is the engine oil cooler needed on 960 24v?

[2V8s]

Hi,

the car's slight engine oil leak became more of a trickle recently so upon further inspection it seems it's coming from the front of the car under the radiator where it seesm there may be an engine oil cooler? fed by 2 pipes either side of the oil filer on the engine?

I was suprised this sort of car would have a seperate oil cooler? Is this needed? The cheapeast i can find this is around £150 plus VAT, and I so far havnt been able to source the two feed pipes because one of these is very corroded also.

I am thinking - can this be bypassed, is it really needed? Otherwise is this a common proplem and are there any other tips for solving the leak? I guess it could be the connectors or something - its leaking on the drivers side.

Cheers

[migrator]

You will find it rather useful if you do a lot of towing or transport a lot of heavy gear.

The leak is probably from the unions where the pipes join the cooler. Replacement compression washers are only a few pence from Volvo (been there and done that).

[Toplights]

My 960 has a fitted oil cooler,it also has a towbar so has obviously been used for towing.The last thing i would do is remove the oil cooler,the autobox on the car is the best part of it,gear changing is seamless,i havent felt it changing yet,not even when i first put it in drive or reverse.i wonder if there are any gears in there.

[Clan]

Originally Posted by 2V8s

Hi,

the car's slight engine oil leak became more of a trickle recently so upon further inspection it seems it's coming from the front of the car under the radiator where it seesm there may be an engine oil cooler? fed by 2 pipes either side of the oil filer on the engine?

I was suprised this sort of car would have a seperate oil cooler? Is this needed? The cheapeast i can find this is around £150 plus VAT, and I so far havnt been able to source the two feed pipes because one of these is very corroded also.

I am thinking - can this be bypassed, is it really needed? Otherwise is this a common proplem and are there any other tips for solving the leak? I guess it could be the connectors or something - its leaking on the drivers side.

Cheers

yes you do need it , that engine generates a huge amount of heat .. also a forgotton thing is that the "cooler " also heats up the oil quicker as it takes heat from the coolant to the oil . then when the oil starts to get hot under load it transfers the extra heat to the coolant .
Remember also there are oil jets spraying the underside of the pistons and you need to get rid of this heat ...
£150 is a bargain! But not that long ago the genuine volvo one was that kind of price ...

[2V8s]

OK thanks so needed it is!

Will start with the connections o rings etc hopefully then may not need a new unit. Will report back. For now though its in daily use just topping up a lot! Need to wait until my other car is fixed, then can drain the oil and investigate further......

Maybe I could use any suitable oil cooler of similar size rather than use the specific Volvo one if I can find a generic one cheaper? As i'm thinking I may need to get pipes / connectors made up anyway if the oem pipes arent available

[Toplights]

Are you shure its the oil cooler,it may be coming from the bottom front crankshaft oil seal,or the front camshaft oil seals,it runs down the inside of the cam belt cover and out through the bottom.i thought my oil cooler was leaking but it wasen't.By the way i dont know if you do, that the two pipes that run round the cooler are water pipes,you will get them from a volvo main dealer.