[DNA Dan]

You can get the hose from any reputable supplier, Amazon, eBay, etc. Honestly, in my experience brand does not seem to matter with PTFE...

Essentially it is like Pex tubing wrapped in braided stainless steel. So you are getting the higher thermal ratings plus the protection of the braid.

It is no different putting ends on, but does take some practice.

So it's a better product for this application? I've never seen that stuff used for fluids before, only for things like PVC and vacuum lines. I'll have to check it out, thanks!

 

[TangoMike415]

Personally I feel like it is, to each their own.

Doesn't collapse unless you twist it too much. Ha ask me how I know.

Would definetly practice putting ends on before doing the real deal. Not because it's difficult, just wouldn't want to ruin an expensive connector... Like I did...

Sent from my SM-G998U1 using Tapatalk

 

[DNA Dan]

Finally have all the parts to make my remote oil cooler setup. It's about 1K in parts for anyone looking to drop the change, but I spared no expense. All Improved Racing stuff, Raceflux fittings, Setrab 925 cooler, etc. I'll post more updates in the coming days/weeks as I progress. It was still snowing last Saturday! I plan to drop in a 180 degree stat and switch to the yellow coolant. I will also be replacing the OEM oil cooler and housing. I plan to dissect the old one to see if there's any clogging, dirt or corrosion in there. I made a custom bracket for mounting the remote filter under the radiator. Not the best work, but it was my 14 year old daughter who threw down the beads with a stick welder! (Insert proud Dad moment .) Still need to paint and mount it. So far I am planning to keep the stock cooling setup, we'll see how that goes.

 

[DNA Dan]

Been slowly making some more progress on this. Not sure if I will get it all plumbed this weekend, but we'll see. Here's a mock up of the oil relocation and potential routing. I know a 180 degree fitting isn't ideal, but it's the best I could do without putting the oil filter on it's side. And to be honest, If I am going through the trouble, that darn filter is NOT going to be mounted on it's side. I am done changing my oil with the filter sideways! It would be nice if the relocation piece had one of the return ports on the side. I tried the mounting location on the frame by the driver's side, but I could not get it to fit without all 90 degree fittings on all the ports. So I opted for a straight 30 degree shot to the filter, with (1) 90 degree and (1) 180 degree on the cooler side. Don't really know what I am doing, just trying to get it in there with the least number of bends. I love that Ford left that "tang" on the bottom intercooler bracket. Makes for a perfect mounting location. I'll even get some cooling from the gaping hole below the radiator. Oil changes will be soooooo much easier when finished.

 

[DNA Dan]

More progress on this... warning picture intensive post.

So I drove around on my custom oil bracket for the past few week just to make sure it's not going to fall off or crack a weld from flexing. All looked good. I started on the oil cooler location itself. I tried going vertical next to the driver's headlight but I just could not make it work once the fitting were on there. I am using the Setrab 925 cooler, which I think will work well. So I had to make another custom bracket to put this horizontally out front in the airflow. I used a 1" stock so there is good gap between the trans cooler and hopefully this doesn't pilfer too much air from the stack. I cut off the handle on the trans cooler mount so my bracket could rest against this plastic. Then in order to accommodate the raised portion of the cooler, I needed to cut the bracket on the hood. Now I appreciate engineering, but seriously, those hood brackets are the most OVER-engineered thing on the truck. Like give us a better radiator core instead of a heavy duty hood bracket! Anyway, when closed the hood has a stop backing up the grille, so I wasn't concerned about cutting this bracket down. It's still plenty strong and now my cooler is in the direct airflow path up front. I know this isn't the ideal spot being so high up, but we'll see how it works out. The banjo fitting slips just to the right of the bracket and fits very nicely.

 

[DNA Dan]

I was a little apprehensive about doing the plumbing with those Raceflux fittings. I watched a lot of videos on what to do, what not do to, and the tools that make the job easier. I bought the special wrench, the vice holder, the cable loppers, and the tool for pushing the fittings on the hose. Once I did a few, this made the job a lot of fun and easy to do. The hardest part was measuring the right amount of hose because it's rigid stuff and you need space to make arcs, etc. Getting at the oil adapter was a major PITA. I would say this is equivalent to replacing a turbo. The service manual shows it's possible to get from below, but I ended up just digging into the truck. I removed the driver's turbo pipes, CAC pipe, belt, alternator, air box, and all the hoses that were in the way. The oil adapter sits just in front of the turbo and that thing is BURIED! I replaced the adapter and the stock cooler. Replacements looked identical except the oil sensor was a different color plastic. I used 45 degree fittings on the take offs and actually came up and around the CAC pipe on the intercooler so I have access to pull the clip on that in the future. Then goes on to the relocation thermostat, in 180 fitting to the cooler on the outer side, then straight down between the CAC and radiator to a 90 degree back at the relocation stat. The last photo is the plumbing completed.

