Oil Cooler bolt missing, major leak into coolant

[ubuntubrad]

HI There Gang.
It has been a very exciting weekend, ITS ALIVE!!!
But not without issues.

Thru the postings on the site I came to a probable issue around the Oil Cooler.
I Stripped down that side of the block and got to the point of the getting the Oil Filter Adapter off.

The machine shop did up the block for me. They took the Oil Cooler off and put it back on.

BUT they did not reinstall the bolt under the Oil Filter Adapter.

Is this paticular bolt enough to cause major oil loss into the Cooling system???

I have lost about 2-3 liters, have been trying to flush out the cooling system but no luck, it just keeps coming,,,
( major bummer specially since I got a new rad and had the whole cooling system squeeky clean before fire up LOL oh well)

As the engine is fresh I have not entertained the head gasket as a cause for the oil in the coolant.

Also wonder if the timing belt housing gasket could also be a possible source if this oil cooler bolt thing does not solve the problem??

Thanks for all the help it has been invaluable to getting this beasty up and running.

[NiftyNev]

One of the main oil galleries is very close to where the bolt under the adapter is and it's possible for oil and coolant to mix if this area leaks. It's also possible that when they removed the cooler they did not replace the gaskets or make sure the surfaces were thoroughly cleaned. The old gaskets are difficult to remove and require a lot of gentle scraping so as not to damage the sealing surfaces of the cooler. The timing gear cover is another place where oil and coolant can mix if they stuffed up or didn't get the gaskets right. Corrosion is another thing that can cause problems in both areas.

Nev

[NiftyNev]

A pic of cooler housing.

Nev

[ubuntubrad]

One of the main oil galleries is very close to where the bolt under the adapter is and it's possible for oil and coolant to mix if this area leaks. It's also possible that when they removed the cooler they did not replace the gaskets or make sure the surfaces were thoroughly cleaned. The old gaskets are difficult to remove and require a lot of gentle scraping so as not to damage the sealing surfaces of the cooler. The timing gear cover is another place where oil and coolant can mix if they stuffed up or didn't get the gaskets right. Corrosion is another thing that can cause problems in both areas.

Nev

Thanks for the info and the PIC Nev!
I did the work on the front end putting the timing gear housing on, there was just the one big fiberboard type gasket, didnt seem that there was much to go wrong on that one unless there were more gaskets that needed to go in with it??? But am still open to that possibility.

Sounds like to be safe I should strip the oil cooler cover off and see what is going on? The boys did do a great job of stripping, hot tanking and cleaning on the rest of the block, so I am not sure why it would go bad here? All things are possible.


Is there just the one larger gasket for the oil cooler, or is there a couple of smaller ones that go in there as well??

Thanks again for the help Nev.
Brad

[NiftyNev]

There's two gaskets between the cooler housing and cooler.

Nev

[ubuntubrad]

thanks Nev

There's two gaskets between the cooler housing and cooler.

Nev

Thats fantastic, thanks Nev, I will try to get an answer from the machine shop to ensure those two went into place, then get my bolt in, then hopefully it will be all good and happy again!!

Thanks for your help and getting me thru this one.
Brad