Oil Cooler Replacement (and upgrades)

[CarbonSteel]

They only take me personally about 30 minutes to swap out, but I've done a lot. They started updating them around 2016 or so. I think I've only need a handful of upgraded 3.6s leaking.

The OEM housing will come with new gaskets already so no need to double dip there. These things used to be almost $600 but they've since changed suppliers and the price started coming down. They probably didn't want to get sued for widespread failures at the end of the day so brought the price down.

If you've never done one take your time and don't drop shit into the engine while you have the intake off. Don't be worried if you spill oil down there during removal, it won't cause any harm.

Yeah, I would be more worried about coolant getting inside, but I plan to change the oil right after and again soon after that to remove any coolant that may find its way into the galley.

I am doing other work as well so it will take a bit of time. I plan to have a full weekend to do all that I have on deck.

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[speedymart]

Yeah, I would be more worried about coolant getting inside, but I plan to change the oil right after and again soon after that to remove any coolant that may find its way into the galley.

I am doing other work as well so it will take a bit of time. I plan to have a full weekend to do all that I have on deck.

Coolant getting inside also isn't an issue. You can spill both down the valves and it'll just smoke like a SOB on first start but otherwise be fine. Definitely change your oil afterwards as oil and coolant will mix in the galleys. Not much if any will actually enter but better safe than sorry

 

[CarbonSteel]

@speedymart - into it now lol

EDIT - never mind--just need to remove the injector wires and flip it out of the way.

Thanks!

 

[XtremeRetard]

Nice!

 

[stumblinhorse]

Little deeper to go…

 

[CarbonSteel]

Little deeper to go…

Yeah...got stuck on the fuel part of the lower intake. About to dive back in this morning and get to the culprit.

 

[CarbonSteel]

OK, done--seriously never want to do this again. I went back with a Mopar unit because I didn't have time to work on the Dorman.

FCA - this has to be one the biggest cluster f*cks of an engine I have ever had the displeasure of working on. Not only did you completely box in the upper + lower manifolds and valve covers with wiring and hoses--but the vast majority of them are behind the engine. The wiring has "safety connectors" that will leave you praying they don't break and the overuse of "Christmas tree" mounts is a total joke--which do break and have to be removed to allow the manifolds to come out. You guys in the design department need to seriously step away from the crack pipe.

@speedymart says he can do this job in 30 minutes, and no slight against him, but I would love to see what that looks like on an engine that has never had an oil cooler replacement like mine. It took me the better part of 10 hours, though I changed the sparkplugs and VVT sensors too. I also changed the oil/coolant temperature sending unit and the hose that connects to the oil cooler.

My valve covers were not leaking (thank goodness as that would have been another 6 hours or more), but the front VVT sensors on both sides were mini oil wells and the seals were rock hard. This was the cause of the passenger O2 sensors failing.

I also had a new PCV (new design) to install, but skipped it. I plan to take it to a local 4x4 shop to install it, the Mishimoto radiator, Gladiator fan and Gladiator grill inserts.

The sparkplugs had slightly opened gaps, but not bad for 70K miles. Both upper and lower intakes had some gooey tar like substance in the runners which I removed--no clue where it originated. The backsides of the intake valves were spotless which is a testament to the Gumout All in One that is used frequently.

A few photos of the surgery:

 

[CarbonSteel]

Put 300 miles on it today and it does seem to run slightly cooler than normal and no oil smell, so fingers and toes crossed this is sorted. It will take some time to know because I will be changing the oil a few times to flush out the coolant that inevitably made it into the engine when I pulled the cooler. Probably do 2 short runs and changes and then test it again to see where I stand on potassium.

More to follow...

 

[m3reno]

When I had my 2018 JL it took me 3 hrs to change the spark plugs. A lot to move around. I read a post a while back that sold updated seals for the cooler but couldn't find that post.

