Dorman oil cooler lines in depth Review

[Mg84648]

Rock auto has the in stock.
12472199
12472200
You will lose half a pint or so if you don't cap the lines while you change them.

 

[number9er]

Got these in today. I'm hoping to have an hour or so this weekend to get them installed. I'll report back when I do.

 

[Mg84648]

View attachment 563393
Got these in today. I'm hoping to have an hour or so this weekend to get them installed. I'll report back when I do.

As long as they are Delco I don't foresee any issues with installation.
Dormans, not so much.

 

[number9er]

Yeah, they're the Delcos (both made in China in my case). I got them on Amazon. I had an hour or so saturday to work on it, but I couldn't get one of the old ones off. I got the top one at the radiator end off, but the bottom one is stuck on there good. I gotta go get some PB Blaster or something this week.

 

[cucvrus]

You should not need to ruin them at the engine block. The adapters into the block are brass. They are very tight. I would recommend a good 7/8" or 22mm line wrench. Even if you have to borrow the good line wrench. When I say good I am talking a Snap-on or a MAC. Don't waste your time with a Craftsman. They spread open for me more then once on tight flares. I use Craftsman on occasion and have several sets of Craftsman wrenches. But they did ruin a lot of flare nuts before I stepped up to Snap-On's in 1990. Big money but well worth the cost in aggravation. Go underside to get the block fitting loose.

 

[number9er]

I never even got to the engine sides of the hoses. I was trying to take them off at the radiator end first so I could prop them up and drain as much of the oil out of the line and back into the engine as possible. Hoping the engine side won't be as bad since it's up against the filter housing.

 

[number9er]

Well, I finally got time to install the new lines today, and one of them just doesn't fit. The one that goes from the top position at the radiator to the rear port on the filter housing sticks out to far to install the clip back on it. I tried everything including bending it in place. Compared to the one that came off of it, it's about a half inch longer between the end that goes in the filter housing and the first bend. The rest of the bends all seem to be correct. I'm going to see about sending it back to amazon, although it looks completely used now.

 

[Mg84648]

Man that bites. I'm sorry you are having trouble. This is a stupid question so bare with me. Did you try swapping them around? I only ask because I tried installing them opposite at first.

 

[painter paul]

GARBAGE!
Ok, that pretty much wraps it up. Any questions? No?
Great, have a good weekend guys.
MG

I tried 2 different ones from NAPA and they were total Chinese garbage.
The engine end was flared so poorly it wouldn't let the nut threads even start. After carefully filing the end smaller I found the but threads were incorrect too. I made some up with good oil resistant hose!

Looks like an opinion to me. If you have specific details that might help other members, post them up. Why are they garbage?

 

[number9er]

Man that bites. I'm sorry you are having trouble. This is a stupid question so bare with me. Did you try swapping them around? I only ask because I tried installing them opposite at first.

I compared them to the old ones before putting them on, marked them both. And one of them fits fine. The other one would touch the shifter linkage no matter which port you put it on. I wish I could cut off a half inch and re-flare it, but that's beyond me.

 

[cucvrus]

Just bend the aluminum line away from any contact parts. Ever so gently and you will be good as gold. They are not precision pieces. You make them fit and fluid runs thru them. I use all the clamps and still use zip ties to keep them where I want them away from any moving parts.

 

[number9er]

I'll give it one more shot before sending them back. I tried several times bending it while they were attached. I even rigged up a nylon rope and a come-along to pull it back into place so I could get the P-clip on it. No dice. I had a feeling there was going to be an issue when I lined it up with the old one. All the bends are right, it's just an inch or so longer on the very end. If it were half an inch shorter, I could bend it with no problem.

