions?
>
> Best Regards
>
> D
>