Oil heat exchanger seal?

[bronchole]

My new motor is leaking oil where the heat exchanger is sealed to the block. Anyone know where I can get a new seal for this?

 

[Mbrooks420]

They are unobtainium as far as I know. People typically remove them for the later style housing. It’s not a standard O-ring, or gasket.

 

[CDW6212R]

You have to hunt around for other threads where people replaced those. Find the part numbers first from such a thread, and then you should have little trouble finding the o-rings. One was a standard item many places carried it, and the other was less common, but can be ordered. That was what I saw a few years ago, the main problem is that Ford quit making them many years before, but there have been aftermarket sources for both.

BTW, call it the Explorer 302 oil cooler, that's what all of the searches will turn up.

 

[410Fortune]

The o ring for cooler to block connection should be the same o ring you get in on a oil filter for an older 302 like the motorcraft fl1a

I would remove the oil cooler and replace it with a 98-01 style oil filter mount and lower radiator hose

 

[CDW6212R]

Also, changing that oil filter adapter is hell depending on how many things are left in place, and very hard no matter what. The mounting bolt is very close to the frame cross over, space to get a wrench or socket is very tight all around there. So remove as much as you can in that area to improve the chances of R&Ring the part.

I would suggest the now obsolete FMS oil filter adapter, which they quit making in 2020 like a lot of things. That part is made to allow any angle of mounting, and it takes the larger FL1A filter. I bought one 3-4 years ago when I tried to remove the adapter from my black 98, and didn't have enough space created to get it off. I think the FMS part is a little more compact, doesn't protrude quite as much away from the block, and turns at what looks like exactly 90* from the block.

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[bronchole]

The o ring for cooler to block connection should be the same o ring you get in on a oil filter for an older 302 like the motorcraft fl1a

I would remove the oil cooler and replace it with a 98-01 style oil filter mount and lower radiator hose

I would have thought so also, but my 97 seems to be different. When I was cleaning this to install it on my new motor I remember looking at the oil filter sealing ring to use to replace it and it didn't look like the same thing. I'm guessing that the 98-01 may be different than the 96-97 ones. I guess I'll pull it off and take some measurements and see what is available. Maybe go to the junk yard this weekend and see if I can find a 98-01 version. Thanks for the reply.

 

[CDW6212R]

The o-rings are round in profile, the grooves are squared. The used parts will be crushed square of course.

 

[bronchole]

You have to hunt around for other threads where people replaced those. Find the part numbers first from such a thread, and then you should have little trouble finding the o-rings. One was a standard item many places carried it, and the other was less common, but can be ordered. That was what I saw a few years ago, the main problem is that Ford quit making them many years before, but there have been aftermarket sources for both.

BTW, call it the Explorer 302 oil cooler, that's what all of the searches will turn up.

I tried searching “Explorer 302 oil cooler”, also before I made this post I tried:

5.0 heat exchanger

5.0 oil radiator

5.0 oil coolant

5.0 exchanger



Honestly, it never occurred to me to use 302 instead of 5.0 since this type of thing never came on engines designated as 302. All Explorer V8’s of this generation were all designated as 5.0. But I guess some of the older school people will insist on referring to them as 302. I know they are basically the same.



Anyway, the search for “Explorer 302 oil cooler” yielded the same lack of results as any of the other searches.

 

[bronchole]

The o-rings are round in profile, the grooves are squared. The used parts will be crushed square of course.

I have sources for square rings. That shouldn't be a problem.

 

[CDW6212R]

I'm sorry I don't know of a better way to find them. That's how I got a pair many years back, maybe ten years. I always use 302 because 5.0 is an insult to the original name, yes my opinion. But I call them 5.0 once in a blue moon to help communicate with the newer generation that don't know it's still a 302(all the same dimensions throughout). Plus I don't like the metric system because the US never adopted it like they were supposed to in the 1970's(when I learned it, in Germany). Since we have a mixture, I use what is most convenient, I can do either.

 

[bronchole]

Ok, researched thru lunch and think I will go away from the factory heat exchanger and to a remote mounted oil filter kit. Looks like Summit Racing has a kit for under $50 that will work. I'll hopefully place the remote filter in the drivers wheel well. I'll look at the options tonight.

 

[CDW6212R]

Ok, researched thru lunch and think I will go away from the factory heat exchanger and to a remote mounted oil filter kit. Looks like Summit Racing has a kit for under $50 that will work. I'll hopefully place the remote filter in the drivers wheel well. I'll look at the options tonight.

That's what I'm planning for with my project truck. There is plenty of space for external filters. Just behind each front body mount is a great spot next to the frame, that's where I will stick two oil filters(one a bypass filter). I have an external filter for my trans, in my 99 work truck, it's mounted to the radiator support, fairly easy to do with the bumper off.

 

[bronchole]

Well, I pulled the trigger on a Ford M-6880-B50:

I am going to tap a 1/8NPT thread thru the center of the head of the bolt (black anodized part on above image) to create a PSI port for a separate mechanical PSI gauge. I had thought about taping the port in the body, but there is more material in the head of the bolt and I am confident that this will have more clearance to the other stuff around this when installed.

 

[Turdle]

You'll thank yourself for ditching the cooler when you change the lower rad hose

 

[410Fortune]

So you plan to put that directly on the 302, I am worried you wont be able to get oil filter in place or off
The stock part has like a 6" extension to bring the filter out to where it can be reached.

 

[bronchole]

With the SAS mine is very different than the normal Explorer/Mountaineer. Plenty of access. The biggest problem is when I change an oil filer, the oil is going to drip all over my track bar, tie rod, drag link and the hoses that run to my ram. I think I can head some of that off by using a semi-rigid piece of plastic to cover them and rout the oil to the drain pan.

 

[CDW6212R]

Use a remote oil filter, and make it a larger filter too.

 

[bronchole]

I looked in to this, I even bought a kit. When I went to figure out where I would mount the remote filter and where to rout the hoses....... My setup didn't have a good solution. That's when I decided to go back to the 90° adaptor. In a more stock situation there may be better options than I have. With the front axle pushed forward 1.5" and the steering box on the frame I was looking to mount it to the outside of the frame. Unfortunately with the steering box on the frame there was only some very poor locations left and I was concerned about rolling a rock up in there and damaging stuff. It has happened before

 

[CDW6212R]

What does the space look like in your truck, in front of the frame body mounts, behind the bumper? I placed an FL-1A filter mount there for my transmission. I think there's similar room on both sides.

 

[bronchole]

On the passenger side that is where my winch controller and the vacuum canister/ball thing is. On the drivers side that is where I relocated the purge thing for the fuel tank and some other thing.

Why did you do this on the passenger side? I'd think that the shorter run to the drivers side would be preferable.