I decided to look into whether or not the oil cooler manifold and lines could just be removed and if so, would this cause any problems with over heating. I checked all over the net particularly the S-10 Forums, for those who had done it they
did not have any problems, I also came across this article which finally convinced me it would be o.k
http://www.jagsthatrun.com/V6-instructi ... emoval.pdf
Enough yakkin, now on with the pics...
First pic shows my leaking oil cooler line
Second pic shows the oil cooler manifold, this is where I started this project
I drained the oil, and removed the filter ( at this point re-install your drainplug into pan ) heres what the manifold looks like without the oil filter, now how do you get the manifold off you ask? use a #10 allen wrench to remove the threaded insert ( that the oil filter screws on ) then use a T40 torx wrench to remove the two torx bolts on both sides of the threaded insert*
*NOTE, Before you remove the torx bolts, remove the two oil cooler lines that attach at the manifold ( this way the manifold stays secure while your wrenching on the lines)
Once the lines are disconnected from the manifold then remove the two torx bolts ( the manifold should loosed up off the block as your removing the bolts ) if it didn't, then just give it a slight tap.
Once you've removed the lines and the manifold this is what you'll see
Looking at the pic above you will see a slight bit of blackish looking gasket material above one of the torx bolt holes, try to remove as much of this gasket material as you can, the stuff you see I was unablr to remove so I had to just leave it.
Now here's what the oil cooler manifold looks like on the workbench, You can see where the black gasket stuck to the top, the threaded insert and the two torxs bolts are on the left, along with the orange rubber gasket that was between the manifold ( see the thin recessed groove ) and the block ( if the orange gasket sticks to the block, just peel it off )
Here's aother pic of the manifold, the side that the oil filter attaches to
The tricky part is removing the oil cooler lines from the rad and then removing the lines from the engine area, since the lines are both rubber and formed aluminum tubing you can just pull them out, I found that using a small tubing cutter worked great for cutting the formed tubeing into sections that I could easily remove.
Here's a before pic with the lines still in
And with the lines removed
Now all you have to do is re-install the drain plug in the pan ( hopefully you did this already ) then re-insert the threaded insert into the block ( remember that the smaller threaded section goes into the block ) attach your brand spankin new oil filter, then dump in your new oil, mine took approx 4ltr's (check your dipstick ) check for leaks, start it up and check for leaks again, drive it around and enjoy not having to worry about a blown out oil line, heres a final pic of the oil filter tightened up aginst the block, does'nt it look comfy.