 

[CarbonSteel]

When I had my 2018 JL it took me 3 hrs to change the spark plugs. A lot to move around. I read a post a while back that sold updated seals for the cooler but couldn't find that post.

Here are the Mopar seal part numbers:

68191356AA or 68191356AB (should be the newest)

2014-2021 use a different size o-ring on the main oil nozzle vs. 2022 and up. Both o-rings are in the pack.

 

[speedymart]

OK, done--seriously never want to do this again. I went back with a Mopar unit because I didn't have time to work on the Dorman.

FCA - this has to be one the biggest cluster f*cks of an engine I have ever had the displeasure of working on. Not only did you completely box in the upper + lower manifolds and valve covers with wiring and hoses--but the vast majority of them are behind the engine. The wiring has "safety connectors" that will leave you praying they don't break and the overuse of "Christmas tree" mounts is a total joke--which do break and have to be removed to allow the manifolds to come out. You guys in the design department need to seriously step away from the crack pipe.

@speedymart says he can do this job in 30 minutes, and no slight against him, but I would love to see what that looks like on an engine that has never had an oil cooler replacement like mine. It took me the better part of 10 hours, though I changed the sparkplugs and VVT sensors too. I also changed the oil/coolant temperature sending unit and the hose that connects to the oil cooler.

My valve covers were not leaking (thank goodness as that would have been another 6 hours or more), but the front VVT sensors on both sides were mini oil wells and the seals were rock hard. This was the cause of the passenger O2 sensors failing.

I also had a new PCV (new design) to install, but skipped it. I plan to take it to a local 4x4 shop to install it, the Mishimoto radiator, Gladiator fan and Gladiator grill inserts.

The sparkplugs had slightly opened gaps, but not bad for 70K miles. Both upper and lower intakes had some gooey tar like substance in the runners which I removed--no clue where it originated. The backsides of the intake valves were spotless which is a testament to the Gumout All in One that is used frequently.

A few photos of the surgery:

Haha! When you've done hundreds of them it becomes super quick. For what it's worth I was talking about the old 3.6L when I said I could do them in 30 minutes. The upgraded one has a lot of extra nonsense like the EGR and the bracket on the side making it much more time consuming. The upgraded ones take me about an hour or so

Good shit getting it done! When people say "I'll take it to an independent mechanic" I always giggle because they have no idea what they're getting involved in. Going in as a first time even as an experienced technician is daunting to say the least. Honestly the engine has no business being in a wrangler with how they had to run the coolant hoses and such. The 2.0l is even more miserable to work on. Ironically the only engine that properly fits with decent access in the 6.4L

 

[CarbonSteel]

Haha! When you've done hundreds of them it becomes super quick. For what it's worth I was talking about the old 3.6L when I said I could do them in 30 minutes. The upgraded one has a lot of extra nonsense like the EGR and the bracket on the side making it much more time consuming. The upgraded ones take me about an hour or so

Good shit getting it done! When people say "I'll take it to an independent mechanic" I always giggle because they have no idea what they're getting involved in. Going in as a first time even as an experienced technician is daunting to say the least. Honestly the engine has no business being in a wrangler with how they had to run the coolant hoses and such. The 2.0l is even more miserable to work on. Ironically the only engine that properly fits with decent access in the 6.4L

It will DEFINITELY go faster next time, because it removed all of the BS wiring tie-downs. They serve NO POINT WHATSOEVER because the wiring is not only attached, but zip tied and taped together--where the flip could they go anyway.

Yeah, the EGR pipe and the bracket is a major pain, but after doing it once you know what to expect (glad I bought a new gasket). For me the biggest joke of all is the engine knock-sensors--what genius decided they should go UNDER the oil cooler?

FCA engine designers and crack addicts have a lot in common...

 

[speedymart]

It will DEFINITELY go faster next time, because it removed all of the BS wiring tie-downs. They serve NO POINT WHATSOEVER because the wiring is not only attached, but zip tied and taped together--where the flip could they go anyway.

