gbarron

My '89 S4 has the separate lower mounted engine oil cooler ('90+ style) and I have it out for some work. When looking through PET it shows a gasket to be used with this style of cooler (928 504 671 02) but I did not see this on mine when I removed it. Does anyone know where/how this gasket is positioned?

Also, the PET picture shows the orientation of the cooler different than how mine is mounted. There are two bolt-on brackets and two mounting ears that are part of the cooler. Mine was mounted via the two bolt-on brackets to the bottom of the radiator lower support (using the threaded studs from the lower rad mounts). In PET it also shows nuts & washers to be used with the mounting ears that are part of the cooler, but there was nothing bolted to mine at these ears. Does anyone have a picture or something to show how the cooler is suppose to be mounted?

Thanks,

Glenn

Rob Edwards

I just removed the cooler from my GTS, there was a short remnant of that gasket strip. On my GT it's missing, as the oil cooler was replaced in 1997.

IIRC it goes along the anterior top edge of the cooler to seal it against the front crossmember {EDIT: Wrong, goes on the bottom, see post #14} . Like all German foam of the early 1990's, it was utterly and completely trashed/disintegrated. I took a pic of the remnant in position and can post it tonight. I bought a replacement factory gasket, if you can wait a day or three I can measure it, it's just a ($9.50) strip of gray squishy foam , Home Despot probably has a roll of the same cross section dimensions that would work.


Pics from my '90:

From above:



From the front:




From behind- the rubber grommet gets tired and the cooler bracket can pull out/off: Everyone should check theirs, you don't want to fatigue the other end's bracket where it bolts to the cooler.....

gbarron

Thanks Rob! A picture showing the foam gasket would be great!

Also, I see from the pictures yours is mounted the exact same way as mine, so was there anything mounted/bolted to the the two built in mounting tabs on your cooler? I wonder why PET shows nuts & washers for these two ears if nothing mounts there?

Calgary Ole

On mine the front spoiler was attatched to the tabs along the oil cooler

Rob Edwards

Dunno what those nuts are for- Perhaps someone else knows?

Lizard928

Glenn,

You could just call Terry and go have a look at his 91

Calgary Ole

I don't have a picture with me in my office but I remember the middle part of the spoiler comes under the cooler and attatches to those tabs

toofast928

Wow the oil cooler is mounted that low?!

Lizard928

Thats why most of them get destroyed quickly. Going alittle too far on one curb and CRUNCH. UH OH where is that pool of oil coming from. Why are the lifters making noise?

Calgary Ole

I bought my car with a busted oil cooler. The PO hit an approach to fast and wrecked the cooler but drove it for a year adding oil every couple weeks as it was a slow leak. Took me 50 hours to clean the bottom of the car when I first got it home.

Rob Edwards

The driver's side of them also gets clogged up with oily gunk that is the product of PS fluid that invariably leaks onto the hoses and mixes with dirt and dust. I took the cooler out of the dead GTS last weekend- the thing was so filthy it gave me chest pain, so I pressure washed it. It was also pretty crapped up with dust, leaf fragments, bugs, etc. It was pretty satisfying to clean...

Begs the question of whether the cooling efficiency is significantly affected by all the gunk and whether blowing them out regularly should be considered good PM.

gbarron

The spoiler mounts to clips riveted to the bottom of the cooler housing...the mounting ears/tabs I am referring to are in a different place...maybe the nuts/washers listed in PET are an error?

Yes, it is quite low on the car...and mine has also been hit by a previous PO causing a slow leak which has now gotten too BIG for my comfort!

Here is the picture from PET, the tabs in question are on each side of the cooler, items 7, 8 are the nuts/washers in question.

Lizard928

Glenn,

If yours is leaking send me a pic to my email.
If it is repairable I should be able to TIG it.
But I am not in town right now as per norm.
Get home on the 15th

Lizard928

The seal goes between the bottom of the cooler and the spoiler. You can use the same trick you used for the console to HVAC box for the seal.

Calgary Ole

Just had a look at mine and they were unused. I had a hose shop make me a bypass hose while I wait to get a new cooler. Works fine in this climate. Lizard931 had mentioned using an aftermarket cooler in front of the radiator as another option.