It's a coworker's car. About 118,000 miles. I've got a thread about the leak. What's weird is that there isn't any sign of coolant mixing. It looks like pure oil.

 

I just did this on my 02 and had a question. The washers for the coolant distribution manifold had an inner rubber edge on them, but my washers for the oil cooler lines only had the plain washers with no rubber. Should they of had the rubber inner part also? I questioned it when I was putting it back together, but there were no signs of prior leaking around the cooler line connections and there are no signs of it now. I am just concerned that they might leak in the future and have to pull the intake off to reseal them with the proper washers!

Thanks for the write up on this. I am new to wrenching on anything newer than a 67 Triumph GT6 and this took me some time (9 hrs from start to finish turn key) but without the write up I would have spent close to $1000 total for parts and labor in my area to have it done for me! The oil cooler I ordered was for a 2001 Catera and cost me $280 from our local GM dealer parts counter.

 

Only the coolant bridge washers have the rubber insert. The others are metal only. I paid around $ 40 for the four of them at a GM dealer. :evil: Did not want to gamble on the old ones.

 

This is a great write up. I probably have to re-seal the oil cooler cover as I recently discovered a small amount of coolant leak on top of the "V" and there is no oil in coolant or vice versa. So is oil cooler cover the same as the "flange" mentioned in step 19, i.e. do I need to remove the oil distribution pipes to seal the cover? Thanks for your help!

 

You can "move" the pipes out ofthe way to remove the cover. I did not fully loosen them but had to remove a small clip that hold the lines in place. Just clean the contact surfaces and make sure you have the right sealant. I bought it from a GM dealer for $ 20

 

Thanks, first-saab. I will try to bend the oil pipes a bit instead of removing it. Hopefully it's not that much of a PITA job.

 

Be careful not to bend the pipes, you risk not getting the screws back in.

 

Thanks. I will be ultra careful. On a side note, first-saab, I saw a helpful oil cooler guide written by you, and you mentioned that you used GM sealant. I wonder if it is the following:

http://paceperformance.com/i-513210....com/i-5132105-88861417-gm-engine-sealant-gray-silicone-sealer-2-65oz-tube.html

Thanks. ;ol;

 

There is always the simpler way- oil cooler delete.
See this thread: http://www.saabcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=179831&highlight=cooler+bypass

 

I am on the oil cooler job. I know there are two aluminum crushers at the end of the oil lines, but are there supposed to be two rubber o-rings a above the oil cooler (below the cover)?

 

update

I finally finished the oil cooler cover plate resealing job with the help of posts in this thread as well as information from Caddy Catera forum. As noted before, the real tricky part was to remove the oil lines, especially the one on the driver side. I used first-saab's method of hanging a rope to move the lines just out of the way.

On the other hand, it is important to inspect the threads on the oil cooler as well as the lifting nuts after removing the cover plate or you will almost for sure be looking for oil leaks after the job. I found mine all striped so I had to order a new oil cooler as well as the lifting nuts in the end. Inspect the banjo bolts as well. In the end the job cost a lot more money and waiting time than I figured since I had to unexpectedly replace the oil cooler but at least it gave me a peace of mind.

 

One suggestion

Super instructions! Saved me a bunch of money...thanks!

I fought with those two oil line compression fittings that go from the top of the oil filter housing to the oil cooler...just as you described. I ended up giving up on the shorter line and working around it.

I decided to replace the thermostat too, since I was already in there. In order to separate the thermostat from the housing, you have to remove the turbo inlet pipe, oil dipstick, etc...

What I noticed once I had the turbo inlet pipe out was that the top of that oil filter housing is much more accessible once the inlet pipe is out of the way. You just reach down past the turbo compressor! Disconnecting and reconnecting those oil lines from below was MUCH more difficult!

My suggestion to anyone doing this job would be to replace the thermostat while you're at it ($65-75 part plus a couple of O-rings) and get that easy access to the oil lines. Reassembly was a snap!

In the pic I've attached, the large round opening is the turbo compressor. Next to this, the compression opening (female) you see is the oil filter housing end of the longer oil cooler oil line. You can see the other line to it, still connected. This is a view from above, just behind the radiator.

Thanks again for the excellent instructions and pics!

 

So what's the time estimate on doing this in your own garage?

 

You dont want to know

To me it was a one day job, and by that I am not saying only 8 hours.

 

^^^ this. It was a pretty grueling full day job. My biggest challenge was trying to lift/bend oil feeding lines out of the way. Yes, I know you are supposed to disconnect them from below but that would be a major PITA without right tools. Everything worked out in the end except I was not able to disconnect and replace thermostat while there, oh well.

 

Noticed oil and water mixing in the overflow a couple of months back. No coolant in oil or tranny, so I just kinda let it go. I knew I had a small leak on the back of the block, but I watched the gauge, checked the overflow and refilled here and there.

