I have had problems with my 4wd townace, we fitted a new head but the engine was still makeing funny noises, so we fitted a new bottom half of the engine and now we have new noise off the oil cooler.
we have had a new oil cooler fitted but it keeps blowing them so consequentely we have water in the engine and oil in the rad. please can you help

- (#6252) kath curtis, 28 Nov 02

noise from the oil cooler? This the one that the filter screws onto? The only thing that could cause it to fail would be excess pressure from either system- oil or cooling. But the heat exchanger is, I'm sure, good to over 100psi...
Blocked rad cap, faulty pressure relief valve on oil pump (part of bottom of engine...)or gross failure of the head gasket, and you'd barely get to that kind of pressure.

What were the original funny noises?

- (#6253) david miller, 29 Nov 02

I assume you mean auto box oil cooler, not engine oil cooler, as the engine oil cooler doesn't get cooled by the coolant, the auto box oil cooler is built into the tank of the vertical radiator, so one assumes that has rusted internally & is allowing the coolant & auto box fluid to mix. If it's engine oil, let me know & I'll reconsider what the problem might be. HTH Rob.

- (#6254) Rob Drinkwater, 30 Nov 02

Ah, Rob, there IS a heat exchanger for the engine oil... It screws on between the filter and filter housing. Follow the coolant line that goes the length of the block on the LHS below the head, it ends up there...

- (#6255) david miller, 30 Nov 02

thank you for your reply but it has had a new head gasket and also new oil pump. checked oil pressure release valve for debry all ok

- (#6256) kath curtis, 30 Nov 02

"we have had a new oil cooler fitted but it keeps blowing them so consequentely we have water in the engine and oil in the rad. please can you help"
I stand to be corrected here but, the engine oil cooling flange, ie, which the oil filter screws into, does not have any feature which would allow the oil and coolant to mix. You might like to try, with a short length of copper pipe, to bypass the flange, ie, connecting the coolant flow and return pipes together, and then see if you still have a problem. Uncooled engine oil, at this time of the year, on short journeys, won't matter while you do the test. Rob's comment re the auto fluid cooler (built into the main rad) might be the answer. Here again, you can easily disconnect this cooler (it won't hurt anything unless you are towing a caravan this weekend)by joining the flow and return pipes together, making sure that everything is clean and that no debris gets into the flow and return pipes which carry the auotobox oil to the radiator. A complete flush of the cooling system, re-filling and checking for any oil ingress, should be the next step.

"new oil cooler fitted but it keeps blowing them"

This is strange. On the coolant side, there should be minimal pressure in the system and any "blow" should be at the rad/filler cap. If the "blow" is on the oil side, and you have checked and cleaned the pressure relief valve, I cannot see where this pressure is coming from.

- (#6305) John Davis, 2 Dec 02

bypass oil cooler all ready still oil in the water and it is engin oil.cool rad been off and tested ok

- (#6672) KATH CURTIS, 5 Jan 03

the only places oil and water can mix are;- oil cooler, head, block, head gasket. The oil filter is of the full-flow variety, and so the cooler is designed to withstand 100psi or so.
Are you sure the new head was surfaced before installation?

- (#6673) david miller, 6 Jan 03

before having oil changed at quick fit for £17 inc oil and filter!!! <told them to get camrie filter> I added flushing fluid to old oil and let it tick over for 20 mins as instructions on can. since then i have not experienced any overheating, even on long motorway hills towing a trailer, which previosly was a problem.the only conclusion i can think of is the oil cooler, i presume it has one? is working more effectivly.any thoughts on this, it cant be that simple can it?

- (#11027) rob, 6 Oct 03 22:31

the vehicle is a turbo diesel townie

- (#11028) rob, 6 Oct 03 22:38