Changing oil and tranny coolers

T

TJM

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I have twin ford lehman 120 diesel engines. I was pondering changing the oil and tranny coolers in a few weeks. They are 9 yrs old.
I am thinking that I need to drain the engine oil and seawater side inside the coolers correct ?

Just trying to plan the process in my head.
 
you plan to change the oil or change oil and replace tranny coolers both?
 
I had changed the engine oil in the fall prior to layup. I wanted to change both coolers because I just saw that they were last replaced in 2008.
I have seen Lehman service manuals say replace both every 2-3 yrs.
I think I am pushing my luck if I go out one more time, seeing as though I am at a 9 yr life span.
 
Then if they are seawater cooled you must drain them and close seacocks as well.
 
That's interesting and rather amazing . I've never heard of a spec for replacing oil or transmission coolers at 2-3 yr interval. ...or any other interval while they do not leak. That certainly doesn't mean there isn't one. Last year I replaced my 1st transmission cooler at 13 yrs ( 2003 FWC Gas Crusader 5.7 MPI's) after a slight ATF leak was noticed in exhaust week at startup.

Is that spec in the owner's manual? I couldn't find reference to those replacements.
http://www.gbwoodies.com/OwnersManuals/Lehman/Lehman Engine/

If you do replace, and if you buy after-marker and have a choice between copper and silicon copper, suggest you get the latter for longevity even if there is a delay.

You are ...sure... it specs actually replacing the cooler , not just the ATF? Replacing just the fluid would make more sense to me .I replace ATF every year to have a good idea of condition.
 
Sandy your wonderment is well founded. I found that 2-3 yr interval on the Bomac marine site and almost crapped myself when I saw the 2009 date on the coolers.
I then called American Diesel and Bryan set me straight with a replacement interval of 1700-2000 hrs. Yes, I did purchase the Copper Nickel alloy type as you had mentioned.
Lesson learned, from now on, always call American Diesel. So now, I have a lot of extra spare parts, lol.

Thanks for confirming the info, always appreciated.
 
Tom- That sounds a lot better! :D.
Always good to have spare parts to greatly speed up future fixes,eh!

And you are correct in that I was thinking of cupro-nickel as preferred to copper in seawater , not the "silicon copper" I typed in error. I wish I had taken my own advice when I was in a hurry to replace my cooler in the middle of last summer and didn't want to wait ~~2 weeks for the C-N alloy option.
 
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