P38 oil cooler

[redben101]

Hi

I have a P38 2.5DT and over the past few months the leak from the oil cooler has been getting worse and worse and i must now admit defeat and buy a new one or a cooler that doesnt leak.

Thing is land rover cost a fortune and they seem to be pretty rare. Can i fit one from an equivalent BMW as it is a BMW engine powering the P38.

Any ideas?

Cheers

Ben

[David Sparkes]

You can fit 'any' oil cooler, but it's better to get one of about the same size, with the same connection styles for the oil, and similar mechanical mounting brackets.

Jeremy Fearn may have old standard ones, as he takes these out when he fits a large intercooler to these models. http://www.jeremyjfearn.co.uk/power.htm 01629 732546

Note that early in the life of this model they brought out a mounting modification that allowed one end to move slightly as the intercooler heated up and expanded. There is a technical bulletin about it.

Dated 28/03/97, Titled Oil Cooler - Failure, numbered 12/01/97/EN.

Affected vehicles - Range Rover B.M.W Diesel Derivatives LP up to 360751 (that's the last 6 digits of the VIN).

After that you can expect the modified cooler to be a standard fit.

I mention this for completeness, I'd be surprised if an original oil cooler has lasted from 95 / 96 till now.

"Investigations by Land Rover engineers into failures of oil cooler units have shown that expansion of the

intercooler is placing additional strain on the oil cooler which may result in oil cooler failure. To overcome this

issue and to prevent undue strain being placed on the oil cooler, a new unit has been introduced with the

addition of a sliding joint (on the slotted side of the oil cooler) to relieve any strain occurring.

In the event of an oil cooler failure, the new condition oil cooler with the sliding joint should be fitted."

HTH