 

[cucvrus]

Worst case scenario attach the line to the bracket with a short piece of perforated pipe strapping. Or use a hose clamp to attach it to the bracket. It is not what I would do if I did not have to. But in case I did have to I would make it work and make it look good at the same time. Like I said as long as it is hollow and a tube and fluid can run through it and the hose can not rattle and make contact with other moving/stationary parts it should be good to go. I just picked up a roll of 1/2" 300 PSI hydraulic hose. I am going to cut a pair of these apart and see if I can make them. I did it on Ford CVPI cars when the cooler lines were expensive and obsolete. They worked without fail. I can not see these as being anything special. I changed them on several vehicles and made a few but never for the CUCV. I will see if I find the time. I wrap them with white paper towels and wire tie them fast and test drive them a while. As long as the towels stay white we are good. Never had a failure yet. It is just a hose like anything else. Just has application specific fittings on the ends. If The Chinese can make them I can to. Due to liability reasons I will not sell them to anyone but close friends and family.

 

[number9er]

Due to liability reasons I will not sell them to anyone but close friends and family.

Hey aren't we second cousins? Just kidding around.
My old one's are in good shape except for the crimps. That's why I'm thinking if I can get my C-note back from Amazon.com, I'll be better off hose clamping some good hydraulic hose on these old ones. That was my first instinct (after you suggested it a couple pages back) and I should've stuck to it. But I thought it might be worth the extra cash to be able to do a quick swap and get this thing back on the road and pull the boat to the lake.

Anyway, I'm going to take the old ones by the hardware shop today so I can match up the threads and get some plugs so I can cap them off while I get it done right once and for all. I don't intend to drive it while the oil cooler is disconnected, but at least I'll make a smaller mess.

 

[number9er]

Update!
I rebuilt my old oil cooler hoses from the lines I had. Here's a little rundown:

I picked up two of these caps at Lowes. They're half-inch, but I'm not sure what the threading is. They fit, though. I just used them to plug the filter housing in case the oil decided to try finding it's way out while I figured out how to fix my old hoses.


Then I used a dremmel to carefully remove the crimps from the hoses. I made two cuts along the length of the crimp and stopped a little short of where the crimp meets the line. Then I just pried it back and forth until that part popped off.


Then I just attached some 300psi hydraulic hose from the hose and fitting place here in town using two hose clamps at each end.


Now I'll just have to keep it close to town and watch it for a few days. I still haven't sent the other ones back to Amazon. I meant to take a picture to show you guys just how much longer it was. Anyway, I feel pretty good about the new lines, but I'll update if I notice any leaks.

Mg84648, sorry for hijacking your thread, and thanks for bearing with me while I beat myself over the head with this thing. That goes for you too, cucvrus.

 

[cucvrus]

It will work. The barbs are in place and the clamps are doing the same thing as the crimped ends.

 

[Mg84648]

No worries at all 9er. I just wish you had better luck with the delcos. The new contractor making the lines for Delco obviously got this batch wrong unfortunately.

 

[edpdx]

I went with DOrman. Found the same problem as everyone else. The easiest solution was to install with out the block clamp and then holding the clamp to the top hose you'll see that the angle of the bottom one will not allow proper use of the clamp because the angle on the clamp is wrong.

SOLUTION: Hold the clamp in place over both hoses and mark the angle of the bottom hose with a sharpie onto the clamp. Take the clamp to the anvil/vice and using a ratchet extension, pound the correct angle into the clamp following the Sharpie markings. Test until you get a satisfactory fit.

The only other thing to do now is to wrap a piece of 7/8" heater hose over the new hose where it bumps into the steering shaft. Zip tie things to prevent wear. All done.

 

[Highlanderfarm]

Just tried to put the Dormans on tonight. Blasted things won't even fit the fittings in the block. Is there a workaround, or will the gm ones fit better? I swear, it is like one's metric and the other is sae.

 

[goldneagle]

Just tried to put the Dormans on tonight. Blasted things won't even fit the fittings in the block. Is there a workaround, or will the gm ones fit better? I swear, it is like one's metric and the other is sae.

If you had read the beginning of the thread I posted that the Delco are perfect fit and they were on AMAZON.com cheaper than the Dorman.