2001 Jimmy oil lines

My 1994 Suburban (bought used in '97) lived with this leak (engine oil cooler compression fitting near the rad)until I sold it 9 months ago. A few drops a day was a trivial thing compared to the pain in the ass factor and expense.

Oil cooler lines are common on these rigs and i have seen them ignored. Although you need to pay attention to them as they will worsen and could loose a crimp,it is a fairly easy job to do just a bit tight.Replace them yourself if RUST isnt a factor.I would charge 2.0 hrs to do the job.And rust or broken fitting would be extra labor.

Remove the lines plug the holes never worry about it again... oil can withstand far higher temps then the engine it self can withstand even more so if you run synthetic. Does the engine stay within operating temp? then the oil is the same temp...

Jeff, The engine temp never goes over 210.

What a silly comment. THe hotter the oil is the quicker it breaks down and oil cooler are standard equimant on diesel (have been for years) and one of the reasons for their longer life (not only one) Also when engine is 210, oil in bearing can easly be 50 to 75 degrees hotter in bearings under high shearing loads so cooling it is good to do. One more thing, even if you use SYN oil, the seals in engine (especail crankshaft seals) still start to crap out between 260 and 300 degrees so even if oil can handle 300 plus, the seals cannot.

----------------- TheSnoMan.com

Next time Shep.....just use a pry bar between the front diff and engine oil pan. You can move the engine over just enough to extract the cooler line assembly. I've done this job many times....very easy once you try what I've described.

Ian

I agree with Snow man,i thought it was sad to pass this kind of information on to help someone out.HEAT is damaging to all things and trans temp is important to keep cool.Double Tap,do the right thing repair the lines rather than gamble with drivetrain or engines.

It's your call, but I will tell you that I've seen numerous Jimmy's and Blazers that have had the oil cooler lines come apart and they dump the engine oil instantly. Most of them end up destroying the engine. Certainly cheaper to just have them replaced.

You should pay about 2.3 hrs for labour if both are being replaced.

Ian

Well it takes more than a instant and if you keep eye on gauge you can catch it if it happens. Once many years ago we drained all the oil out of a engine that we were going to pull and send in as a core return to see how long it would take to kill it. It took a lot longer than we thought it would and it never came apart just kinda slowly seized up.

----------------- TheSnoMan.com

Most people aren't as "smart" as you, Snoman. But sure, just keep an eye on the oil pressure guage and then when the cooler lines blow off, you can coast to the side of the road. You'll be able to milk those cooler lines for all they are worth and then if you are as sharp as Snoman, you won't wreck your engine. All that will happen is that you have to call a tow truck. Small price to pay, eh?

Ian

Not too Smart of a fix, Oil lines Break.. Oil goes onto HOT CROSSOVER PIPE.. INSTANT FIRE .. Better have a fire Extinguisure, Or The local fire department following YOU. But I do not think even under those two situations, YOUR VEHICLE will be SAVED.

Change them at the first sign of a LEAK

You do mean as smart as you don't you? Were did I say to milk it? If it is leaking, replace it but if it is not leave it be. I had a line fail on my 2000 K3500 last year to rust from low quaility factory metal. When it started to leak, I replaced it but not before. (it was a bear too because fitting was rusted too) The real problem is that on mission critical lines like this GM could spend a few more bucks on a

25 to 45K dollar truck and use stainless steel but then they would not be able to sell new parts for it or have dealer make money off of repairing it or occainsional engine damage from it for those that never look for spots on driveway nor at pressure gauge going down the road. (for those people the old oil pressure idiot light would serve better than a gauge)

----------------- TheSnoMan.com

On a GM there is two ways it can leak. The more common way seems to be were the hose is is swedged to pipe on some designs and these can weep for a very long while if need be because they do not fail suddenly but if it is from rust through you do not really want to try to nurse it at all. I have a 89 4x4 burb that I bought new that has factory external oil cooler in front of radiator and it weeps just enough to keep swedged area a bit damp with oil but not really drip and has been that way for many years now and has not changed at all. To this day that truck still leaves no spots on driveway after 180K miles.

----------------- TheSnoMan.com

OK it seem that the smart thing to do is change the lines. Does anyone have a manual that give the states hour many hours of labor should be allowed for the job?

For some reason my mechanic that I have used for years and has never been anything but fair in pricing and delivering very good work is telling me this job should run about $600.

For what a few people here have said should be a 2 - 3 hour job. $600 seems a bit high. (Labor rate is $90 per hour).

This 93 S-10 4.3 I just got...when I started taking the oil cooler line from the bottom of the radiator..it was real corroded and broke off...I just hacked the line off up to the filter...left about an inch of the 2 tubes sticking out and put a rubber oil line on with 2 clamps...and plugged the radiator..to keep dirt out...temp.fix till...I get to junk yard.Later Bobby

Double Tap,There is a standard labor guide that all shops can and should use most of them are put out by Mitchel,and or All-Data.They are owned by the same and there is descrepencys in the guides and i dont really understand why,but there is no specific labor rate required by the law as to how much a shop or dealership,or technition should charge to do a job.The most common is all the shops will price as close as to the others to be competitive and fair.So the labor rates can very from shop to shop or towm to town,state to state.What i see in my state is alot of shops charge the list price of the parts and in some cases they charge an additional percent to help cover misc. cleaners ,rags ect that does not normally get charged out on the job and this is pretty standard.I would purchase the lines privately and find a reputable shop or tech. to install them.2.0 t0 2.5 hrs is reasonable for the job,although remember rust or breakage will be additional labor.Good luck i hope your treated fair.