vandeano

I have a stock 502 with stock oil cooler. I would prefer to have the oil filter to be the last thing the oil goes through before it goes into engine. The way the stock set up is the oil cooler is the last thing the oil goes through.

My question is, is it possible to have the oil filter be the last thing the oil passes by using the original hook ups?

articfriends

iTrader: (1)

Why would you want to filter the oil after cooling it? You'll get the least pressure drop,least amount of load on your oil pump and less chanch of opening any filter bypass or block bypass valves by filtering your oil as hot and thin as possible,Smitty

Wobble

That is true smitty, if you have had to rebuild motor due to bearing it is good idea to cool then filter as it is impossible to clean out cooler 100%.

Even Teagues big offshore cooler only drops oil temp 50* according to them

That's how I do it, but understand your logic.

articfriends

iTrader: (1)

My reasoning is it cost anywhere from 1500$ to 10,000$ to freshen a motor,7500$ to 40,000$ for a new motor,whats another 300$ for a new cooler!!!

articfriends

iTrader: (1)

In this guys case a stock sized cooler wouldn't even be 150$,if it was contaminated would be best to replace it,Smitty

Wobble

How do you know that new cooler doesn't have solder balls in it. At very least you should run an inline screen type filter.

BTW I inspect heat exchangers for a living, hence my caution.

articfriends

iTrader: (1)

None of this answers the original question,the merc factory 502 fittings have screwy inverted flare fittings with a mile of hose (at least my 502 did originally). Looking at my old fittings in my spare parts pile it looks like you would have to make a couple of hoses and change a couple of angled ends because some will come up short if your original cooler is on stbd side of motor like mine originally was. Wobble,as far as solder balls floating around a new oil cooler it could be remotely possible. I just ordered a g-tec oil line/oil cooler recirculating,pulsating flow, heated, triple filtered flush machine for a automotive repair shop that I'm partners in thursday(its primary purpose is flushing transmision coolers and lines),when it comes next week i'm going to see if it could be adapted for flushing boat coolers(there fittings are kinda big for this machine). We already planned on adapting it for flushing truck engine oil coolers on vehicles we replace the motors in,if it looks like it would work i'd be willing to flush anyones cooler that's interested in it for a nominal fee(machine was over 2000$ so i'd have to charge something to help recoup my cost),Smitty

Wobble

Artic, you are right, didn't answer the question. I have done just that on a mid 90's 502 motor. I may have had to use a longer line off another old motor. I can't remember. But the reason for the change was suspected oil cooler contamination.

vandeano

Thanks guys for your input. I have another question you guys maybe can answer. Since the oil filter hits the cooler first, would'nt you think that the cooler would be free from any contaminates? I know a filter can only filter so much. But you would think it could handle a spun bearing, would'nt you?

Wobble

Depends on where your bypass is. If gen 4 with external bypass then I beleive it can bypass filter and then go to cooler. On 5-6 it should be filtered out, because if bypass opens then it's straight back into engine. I think