Oil cooler line quick connects

They are not troublesome as far as I am aware of. I do have a clue here maybe though. It seems to be happening when it is cold out and what grade oil are you using that migh be causing oil pressure to skyrocket in cold especaily when engine is cold and you wind it up. The clips will fail when pressure gets high enough.

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

You haven't had a clue in your life.

It seems to be happening when it is cold out and

WTF! Are you out of your friggin' mind??? Guess they don't sell these trucks in the northern states. The op's must have snuck in.

Pray tell at what pressure have you experienced a failure of the clips?

When it failed the truck had been running for a good hour so it wasn't cold, but for more info I'm using 10w30 mobil1 and the temp outside was about 20 degrees if that helps.

Am I crazy to just get some 3/8 npt to barb adapters and throw some tranny cooler hose on there? I know I have to be careful around the fan and rub points, but there is rubber in the middle now..... and I could use the factory clip to keep it routed the same. Seems like this is what comes with aftermarket oil cooler kits. I just don't want to have to worry about this thing with my kids with me towing the trailer this summer and I seriously have my doubts about those clips.....

The only one out of their mind is you Roy.

When you try to fix a problem for good you address ALL posiblities because though it is not the case here with this poster I have seen some that think it is okay to run 20w50 in a cold climate. Those clips are not very viable and could tire with age and loose holding power. You might make sure that the slot they ride in is clear of obstructions and it lets clips fully seat. It is quite possible that if this area is clear and clean and new clips are installed that the problem will not return.

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

There are two reasons for those clips to begin with. The first was to reduce assembly time when truck is built and the other is for GM to patent its design to extract more money from replacement parts. Take your pick as to which is more important to GM. I would not get in a spin about this. If the clip comes loose there is a reason and find it because there are ten of thousands of them out there and it is not a common problem. I had one of these lines fail on my 2000 K3500 a year ago just out of extened warranty. It rusted through after 36 K miles if you can believe it and was starting to drip. I had no problems with clip but had a LOT of problem with the fitting in tank as it was rusted solid to the point I though I might have to replace the radiator or at least the endcap and tank. I did get it loose finally. Usually when these lines leak it is at where the metal line is swaged to the rubber hose. Not a good design and GM could have used stainless steel for these mission critical connection for engine oil and tranny cooling. It would have cost them a few buck more for sure but given price of truck it would be not a big issue to add a few dollars more to its cost.

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

Note that once again you didn't answer the question!

"89GMC" wrote

Did you every replace the oil cooler lines themselves? If you haven't done this, I would do it. Whenever I change oil cooler lines (which is a lot as GM has issues with them), I always include new fittings at the oil filter adapter. New line, new fitting, really the only proper way to go, as I have seen these blow off. Also, do you still have the plastic retainer rings on your oil cooler lines that are designed to slide over the fitting where the snap ring is located. This will keep the ring from popping out. But if you have old lines, often this plastic retainer is brittle and broken or simply not there anymore. You get new ones with the new set of cooler lines.

Ian

There should be a bracket along side the oil pan that holds the lines in place. This I believe keeps them from working out, cause you cant remove them if the brackets in place.

Cheers

Thanks for the info Ian, no I haven't replaced the lines yet, I only replaced the fittings which came with the new plastic clips in them. The one that I replaced seems fine but the other one even thought it's only 1000 miles old, no matter how far I shoved it in there, it would not seat in the clip. Are you saying that there is another piece that should go over the line itself? On the line all I have is the circular raised ridge. On the fitting I have some o-rings deep down in there and then the clip that sticks all the way back out of the fitting and has the two little clips on the side of it that look like they are supposed to hold the line in.

Also do the new lines come with the fittings already on? If not do you have a recommendation for how to make sure the new ones are seated? Sorry if i'm a little paranoid on this now, I put the fittings on first then the line in cuz i could only move the damn fitting with a 12 point box end. But if i have to cut a notch in a wrench i'm ok with that, if the ends should be put on before screwing them in.

Thanks, Ed

"89GMC" wrote

You know what, I'm thinking of a later style....sorry. The one that you are fighting with use the plastic clips that are similiar to fuel filter quick release fittings and heater hose quick release fittings.

Even with the old style that you have, I still always replaced the cooler lines and fittings as a set. Never had a problem when done that way.

You may need to unscrew the fitting and then install it on the end of the cooler line and see what the hell is going on. You also need to have the cooler line at the proper orientation going into the fitting, the cooler lines have some slight bends in them and you may need to rotate the line slightly to make sure you are lining it up properly with the fitting.

Hope some of this helps.

Ian

Thanks Ian, all of this definitely helps, sounds like it's time for some new lines or at the very least to pull them off and see what's up. Appreciate all the help.

Ed

This cracks me up. Less than a week ago, you were chastising me for this exact thing.

This means that you are either the worlds biggest hypocrite or you've actually managed to learn something.

??????

Ian, you were right they needed to twist to get in there correctly. I pulled the clamp and line off and once i twisted it went into the new one a lil farther, also made sure the clamp that holds them to the block was good and tight, lines looked ok no leaks, or rust(are they aluminum?) so I didn't replace them. So far so good, thanks all for the help.

Ed

Thanks Martin, good call I did notice that while I was under there, once I took off the front skidplate the nut on that clamp was tight, but the lines could still move a little, it's definitely a good failsafe, and would have saved me a cold walk :) I ended up taking down the clamp and nut and cleaning the threads up and put it back on, nice and tight now, between that and the new ends/clips I think I'm good to go. I'm starting to think now that these lines are not original because they actually look to be in very good shape, I took one out and it looked pretty darn good.

Thanks again for the help guys, seems to be up and ok so far, Ed