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?

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

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.

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!!!

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

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.

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

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.

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?

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

It is a GEN V. But the cooler had plenty of metalic oil coming out of it when I drained it. I have a new cooler coming. After I read BIGJIM luck, I don't want to take a chance. Do you think I would do any harm running with out the cooler. Im not talking WOT, but just 20 min. cruising. Just to see how new motor is running?

Amazing how that stuff gets everywhere when you do a bearing isn't it? This is why I prefer to filter oil after cooler.

I dont see the harm IF you have an oil temp guage. Otherwise why risk it.

I would still take off your oil lines and filter pad adapter, filter boss and flush them out before you get started.

I was at teague marine, and like you said, they build all the HP motors with cooler before filter. I will take your advise and go that route.

I very much appreciate your guys comments

I would suggest filter BEFORE the cooler. Oil is filtered easier when it is hot and thin... not thick and cold. All of the oil isn't filtered at once anyway. If you are running a spin-on type filter... they all incorporate a bypass valve or a belleville spring under the filter element so that oil can bypass the filter when it can't flow through the matrix. If you take apart a Fram hp-6... or even look down the large center hole... you can see the oil bypass valve. The valve looks like a brown button at the bottom.This valve allows the oil to bypass the filter matrix when it can't pass through it. Under high flow (high rpm) situations... the oil can't all push through the filter. It's better to have adequate unfiltered oil to the bearings than not enough filtered oil.

My sentiments exactly,as far as teauge filtering oil after cooler i wasn't aware of that and have never seen anyone set one up that way. If there is metal anywhere from previous motor grenading (especially in your cooler that was AFTER the filter) i wouldn't count on it being able to catch it all,if it couldn't catch it going thru filter hot then it's nlt going to catch it going thru filter cold,especially if it has any kind of bypass,Smitty

I wouldn't recomend filtering after the cooler because of Oil Pressure issues, but since you are inclined to do it anyway, or you want an answer to your question, what comes to my mind is a block off plate at the pad, (about $35 from moroso, summitracing.com) and an remote filter mounted wherever you want.
I have one in my racecar, I'm pumping oil through all kinds of lines w a dry sump pump.


The remote mounting plates are also from moroso, about $55 in cast metal. The super nice filters (and super nice Billet remote mount plates, $100) are from Cantonracingproducts.com. They filter 8 microns, the size of a red blood cell with much better flow then any fram or paper filter. the case is billet and the internal filters are changeable and have much longer life then paper.
At least the Canton filter won't kill your pressure and flow like paper.

Flame away
Evan

I will go ahead and leave it like it was. Since the filter did'nt stop the cooler from contamination anyway. Thanks again for the input.

No Way.

No that you worked us for all that info you MUST change it

I have a remote mount Dan Olson cooler and filter combo and I believe it runs thru the cooler then the filter and back in to the engine.

I respect everyones opinions stated here. Still, if you grenade a motor, most likely the filter will stop up and then bypass allowiing metal into the cooler, even with careful flushing the cooler can not be considered clean. Running the filter after the cooler with a rebuilt motor and the origional cooler seems like a prudent step. We have done this in many race cars over the years. It's a given that oil filters will bypass some oil if you rev a cold motor hard.

That is why we allways warm our motors as much as possible before running them hard. I feel like you are improving your odds this way if you don't buy a new cooler with your rebuilt motors. There have been several threads here where rebuilt motors have had bearing failures soon after rebuild. You have to wonder.