Oil cooler feed and return hoses - WARNING!

[Dave Eds]

Some of you would have heard (mainly from me) of my recent complete loss of engine oil whilst travelling at speed.

Once again Gerald at GST to the rescue.

Fortunately I seem not to have suffered any engine damage, which is somewhat of a relief.

The cause of the problem was a blown oil cooler hose (A100K0032F or B100K0033F) at the crimped joint between the rubber and metal parts.It would appear that the joint wears itself loose. This is not the first occurrence of this problem that Gerald has dealt with in the last few weeks. He has recrimped the joints for me, and has decided to add a check of these hoses to his service schedule, the fear being that as the age of the car increases the more this problem may occur, thus early detection saving later problems.

Guess you may all wish to check or have yours checked.

Happy Elaning

[Nige]

I may have a similar problem on Norma as today a puddle has developed under the oil cooler whilst the car was parked in the car park at work, I'm on the road for the next couple of days and can do nothing about it until the weekend. Investigation will then determine if the cause of the leak is hoses or the cooler itself. This problem is becoming mostly fashionable this year.

[Specky]

At least the charge cooler won't leak...

TTFN

[Rambo]

Exactly the same thing happened to me about 6 months ago - I think I mentioned it at Donny Dave ?

I got Pirtek to put a new fitting on the supply hose and they pressure tested it and also the return hose. All was fine until it got hooked up and then found there was a slight leak from the oil cooler. Got a new one from SJS. Nice bit of kit but they wanted £140 for it. Managed to do a deal with Steve as I needed a crankshaft pulley at the same time. He'd been using it as a paperweight

[bobbrown]

This what happened to mine a couple of weeks back and Geralds to the rescue. He did say at the time he had not seen one come off but he spoke too soon. I was fortunate as it happened while the car was at low speed and was only driven a very short distance, 30yards, before being parked up.
I would hate to think what would happen if a driver fails to stop as soon as the oil light comes on, major damage to the engine as the oil is the " life blood".

Bob

[Rambo]

Mine started after a short drive to Halfords. I noticed a small oil drip from the FOS when I got out, thought , had a quick look under the bonnet and identified the problem, then drove home slowly keeping a keen eye on the oil pressure gauge. I'm very glad it happened to me locally rather than last week down the M6 at >80 mph, 250 miles from home !!!

Worth giving it a check out folks as Dave Eds has already said

[Coupeboy]

Presume you guys are talking exclusivey about the unions at the oil cooler end which would necessitate jacking up and taking the cover off. The engine end are visible next to the cam cover and on mine are dry albeit rusty. Thanks for the warning. I think we're in to a new service schedule now as these cars get older - rear wishbones, oil cooler hoses, outer sills etc.

[Dave Eds]

Mine was actually top end ie not cooler end. Check for any movement, mine were dry until one popped!

[Gazza]

These are now avaiable from SJ's for about £70 each after they made copies from some I provided them.

They are a nice bit of kit and would recommend them. Just a shame I had to wait so bloody long for them!!

Gazza

[Doug]

the info from this thread and the parts would be a good addition to the wiki somewhere . . . .

[paulwatkins]

I was feeling a bit nervous after hearing all the tales of woe, as one of the crimped joints on mine was weeping ever so slightly.

So before it got any worse, I nipped over to Pirtec in Avonmouth, returned an hour later with £70 cash and I had a new pair of hoses.

S4012694.JPG

They had to reuse the ends due to the bends, and the threaded fittings. I installed them this afternoon....a perfect fit. In fact, because of the adapters, it was easier to put everything in place, line it all up, then nip up the conenctions. Meaning no undue strain on any connection points or slight twists in the hoses

[bobbrown]

I do not see why they had to use all the adapters why not just replace the hose and swage them on to the ends of the pipe as per the originals?
Or did they use hydraulic hose? Rather than oil hose, lets face it we are not talking hydraulic pressures in the 1000’s of psi rather 200/300 ps1
All those fittings just make it look like a bodge in my opinion.

Bob

[paulwatkins]

Bob, I just left it to the experts.

And at £70 for both hoses (as opposed to £70 each from SJ's, + their extortionate p&p prices + VAT), the majority of which is hidden from sight behind the wheel arch liner, I thought it was a very good deal.

Took all of 25 mintues to fit! Probably would of got stung for a couple of hours if I'd taken it to some garage.

[IanDowning]

Bob, I just left it to the experts.

And at £70 for both hoses (as opposed to £70 each from SJ's, + their extortionate p&p prices + VAT), the majority of which is hidden from sight behind the wheel arch liner, I thought it was a very good deal.

Took all of 25 mintues to fit! Probably would of got stung for a couple of hours if I'd taken it to some garage.

The metal section of the pipes also rub on the boywork as it exits into the wheel arch ,mine worn through causing a leak -I just explained to a local hose replacement firm the problem and they braised the metal pipe and fitted new hoses for £25 a Basildon "Essex" firm --Ian

[jordizr1]

Hi,

Has anybody seen these?

www.lotusm100parts.com/partinfo.php?pID=179

I have a leak just under the oil cooler, and was checking availability of the hoses when I found this page.

I find SJ's too expensive for just a hose.

Opinions?

[lotusgirlmarie]

Those look to be the pipes that attach between the flexible oil lines and the oil filter housing. These unfortunately are not the culprit when it comes to blown hoses. When my hoses started to leak as well as my cooler I went all braided steel Aeroquip. They even make banjo fittings that will mate to the cooler. It's just the filter side that's the issue.

[racerstev]

Those look to be the pipes that attach between the flexible oil lines and the oil filter housing. These unfortunately are not the culprit when it comes to blown hoses. When my hoses started to leak as well as my cooler I went all braided steel Aeroquip. They even make nano fittings that will mate to the cooler. It's just the filter side that's the issue.

After seeing oil dripping from mine today it looks like I'll go this route. Did you reuse the steel part of the lines or just go with
fittings and stainless hose all the way?

Steve Lockett

[lotusgirlmarie]

I have a different oil cooler now so I used different hose ends on the cooler side. On the other side I reused the steel fittings as they are an odd type hydraulic fitting and just had them crimped onto braided stainless hose. I believe you could also reuse the banjo fittings or source new swivel ones from either Aeroquip or Earl's.

[racerstev]

Thanks for the reply. Standard banjo's look like they will fit, don't expect a problem there..
The area in question is were the hose's go under the shell, is there room for braided hose there
or would steel line be needed to get clearance. My shell is off right now so I can't check myself..

I have a hydraulic hose shop in my area, I might be able to source the ends.. Or just cut the
stock ends off the lines on the engine and put a standard double flare on there...

Steve

[racerstev]

Hey guys any idea what the size is on the oil cooler side? They are almost AN8 but just a bit undersize.
The pipe is 12mm compared to 1/2" for AN8. Someone must make an adapter.