<VV> Rebuild II

[Rick & Janet Norris]

As stated below, I trust no part, especially an old used one. With oil 
coolers I do the usual flushing with a good solvent. I do it multiple times 
also. I do a second soak in 50/50 mixture of Dawn Super strength and HOT 
water.
Lots of draining have the solution out then agitating by shaking it (the 
cooler!) and flushing with hot water under pressure from the spigot at my 
utility sink where I attach a short length of garden hose and hold it tight 
to one of the openings on the cooler, then switch openings and back flush.
I use a skinny blow nozzle on my air hose to blow it out several times 
between flushes and to final dry it.
Don't forget to clean between the fins. The passages are diagonal and I use 
a length of stiff wire to rod out the crud that becomes lodged in the 
passages. Most of the time I find a lot of old insulation from the lid in 
there. As the insulation gets soaked with oil and dirt and deteriorates it 
gets sucked down the cooling fan and spread out through the engine and oil 
cooler. It's a lot of tedious work but so is re-rebuilding your engine.

Rick Norris

>>  For some reason, perhaps divine providence, I shook  the cooler after I 
>> picked it up off of the shelf.  I honestly don't know why I did it, but 
>> it probably saved my rebuild from a third rebuild.  It sounded like a 
>> salt shaker.  I saw debris coming out of the oil ports.  I took a piece 
>> of paper and began to collect the debris.  I felt them and they felt 
>> metallic.  I then ran a magnet under the paper, and lo and behold, IRON.
>
> Sorry but cleaning of parts, particularly old parts, is part of the 
> process. Sounds like you need to flush the cooler. When building an engine 
> it is best to make no assumptions. When I get a crank back from polishing 
> I always buy some long pipe cleaners and run them through the oil passages 
> before installing. Is amazing the crud I find in there.
>
> Padgett