Q4 oil cooler pipes

[the wombat]

Quick question - anyone know where to get a set of oil cooler pipes for a Q4 engine oil cooler.

The exact ones I am looking for are actually the solid ones coming out of the oil cooler itself. Mine are looking pretty corroded and it would not be great if they let go!!!

I am guessing that if availability is difficult, making a set up from angled inlet/outlet and braided hose is straight forward. Does anyone know the fitting sizes per chance?

[AlfaJack]

M22 1.5

If you can get the old pipes off without damaging the rad then you can just replace them with nice after market stuff - 4x 90 degree unions and pipe costs about £45 from http://www.bgcmotorsport.co.uk/

The bodge:

http://www.cloverleaf4.co.uk/images/uploads/5129.jpg

and in with the new (my Q4):

http://www.cloverleaf4.co.uk/images/uploads/5127.jpg
http://www.cloverleaf4.co.uk/images/uploads/5128.jpg

And did a similar job on Ade's one:
http://www.cloverleaf4.co.uk/images/uploads/2598.jpg
http://www.cloverleaf4.co.uk/images/uploads/2599.jpg
http://www.cloverleaf4.co.uk/images/uploads/2600.jpg
http://www.cloverleaf4.co.uk/images/uploads/2601.jpg
http://www.cloverleaf4.co.uk/images/uploads/2602.jpg

[Steve Webb]

The bodge:

http://www.cloverleaf4.co.uk/images/uploads/5129.jpg



Was the bodge done to take the oil cooler out of the loop for a while?

Getting the pipes disconnected from the oil cooler is the tough part, I seem to recall they are thread-locked on at the factory from new, and with the added corrosion it gets touch and go whether you unscrew the bolt or twist the whole connection off of the bottom of the cooler.

[AlfaJack]

Was the bodge done to take the oil cooler out of the loop for a while?


Yup.

Lots of heat should help. Might need to angel grind a slot in to it too. I have a groove in the thread on the cooler on mine as we went too far. Still sealed up fine though :)

[the wombat]

Yep, thats what I need to do and the pic of the corroded pipe is what mine looks like.

Is the oil flow thermostatically controlled? i.e. do I need to drain the thing before I start undoing it all?

[Steve Webb]

As far as I remember the take off to the cooler is thermostatically controlled, so as long as the engine is cool\cold you shouldn't have to drain all of the oil.

Parts like this, that are just for the Q4, are getting close to impossible to find, so making them up from generic parts is the way to go. I had to do the same with the clutch pipework. Its not hard to do, and you could argue you get a better quality part at the end of it.

Oh and its usually far cheaper to do as well.

[the wombat]

Aye, totally agree. There is a lot of stuff that can be made up or fabricated rather than try to sourse OE (or similar parts).

BSG is fairly local to me so I have dropped them an email to see if I can pop over in the week with the disassembled (read destroyed!!) parts and get the replacements. WOuld prefer to have it sorted before the 155 birthday bash!!

[the wombat]

On the off chance, does anyone have the height, width and thickness of the oil cooler, and any other specification info?

Can't get the oil pipes off so likely going to replace the whole unit via BSG. Just need some spec info which will save me getting under the car again!!