Replace oil cooler after engine failure?
Discussion
So I've dropped a valve & things have gotten a bit messy. With the engine problem aside, do you reckon it'd be best to replace my oil cooler or would a good old flush out be sufficient do you reckon? I just don't want a possible risk of any metal being left in the system so if there's any doubt I'd happily replace but everything costs so only wanna do it if I need to.
Definitely, definitely - and once again, definitely.
I rebuilt a mates race car engine last year after it went pop, and we replaced the oil cooler on that.
I filled the old cooler with a bit of petrol, swished it around, and swarf that a machine shop would have been proud of came out. But we didn't want to even trust cleaning it out. Doesn't take much to destroy a rebuilt engine.
For the sake of £150, it's good insurance.
And don't forget to replace the oil pickup strainer too obviously!
I rebuilt a mates race car engine last year after it went pop, and we replaced the oil cooler on that.
I filled the old cooler with a bit of petrol, swished it around, and swarf that a machine shop would have been proud of came out. But we didn't want to even trust cleaning it out. Doesn't take much to destroy a rebuilt engine.
For the sake of £150, it's good insurance.
And don't forget to replace the oil pickup strainer too obviously!
Did similar to Ray there with a Subaru EA81 derived aero engine with a big end knock. It had been converted to dry sump lubrication and the whole oil system was laced with particles. We could see inside the header tank well enough to be confident to reuse it - a pricey aluminium thing. The scavenge pump was ruined, the non-return valves jammed up with particles and solvents came out of the oil cooler like metallic paint so it was binned. The supply pump was buggered too actually thinking back.
If its your A series racer then there will be lots of sharp steel shards from the gearbox which would worry me more than relatively soft aluminium alloy which will probably be a lot larger than the steel particles. The sump plug magnet will probably catch most of the steel anyway.
In an ideal world, or one where the gears were not lubricated by the engine oil (crappy design by any standards )the engine should be completely stripped, oilway plugs pulled, block, crank, thoroughly cleaned, all oil lines and cooler replaced.
Personally I would be tempted to chance it, back flush the cooler and very carefully wash and blow everything else out.
(and I have been known to stick a screwdriver through potentially contaminated coolers to stop any one else using them and ruining their engines!)
Your choice
In an ideal world, or one where the gears were not lubricated by the engine oil (crappy design by any standards )the engine should be completely stripped, oilway plugs pulled, block, crank, thoroughly cleaned, all oil lines and cooler replaced.
Personally I would be tempted to chance it, back flush the cooler and very carefully wash and blow everything else out.
(and I have been known to stick a screwdriver through potentially contaminated coolers to stop any one else using them and ruining their engines!)
Your choice
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