Oil cooler question....Grizzly down! :-(

[gcfishguy]

Well, servicing the Grizz after a very wet run this weekend, decided I should take the oil cooler off and straighten out the bent fins. It does have the screen over it but some have been smooshed over and bugging me since I got it.

Well, one of the big fittings came off harder than it should have. I'd say the gorilla that the previous owner used to take it to overtightened it and piled up the threads. I cleaned them up as best as I could but it's stripped and won't tighten (the threads on the cooler and in the fitting on the line).

Long weekend coming up, and no Grizz. @$$!$@^^&%!!!!

Mounting aside, can anyone tell me if an aftermarket transmission oil cooler would work in its place?
Or at least be enough to get me mobile for the long weekend?

Help :(

[thomasakehoe]

All you have to do is make sure you have roughly the same amount of surface are between the two cores. basically as long as the new cooler is the same size width, height and thickness with the same spacing between fins then you will be fine.

[AndersEklund]

Originally Posted by thomasakehoe

All you have to do is make sure you have roughly the same amount of surface are between the two cores. basically as long as the new cooler is the same size width, height and thickness with the same spacing between fins then you will be fine.

Or could it be possible to make new threads with helicoil replacement threads?

[ChrisH]

A new or aftermarket oil cooler out to work just fine. You'll just have to make sure the fittings match up and figure out some kind of mounting method. If the new cooler is bigger, be sure to check the oil livel and adjust it accordingly.

[gcfishguy]

Well, the fitting is brass and the threaded outlet on the cooler is aluminum. The bottom half of the threads are peeled off the cooler and the aluminum is packed into the threads on the fitting. It also looks like the threads on the fitting are buggered up too.

the fittings are huge (take a 1 1/8 wrench) so finding a bottoming tap to clean the threads in the fitting would be next to impossible.

Really not sure what the need of the huge fittings is, since the actual hole in the fitting that oil flows through is only about 7/16".

I can find anything used locally, or on ebay. New is close to $500 at cheap cycle parts so likely way more at the dealer.

I found the cooler and lines off a 2000 that a bike shop is parting out on the other side of the country...still waiting on a price for the parts and shipping from them though.

Since I need one line, I might as well get both....and maybe in the meantime i can go to the local UHaul place and pick up an aftermarket Transmission oil cooler. <Something like this> I'm pretty sure they're close to the right size, but maybe longer or higher....I'll see if I can make it fit. If I can find one and secure it in there, I should be able to cut the fittings off and attach it with clamps.

They're bigger so might give me more cooling than stock. I can't see it causing it to run too cold though...From what I read the 600's have no issues making lots of heat...

Nobody happens to know someone parting out a 98-2000 600 that might have an oil cooler? Shipping to eastern Canada will be expensive likely, but nowhere close to buying one new.

If anyone knows someone, please PM me their email address or something..

Thanks!

[thomasakehoe]

Check summit racing, I have been thinking of installing a Derale unit on my 675 they have a nice bar and plate models too which are way more durable than the fin type cores, you can also get them with an included and mounted fan that will simplify things, the hardest part is just going to get lines made up for it to fit, but most large auto parts stores now have services to make custom hydraulic assemblies.

[gcfishguy]

Well, thanks for the info everyone.

Came down to two choices, either pay $180 plus plus plus and get a used one shipped here, or check into an aftermarket transmission cooler.
The cooler and extra hose I needed came to $80. Bought it after work.
It's about the same width as the factory one, and about twice as tall.

I cut the fittings off the stock lines and connected the new line with a 3/8 brass barbed union. Since the old cooler was toast (fitting torn right out of it), I cleared all the fins out of it and just left a bit in the corners where the attachments for the new cooler slide through.
I re-installed the factory cooler and laid the new one on top of it with the rubber pads between them, like you would mount it in front of a radiator in its intended application.

I have the front corner apart waiting on a tie rod end, so I couldn't go for a spin but I let it idle quite a while with the idle bumped up and there's no leaks or anything.

It doesn't actually look too bad, and after I get a wire mesh guard built, it won't be noticeable at all. not sure how it'll cool, but given that there's twice the surface area exposed to fresh air, I hope I won't have any issues.

Anyone happen to know if you can shoot the motor with one of those hand held thermometers and check and see if the oil cooler fan is coming on at the right temperature. (Not complaining, but I only remember it coming on once or twice...the horror stories I hear about hot grizzlies makes me think it should be on more...?)

