Thread: Oil cooler gasket alternative

Originally Posted by Vouge SE

Has anyone had any experience using anything other than the metal gasket for the oil cooler? I am thinking of using the sump sealant used for the 300tdi engine (black permatex)
So obviously oil and heat resistant

Cheers!

Risk would be getting some of that direct into the oil galleries whereas at least on a sump anything might be picked up into the oil pickup strainer. Not sure you could ever do it neat enough.

I’m thinking I’ll put it on the oil coooler side then mate it to the block. I have the oil cooler all out looks pretty doable

Oil pressure in the sump is (nearly) atmospheric, so a flexible type sealant would be OK, whereas at the oil cooler it would be a great deal higher, plus the pressure from the coolant side. There's a reason for the metal gasket, imho I wouldn't be trusting a hand applied bead of gasket sealant for the oul cooler, but each to their own I guess....

If it was even remotely suitable it wuld be installed during engine build - because its cheaper than having a gasket made.

Dont stick "goop" where it feeds critical oil systems

Im not 100% on the oil flow, but a reasonable thought is the cooler is the last run before dropping back to the sump. Sealant in my mind is therefore not likely to block galleries in the engine, but the cooler will be a lot finer and you will risk getting sealant stuck in there first.

New gasket, make sure the mating faces are nice and flat and cleaned properly. Shouldn't have too many issues

Originally Posted by shanegtr

Im not 100% on the oil flow, but a reasonable thought is the cooler is the last run before dropping back to the sump.

It can't be. There'd be no pressure to push the oil through the cooler and there's no way to collect all the spill from the bearings to channel it through the cooler.
As the oil cooler is an integral part of the filter assembly it stands to reason it's pre or post filter. Either way it's on the pressure side of the lubrication system.