Removing Oil Cooler, Plugging Holes on Filter Housing
 

Hello,
The oil cooler lines on my 240D are in pretty rough shape. Here in Maine, it's not too often that it gets hot enough for the oil thermostat to open up, but I should really take care of them before summer arrives. Reading all of the various oil cooler threads, it seems like this job can be a major PITA, possibly more trouble than it's worth. What I usually do when a repair is more trouble than it's worth (vacuum locks, A/C, cruise control, EGR) is to remove or disable the part in question. I figure since Euro models get by without an oil cooler, it's probably not a necessary item in a northern New England climate. I plan to remove the oil cooler lines and "screwed nipples" from the oil cooler housing, then replace the nipples with a couple 18mm x 1.5 oil drain plugs that I bought from the local parts store. It's a hack job, I know, and if anyone thinks I'm making a horrible mistake, please tell me. I'd also like to know if it would be a better to use the metal washers that are already there between the nipples and the oil filter housing, or to use the black nylon(?) washers that came with the oil drain plugs. I'm also a bit curious about the oil thermostat... is it possible to remove or disable in the "open" position? Without the thermostat, those holes for the oil cooler could be used for one of those neat TP bypass filters... hmmm... well, one project at a time!

Thanks,
Nate

oil cooler
 

if you dont need an oil cooler then put in a bypass filter....honestly with 8 qts of oil none of us probably need an oil cooler... except maybe the folks in arizona...if your doing biodiesel or vegie oil you could use those lines to warm the veggie oil with...

More :bsflag: from blueranger.
Drive around town (Or even the highway) for an hour or so. Don't flog it, just drive. Then pop the hood and put your hand on the oil cooler. I'd bet you $20 it's too hot to hold your hand on for very long.

The pistons are cooled directly by oil (With squirters). They perform a MAJOR part in keeping our turbo engines from melting. Yes, the 240D is not turbo. But the germans spent booku duetchmarks to make sure that these things have what they need to survive in the real world. If it has an oil cooler, it's there for a reason.

Also, look at the oil flow diagram (specifically of the filter housing) and you will see an oil thermostat in there. At a set temp (I believe around 220*f) that thermostat runs ALL the oil through the cooler. If you put a bypass filter in place of the cooler, you would starve the engine of oil once it gets warm.

notice
 

your very funny.....my car is cooled with water and lubricated with oil... I have never seen a car that was cooled with oil... what kind of car do you have. :P

Then tell me, what ARE the squirters under the pistons for and why do only the turbo engines have them?

Also, there are no water lines going to the turbo. How is it cooled?

Both of my '"keeper" 240Ds have NO oil cooler. The "85" is a euro car.... and the "79"s engine was replaced with an "80" engine that I installed a euro oil filter housing on. The 616 engine needs no oil cooler except when shipped to the USA:rolleyes: ..... I've never had any problems even in the summer heat of Ca.

forceinduction
 

well mr forcedinduction,
I difer to your great wisdom but i would think that all 617 engines have the same oil systems... and yes there are turbo and non turbo 617 engines...
So I am saying a non turbo 617 will have the oil ports that you are talking about.... they are to lubricate the rod, and journal, not to cool the piston.

older Garrett turbos are lubricated only.... (oil) and not cooled....newer Garrett turbos are lubricated and cooled.... they have both water and oil.... I have both types...I am actually installing a cooled turbo right now...and all i have left is the oil return.....


maybe your own to something.... my daughter 300e had oil in the water last summer so I had to rebuild the m103.... maybe I should have copied you and turned it into an oil cooled engine.... are you saying i should have taken out all the water and replaced it with Oil.... maybe your own to something...

Sarcasm won't get you far in this world Mr. Blue.

Wow, whats with everyone flaming each other lately?

Why don't you drain the oil from your car and try an experiment. I wonder if it would overheat or throw a rod first?

I think people are growing annoyed by blueranger's lack of knowlege. While a lot of misinformation gets spread on forums like this most of the time people will politely correct one another. I have seen blueranger arguing his "point" with members that are factory trained Mercedes mechanics. Sort of like arguing with your physician.

When you see quotes like "my daughter 300e had oil in the water last summer so I had to rebuild the m103" you know your dealing with someone that does not know what they are talking about. I shudder to think what he did to that car to make it blow a head gasket.

Most of the time people are very polite and nice here. I have to say this is one of the most polite and informative online forums I have ever had the pleasure of using.

ever look at an air cooled VW
 

Yes, you have if you have seen an old VW Bug, bus, Ghia, Thing or an older Porsche. I’ve said it before if you want to save money use hose clamps on the lines and if you need a new cooler go aftermarket VW some people might say that hose clamps won't work well I’ve seen enough high performance VWs with high PSI oil pumps "well above 45 PSI" that don't leak when using hose clamps.

a little history of the VW
when Ferdinand Porsche was desining the VWs engine they had over heating problems until they put an oil cooler on them
oil cooler on my VW

Wow, lots of opinions here, and 2 or 3 of them are even applicable to the question I asked! :rolleyes:

ForcedInduction, I agree that the oil cooler is there for a reason, or even multiple reasons, such as Florida, Texas, Arizona, etc... there are many places in the U.S. that are warmer than Germany, where an oil cooler is necessary. I'm still not convinced that Maine is one of those places... and if you're serious about that bet, you owe me $20. :) And like I said in the original post, I wouldn't put a bypass filter in the place of the oil cooler without first removing or disabling the oil thermostat, so no worries there.

Stevo, nice to hear that your 240Ds are doing well without oil coolers. What kind of engine temperatures are you seeing during the summer? Have they ever seemed to be in danger of overheating?

Tangent, good idea, I had considered using hose clamps as a temporary fix, not sure if I'd trust them in the long run, though. I'd feel safer either putting new hoses in, or cutting them out completely.

Nate

Nate-
Just put new hoses in. Too much is better than not enough.

You can say that the sun rises in the west, but it doesn't make it so.