Yeah, the EGR pipe and the bracket is a major pain, but after doing it once you know what to expect (glad I bought a new gasket). For me the biggest joke of all is the engine knock-sensors--what genius decided they should go UNDER the oil cooler?

FCA engine designers and crack addicts have a lot in common...

Those knock sensors have gaskets inside the connector to prevent intrusion. No issues with them being soaked in fluids unless it's 20 years old and the heat has gotten to em'

A lot of our vehicles are engineered in such a way to look "pretty" on an engine stand. The harness's clipped in neatly makes it "look good" yet they don't realize those clips break 99.999% of the time upon removal anyway. GM just cut 200 engineering positions, I hope FCA does the same. A lot of those guys are overdesigning things to make it seem like their job is important to keep their h1-b visas. The steering stablizer recall on the JLs is a fantastic example. It's a shit designed and built part that doesn't fufill it's design goals. Instead of owning up to it they said "Oh it needs to be facing this way up!", then "Oh, the shock just needs to be bled before install!", or "Oh, you can't just bleed it by turning the wheel, you need to physically pump it 20 times!!" yet they still come back.

Ever heard of a fucking shock needing bled before? No? Exactly. Our engineers are constantly fucking up and trying to cover their own asses in order to push the blame away to keep their jobs. It's why we have repeat recalls for the same component 2-3-4 times over. Just look at the manual transmission clutch recalls, the fed's had to force it because FCA just kept listening to their engineers saying "oh it'll be fine!".

These guys are constantly throwing everyone else in the process under the bus to keep their jobs so they can just fuck up again


end of rant

 

[ian51279]

Curious if this fully resolved your high potassium levels? Seems I'm in the same boat with very high levels.

 

[roaniecowpony]

Curious if this fully resolved your high potassium levels? Seems I'm in the same boat with very high levels.

Ian, there's a possibility that your oil cooler seals are causing the coolant to enter the oil system. Cross your fingers.

Mopar had another engineering faux paus in their oil filter housing. They elected to place the oil and coolant ports of the cooler adjacent to one another in, not one, but two places. Then they chose to "siamese" the seals between these ports with a "figure 8" style seal that has no structural support separating the ports or seals.

You can see in the first couple pictures of my original 2018 3.6L oil filter housing, there is an elastomer seal that has not bridge or support separating the ports. It relies on the seal to retain the oil and coolant pressures. It's clear that it didn't work and the high (75 psi) pressure from the oil pushed to the coolant side (~18 psi). This pushes oil into the coolant, which I validated with a simple chemical test. Upon engine shutdown, the oil pressure goes to zero nearly instantly, while the coolant system pressure remains at about it's operating pressure. The coolant bleeds through these compromised seals into the oil system while sitting after shutdown.

The third picture shows how Mopar changed the design. This new design was in the 2024 engine I bought (actually labeled with an altogether different part number than the mopar repair party) and in the revised repair part P/N 68596318AB. So, I don't know when mopar cut in the repair part and production part changes. But it was before the production date of my 2024 engine, which is Jan 2024, IIRC.

In case you're wondering, no manufacturers of the aluminum aftermarket replacements had incorporated this change at this time. Although I did see that Mishimoto had put this new design on one set of ports on their aluminum replacement oil filter housing, but not on the remaining set of ports. Go figure.

So, if you're up for replacing the oil filter housing with this new design P/N 68596318AB, to see if your engine just needed this part and not a cracked block or head, it may work for you. In my case it didn't help and potassium kept rising. So, it was either a blown head gasket or cracked head or block and I elected to replace the entire engine without pursuing repair of the original engine.

When I tried just replacing the oil filter housing with the P/N 68596318AB, I changed the oil about 3 times in a row at very short (50 mile) flush intervals, then did a used oil analysis after several hundred miles. I used some Walmart Supertech oil for these "flushes" since it was very affordable and met the criteria. Unfortunately, my efforts didn't help that engine. Of course, I also flushed the coolant system.

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