Well.........today, the oil/water mix spews from the overflow as I get to work. Guessing that the line from the overflow to the radiator is clogged and is not allowing additional fluid into the system. OR.....the thermostat is stuck shut.

Either way, it was a bad decision not to change the heat exchanger and flush the system.

 

My 2001 had a horrible leaking oil cooler, which made my entire cooling system weak. (And was the reason the previous owner was selling the car) The rubber hoses were all mushy from the oil breaking down the rubber. The rubber seals on the radiator also leaked. After I replaced the oil cooler I ran the car with tap water and liquid Cascade Complete dishwasher detergent. It's phosphate free, safe for rubber and aluminum, breaks down grease and will rinse without residue. I'd squirt about a cup or two of Cascade into the reservoir and fill it up with tap water. Drive it for a few days, drain, and repeat till I finished off a huge bottle of Cascade. I then continued to fill and drain with tap water a few times to make sure all traces of detergent were gone. I then replaced ALL of the hoses, radiator and heater bypass valve, but not the heater core. Added distilled water and used BMW coolant. Years later not a spec of oil in the reservoir, and a perfect running cooling system. ;ol;

 

Fudge! Just warmed my car to operating temperature and tried to run water into the radiator through the overflow tank. No flow whatsoever. Great.

And my milky oil/water mix is more like a milkshake sludge.

Wow........hoping just a cooler and a thermostat.

 

If I go buy an oil cooler for a 2002 Catera with a 3.0L engine, that should fit my 2002 Saab 3.0L just fine. Right?

 

Yes. Just make sure it looks like the top version.




Also don't pay more than this, which is the updated steel version, genuine GM oil cooler o-rings and cover.

 

Thanks for the reply and the pics.

 

;ol;;ol;;ol;

Also, it didn't take me more than 3 hours to remove and replace the cooler. I did let the cover's silicone set 24 hours before I added water though. And it's definitely easier (but slightly messier) to undo the cooler lines at the oil filter housing so you can move them out of the way to remove the cooler, than bending the lines at the cooler connection.

 

;ol;;ol;;ol;

Also, it didn't take me more than 3 hours to remove and replace the cooler. I did let the cover's silicone set 24 hours before I added water though. And it's definitely easier (but slightly messier) to undo the cooler lines at the oil filter housing so you can move them out of the way to remove the cooler, than bending the lines at the cooler connection.

Thanks again. Not looking forward to it, but I have to, unless I want to buy another car. Hoping that replacing the cooler, the thermostat and flushing the crap out of the cooling system will fix my problems. Hoping my delays didn't clog up the radiator.

 

Like I said, mine wasn't clogged or burping up coolant/oil but it was really bad. Try the Cascade method I mentioned. It worked REALLY well. I think the car is extremely easy to work on, very, very reliable, and this is definitely a task that's worth doing. It's really the V6's only achilles heel. You're going to need a simple E-Torx socket set to get the job done though.

 

Is it really this much work to replace the t-stat? Is this why everyone suggests replacing it along with the oil cooler?

http://saabworld.net/f29/saab-9-5-thermostat-replacement-v6-petrol-gasoline-engine-1192/

 

Like I said, mine wasn't clogged or burping up coolant/oil but it was really bad. Try the Cascade method I mentioned. It worked REALLY well. I think the car is extremely easy to work on, very, very reliable, and this is definitely a task that's worth doing. It's really the V6's only achilles heel. You're going to need a simple E-Torx socket set to get the job done though.

Mine is burping up coolant/oil out of the overflow. Have a milky sludge in the upper hose, and overflow tank.

 

Drain it, flush it as well as possible with the garden hose, replace that faulty oil cooler, change your oil and clean your cooling system with Cascade flushes till all traces of sludge and detergent are gone. Fill it up with some distilled water and good coolant. It's time consuming but not difficult.

 

The thermostat isn't easy... but it isn't ridiculous. You need to buy 2 o-rings for the connecting pipe (GM part# 9129999) and the *correct* thermostat. A thermostat I bought online had a slightly different housing which frustrated me since I didn't want to use different bolts. The original bolts were too long since the "shoulders" around the bolt holes in the replacement thermostat housing were shorter than the original housing.

Original, note long bolt hole channel:


Cheap brand has stubby ears where the bolts go:


When replacing the thermostat, you have to remove the aluminum connecting tube (and engine hoist eye, and swivel the oil dipstick tube out of the way). Be careful when removing this coolant tube as it can crack and break, usually at the end where one of the two o-rings (part # mentioned above) goes. So try not to pry the pipe away from the thermostat housing at an angle. Pull as evenly as possible straight out of the thermostat housing, twisting as you go.

 

Thanks. Looks like I'm gonna have to order the parts online, and wait a few days.

 

Gives you a chance to drain that sludge and rinse it out. ;ol;