Well today I went to the garage to see a shiny speck on the ground, and sure enough it turned out to be a drop of oil. Under the little plastic cover I see moisture around the cover. I remove the fenderwell and see inside the lower part of the cooler to be very wet.

The car has around 115k miles, so should I assume that its just its time?

I was looking to add a secondary cooler sometime soon, might this just be the chance to get this primary oil cooler upgraded?

 

Yea, it's kinda expected. It's probably a really slow leak/drip/sweat. Its source can be varied such as the crimp in the softlines going into/out of the cooler, the actual fittings on the cooler, or even the fitting where the temp sensor bung is.

I'd remove the front portion of the liner and clean off everything. Start up the car, let it get up to temp (thermostat opens), and look for the leak.



Here's what I found when I removed the front bumper last year. This wasn't translating to staining on the ground, I was removing the bumper for other stuff.


After I degreased the cooler, I ran the car a bit and watched the area. I noticed this weap on the fitting.


I busted out the big wrenches (32 and 36mm)


I loosened the mounting points on the cooler, lowering it a bit and enabling me to snug up both of the fittings.

 

The top of the cooler is completely dry, which is what surprised me. The lines and fittings around there are perfectly clean, just this bottom portion. Is there some fitting around there on the bottom as well that I should check out?

 

No fittings on the bottom of the cooler. If the cooler is dry on the top (near the fittings), it is time to find a replacement.

 

Also, your metal air diverter is mounted backwards. The rubber should be facing the tub. This piece stops the air from passing by the cooler.

 

I'm still fairly too new to know which piece you are exactly referring too. Could you please open up the image in paint or something and circle it.

Come to think of it now I didn't really check out the temperature bung while I was looking. I was just flash looking to see if its the lines or something of the sort, but they were dry.

 

The silver piece w/ the rubber/plastic on the edge. That bump should be pointing inward where it matches up to the contour of the unibody.

 

Oh wow, I was comparing my picture to another picture and didn't even pick up on that, only when you pointed it out did I "facepalm" myself. Thanks for the help guys,really, really, appreciate it.