Has anyone fabbed up an aftermarket oil cooler & lines?? Anyone just take the oil cooler out and say hell with it?

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the oil cooler is pretty sweet. they work well and I've hardly ever seen one die. if you take it out I'm sure you will be taking the engine out shortly there after. it needs the oil cooler. as far as an after market one, I'm sure they exist. but I've never seen one. if you find one that has more surface area then the stock MB cooler I'm sure it would work fine. running the lines from the oil filter housing is kind of a trick with the stock cooler, so I'm sure you'd have trouble fitting after market lines. the oil is under pressure in the cooler. so the after market cooler you buy and the lines need to be rated to the pressure. I'm not sure of the pressure but I'm sure someone will chime in.

now that you mention it. it would be a cool (pardon the pun) addition to my Toyota. i may have to look into this.

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I fitted an aftermarket unit to my gas w126.

The original one was leaking from one of the end tanks, and replacements weren't cheap!

I removed the electric fan from the front of the rad and installed an aftermarket one there (i'm running electric fans instead of the viscous unit)
Don't junk the old hoses... I carefully cut the crimped on fittings off the old hoses at the engine end, and attached them to the end of some 5/8" hydraulic hose with motorcycle style hose clamps.

You could take the fittings to a hydraulic shop to have them properly crimped onto new hoses though if you liked.

Ben.

My SEC diesel has an aftermarket oil cooler on it, the threads in the oil filter housing on the 617 are m18, mcmaster carr has an m18 orb to 1/2 jic fitting, then i just used hydraulic hose for the oil lines, they are easy to change, cost about $50 for 2 wall hydraulic hose and jic fittings, and I can use any oil cooler. ( i went with a large bar plate style from ebay).

total cost was less than new oil cooler lines,

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1984 Euro 300SDC, (4spd standard)
1986 Toyota Landcruiser Diesel HJ60 5spd X2

Gone but not forgotten (some sold, some stripped)
1983 300 SD, 1985 300 SD, 1983 240D, 1986 300 SDL, 1985 300 SDL, 1983 300 D, 1984 300 D, 1985 300SD, 1987 300 SDL, 1983 300 SD, 1985 300 TD Euro, 1983 380SEC, 1990 300 D, 1987 300D, 1982 300D, 1982 300D, 1994 E420, 1987 300 TD, 1987 300 D, 1984 300 D