If this idea turns out to be less than successful I'll get that used one shipped to me I guess, or look into a more 'high performance' aftermarket cooler..

[thomasakehoe]

you can definitely use a non contact thermometer to see what temps, I'd spot check the line where it leaves the engine case and also where it's coming out of the cooler to see the diference. Also if you want you can always get a probe type temp sensor that are designed to just slide through the core of the cooler and you can wire it to a small temp gauge to monitor temps as you ride. If you have the ambition and a multi meter with the alligator test leads you can also remove your thermoswitch and hook it up to you meter set on continuity and then hang the thermoswitch in a pan of water on the stove and slowly heat it up have a regular candy thermometer etc.... in the pan and when the temp gets to where your switch should tell the fan to come on you should see continuity and below that you shouldn't. Hope this helps.

[Mad Mike]

most aftermarket oil coolers have a check valve to prevent the oil from bleeding back into the crank case and over filling it. make sure you have it flowing the right way if yours has a check valve.

[gcfishguy]

I blew through this one in both directions...Just like playing a trumpet...except I can't play the trumpet. Worked great, but sounded a bit flat. :p

No check valve at all..maybe because it's a transmission cooler?
Actually, it's this one.

I mounted it with the inlet/outlet pointing up.

[Grizzly_Greenhorn]

I have a 98 600 and my oil cooler fins are all messed up, and it seems to run real hot. I would like to try something similar to you.
How does your new oil cooler perform?
Can you take some pic of how you connected the lines?

[gcfishguy]

Sorry....just saw this now.... I'm in the middle of changing my one-way bearing so I'll snap a few pics of the cooler.

I've had it out twice since I put the cooler on, but both days were cool out. Once was a run with two people on it, and the next was a 50km run along, mostly old railbed so we were cruising along at a good clip. So far, it's working fine....the fan (which only kicked on a couple times) hasn't run at all, and no overheating or anything. The new cooler is about the same width as stock, but it's thinner. But, it has close to double the surface area.

I cut the factory couplers off as close as possible, to leave me as much of the old hose as possible. I connected the hose supplied with the cooler to the factory hoses with 3/8" brass barbed airline fittings.
I routed the factory hoses up along the frame in front of the engine and went right up close to the front plastic and then back down towards the cooler. If you do that, I'd suggest being really careful trimming the length of the hoses since you don't want too much or too little, putting stress on the inlet and outlet of the cooler, since they're not as rugged as the factory one.

I mounted the cooler with the inlet and outlet at the top...it fit better at the bottom, since I wanted the bottom edge of the cooler a bit lower then the edge of the factory one....if I put the inlet/outlet at the bottom they would be under stress since the hoses would have to do a 90 degree bend to run back between the front diff and skidplate.

I pulled the old core off and cut out all the cooling fins except for a little patch in each corner where the mounting 'zips' for the new cooler would pass through. This is a long process, using a wood chisel to cut through them and then a carpet knife to shave them off where they're soldered along the tubes, but I wanted as much airflow as possible. I suppose I could have cut the guts right out of the old cooler, but I didn't. Up to you, I guess.

To physically mount the new cooler, it's mounted in pretty much the same way that it would mount to an automotive radiator. Just place it where you want it, put the 4 rubber insulators in the corners so the old cooler doesn't rub against the old one, and run the 4 'zip' fasteners through the old one from the back, through the new one, then push on the 4 retainers and cut off the excess 'zip' that's sticking out.

Once my buddy has a free evening in his shop I'll trailer it over and we'll make a grate out of expanded metal. In the meantime I have to remember to be careful anywhere that I might get a stick up into it.

Pics will follow shortly.

[DEWFPO]

Another cheaper option : Harbor Freight and others sell an inexpensive cooler fin straightening tool. Acts like a nylon comb to straighten the fins.

DEWFPO

[gcfishguy]

Sorry, in the middle of another job and didn't even notice that your fins were just bent. If that's all that's wrong, go with what DEWFPO said.
They're a lot tougher than your run of the mill radiator fins, so go with a steel comb if you can find one.
I'd imagine Princess Auto would have them. (PA = the Canadian version of Harbour Freight)

Anyway, pictures here

One of my next projects will be to get rid of that 500 pound checkerplate monstroity that the previous owner blocked the airflow with.

He geared up the winch on a plate that fits into a receiver on the front or back. Handy, yes, but the huge 1/4" thick plate is overkill. Not to mention blocking....ALL of the airflow to the cooler.

It didn't overheat on hot days this summer, and winter's almost here so that will get done....sometime..