Watch out for that 6.7 Powerstroke oil cooler housing

I was swapping a turbo on a 2015 F-250 in my buddy's shop in Tucson last month. Had the truck up, everything apart, and went to torque the new oil feed line. The housing on the oil cooler, the one that's part of the block, just cracked. Not a big crack, but a tiny hairline one right where the line threads in. It was a clean truck with 120k miles, no rust. I had to stop everything, drain the coolant and oil again, and order the whole cooler assembly. Took an extra two days and cost the customer another $400 in parts. Has anyone else seen these housings get brittle? I'm thinking maybe heat cycles over time, but it felt like cheap metal.

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3 Comments

the_pat6mo ago

Yeah that housing is a known weak spot. I've seen three of them crack on trucks with over 100k miles. It's not the torque, the metal just gets brittle from the constant heat. Ford should have made it from a better casting. Always makes a simple job a huge pain.

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sandrat245mo ago

Just slap some JB Weld on it as a temp fix until you can replace the whole housing.

2

taylor_young6mo ago

My buddy had his crack just sitting in a parking lot... slow leak right from that spot. Total nightmare for what should have been a quick hose swap.

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