I'll do a post-mortem on the stock oil cooler in another update. I spent all day on this yesterday and my back is killing! Definitely doable in a weekend, but you have to drain all the oil, coolant, and tear into about 35% of the driver's side if you're changing the oil adapter.

 

[snakebitten]

The guy who says he would never do the timing chain job himself again. 😁

Hope you get the result you are after because you sure worked for it.

 

[DNA Dan]

You got me there bud. The challenge with doing this job is you need to have all the parts and plumbing/routing figured out. (Unless you have a bunch of fittings on hand.) I suppose you could throw the stock filter on there in a pinch and button it back up, but no one wants to take out all that piping a second or third time because they don't have a 90 degree fitting.

 

[TOWMA8R]

I was a little apprehensive about doing the plumbing with those Raceflux fittings. I watched a lot of videos on what to do, what not do to, and the tools that make the job easier. I bought the special wrench, the vice holder, the cable loppers, and the tool for pushing the fittings on the hose. Once I did a few, this made the job a lot of fun and easy to do. The hardest part was measuring the right amount of hose because it's rigid stuff and you need space to make arcs, etc. Getting at the oil adapter was a major PITA. I would say this is equivalent to replacing a turbo. The service manual shows it's possible to get from below, but I ended up just digging into the truck. I removed the driver's turbo pipes, CAC pipe, belt, alternator, air box, and all the hoses that were in the way. The oil adapter sits just in front of the turbo and that thing is BURIED! I replaced the adapter and the stock cooler. Replacements looked identical except the oil sensor was a different color plastic. I used 45 degree fittings on the take offs and actually came up and around the CAC pipe on the intercooler so I have access to pull the clip on that in the future. Then goes on to the relocation thermostat, in 180 fitting to the cooler on the outer side, then straight down between the CAC and radiator to a 90 degree back at the relocation stat. The last photo is the plumbing completed.

I'll do a post-mortem on the stock oil cooler in another update. I spent all day on this yesterday and my back is killing! Definitely doable in a weekend, but you have to drain all the oil, coolant, and tear into about 35% of the driver's side if you're changing the oil adapter.

I like it, very nice Sir!

 

[DNA Dan]

Thanks! So far so good. No leaks and I know it has purged the cooler because the one side is warm. Is was about 72 today and after about a 20 minute drive the highest I could get ECT was ~195. Sounds about right since I changed the stat as well. The real test will be under load, in 95 degree weather with a strong headwind.

A recap of the parts I replaced/added:
Stock Oil adapter
Stock Oil cooler
Oil take off/relocation for filter with 205 degree stat.
Setrab 9 series 25 row cooler
RT1225 Motorcraft 180 degree thermostat
Flushed cooling system with VC1 and switched to the new Yellow coolant
Fresh oil change (takes about 7-7.5 qts now)

I am planning to add dual Aeroforce interceptor gauges to the pillar and run a manual sensor to the take off port. That will be the next project after I take a hacksaw to the old cooler and inspect the old parts. It looks like Aeroforce has stopped production due to supply chain shortages. I'm hoping stage 3 actually still has these as they don't show a wait list or backorder on the website.

 

[DNA Dan]

Finally had the chance to try and dissect the stock oil cooler. That thing is an odd curiosity to say the least. Basically there isn't a way to cut this thing open cleanly to observe the mesh in it's native state. Its a series of plates that have a mesh in the middle, but then the plates are compressed and heated together so they fuse into a brick. I first tried cutting all around this thing to split it open, no luck. I then tried to cut a notch on the end, thinking I could peel a part off, absolutely not. Finally, I tried to whack it laterally to peel part of the plate off, again, no such luck. About the most I could do is cut off one plate where the oil bolt attaches. After such poor results I tossed it into the garbage. I did check the coolant flow beforehand and did not observe any clogging, it was free flowing. I was unable however to check the oil flow. I assume this was okay as well because my oil filter is heavy after oil changes, indicating it's collecting stuff in the filter.

 

[DNA Dan]

So I got the skid plates and air dam back on and took the truck for a 200 mile drive. Still no leaks, so super happy with the install. It was only in the 60's outside, but the ECT never broke 190-195 degrees. I attribute this mostly to the 180 degree stat that I installed. I know the cooler has been purged because it's gotten warm, but not sure I've even tripped the 205 thermostat in the circuit yet. The engine feels like it's hardly working, almost as though it's more relaxed. Not short on power or anything, just runs very smooth and quiet. My only other observation is the oil pressure is ever so slightly higher than stock. Instead of a completely vertical needle, it's tipped towards the higher side. I assume this is because I have the stock cooler on there in addition to the external one? I don't really see it moving up and down when I get on it, so I think this is just the new normal and nothing to be concerned about? It never moves.