'95 Jimmy 4.3 "W" OIL COOLER LINES holed.

[Torskdoc]

GM did NOT design the S-10's to be worked on in some cases without pulling the engine. So wife comes in today complaining that the "CHECK GAUGES" came on in the '95 Jimmy and for me to go out and "FIX HER CAR". WTH?? So I walk out to the car and underneath is about a qt of oil on the ground under the engine. 1st thought was Front MAIN Seal had let loose. Checked the oil..........Nothing on stick. Took 4qt's to fill it..HOLY CRAP!!!
Very strong smell of burning oil on manifold or exhaust pipe.

Pulled out a can of Foamy GUNK and sprayed EVERYTHING UNDERNEATH fwd fo the 4L60E tailshaft. Waited 10 minutes and rinsed. Then waited an hour to dry (92* with 75% humidity in Md.) Got her to come out and start car while I looked underneath for leaks. Almost immediately a scatter gun shot of oil sprayed all over the left side under the leel of the Exh man. I asked for pressure reading and then shut off. Pressure was holding @ 45. So that's good.

Went down and got the line/hoses btwn the Oil Filter engine adapter, and the Oil Filter block. And a new adapter gasket kit. Had a hell of a time getting the lines out, ending up using sawz all on the metal lines about an inch from the hose end plate.

After a lot of finagling of the adapter, the gasket, and 2 bolts, I realized that this P.O.S. was NOT designed to be replaced wit hthe engine IN THE CAR!! But I DID find the reason for the hole in the line. Using a 4ft pry bar on the left side between the frame and the Exh man, I got the motor to lift about an inch and a 1/2 just by rocking it. The left side Motor Mount has no rubber left in it (apparently it's the original from '95) resulting in the engine dropping about 1/4' to 1/2" and pinning the lines between the pan flange and the top of the differential, rubbing a hole of 1/16" wide x 1/4" long in the center with a rub mark of 3/8" by 11/16" long. Now I know why the fan rubs the shroud in winter in reverse. But not for long!!!!!!!!

I got the engine jacked up enough to be able to get the lines in place but I can't get to the bolt that holds the engine adapter to the lines. I'm gonna have to disconnect both mounts and put the engine crane on the engine and pull it up high enough to install the adapter with the lines on it, replace both mounts, and reverse the process getting it all back together. And the ROYAL PAIN IN THE A-- about it all is the wife. She's out there every 1/2 hour wanting to know when it's going to be finished. After the 4th time, I told her it'll be finished when it's finished, unless she'd rather get on her back and get dirty and fix the damned thing herself. And she's pissed about the cost. With a 22% coupon it was 4$43. and change for the lines and gasket, now it's gonna be another $50 for the mounts. With new mounts the lines shouldn't be pinched. Plus I wrapped the metal lines in split 5/8" heater hoes and secured with tie wraps. This morning I got the long face from the Dr. about my back. He's got to do a fusion and internal fixation of L4-l5 and L5-S1 in the lower back. 2 blown and tore up disc's. About a month or so before surgery. Gotta have the Jimmy fixed by Tuesday latest. She has the Grandkids and I'll be on way to Va. for a re-union with old Navy corpsmen I worked with decades ago. Going to bed. I plan on being under Jimmy at 0700.

[Torskdoc]

It's back together, but not until after finding out there was a 600# gorilla setting the torque on the Motor Mount cross bolt, and he must have had one hell of a bad weekend! Plus the political correctness patrol visited twice, told them to mind their own friggin business......(busy body old nags!)...you can't even question the paternity of GM Engineer's anymore, using some choice language that would make todays ARMY Drill Sgt's. blush.....

With the crane attached, and the engine lifted to the limit of the tunnel, I had enough room to sneak about 2-1/2' of extensions to get the bolt from the lines to the Oil filter engine adapter and it tightened up. Then with the aformentioned heater hose taped over the metal lines, I let the engine down on the mounts (or what's left of them, The pass side is still intact). I have a 2ft 1/2" breaker bar and with another 4 ft pipe onthe end of that, I couldn't generate the torque to break the cross bolts loose on either side, even after 5 days of daily shots of PB BLASTER. So I took the new mounts back and said the hell with it. There is a good 3/8 to 1/2 " gap between the new lines and the top of the differential. I figured out what happened. On the front end of the metal tubes near the hose interfase, is a dual hanger clip. This clip snaps into a "L" shaped bracket bolted to the oil pan flange, and the whole shebang holds up the hoses, to keep them from dropping and contacting the top of the differential. This is right behind the front end of the engine. If the clip breaks the whole line assy is held in place by two bolts, one at each end. Nothing in the middle to keep them from flexing or creeping around other than the clip.

I'm gonna let a shop do the motor mounts. They have the power tools to do the job.

Unless you're a masochist, or hae a garage where you can yank out the engine, I would HEARTILY recommend that this is one of those jobs on a S-10 that is worth the $$ to have done by a shop. If you have a 2 wheel drive, it's infinately easier (along with the Motor Mounts. I really wish at times I had my 72 C-10 Camper special again. THAT was easy to work on and you could just about change the crank with the engine in the truck. So the Jimmy is back on line, the old lady is happy, and I feel like I've been beat by the Rock with a 6' 4x4.

Now to do the upper oil cooler hoses on the Quad. Thank Gawd it's an EASY job compared to this cluster F--K.

Larry

[LoneWolf04]

The bad motor mounts are definitely why you're having the trouble replacing them. They really aren't that bad to replace and come out fairly simple when your motor is sitting in the correct spot. One of the reason those lines go bad is due to engine rock when the mounts get lose. The motor pulls on the hoses when it rocks and causes them to leak.

[Torskdoc]

These didn't leak at the hose/metal line fittings. The plastic clip that holds them in place against the block broke and they dropped down and started rubbing on the edge of the Front jackpot flange. Definate wear points in the aluminum lines. I set up the new clip with a screw hose clamp around the bracket and tubes with some 3/4" heater hose around the lines. The new lines are in and it's running fine. Just got to find a weekend when I'm not doing other honey-do projects to finish off the motor mounts.

The problem with the motor mounts right now is that I put a 2'ft pry bar along with a 4 ft cheater pipe for about 5ft length and cranked down hard on it (yes it was in anti clockwise direction)more than a few times and didn't get so much as a "pop" from the bolt breaking loose. Hitting the center bolt with PB BLASTER on both ends twice a week now. That should break loose the binding in the threads some. I've got a friend who has a 1/2" drive electric hammer wrench ( electric version of air powered lug nut gun) that put's out 600 ftlb's. should be enough to break them loose. The other thing I have to do is to cut the lower mounting hole into a slot on the mount so I can get the bolt on 1st and then slide on the mount and line it up on the other 2 holes that i can fit my fingers onto. I went thru this with my quad cab last year and I swore I'd never do it again. Oh well. The Jimmy was my parents truck from new up until 2010 when Dad gave it to me. It's been surprisingly trouble free except for the A/C, the compressor locked up 2 years ago. Not economically feasible to fix reliably. I replaced the complete rear 2 years ago when i finally couldn't stand the whine going down the road at 60. And it had been doing it since new. Plus it get 24.5mpg on HWY @ 65 and 15mpg in the city. Slightly more than the quad @ 24 and 14. doesn't burn oil, or drip any fluids. And it's a hell of a lot more fun to drive than todays' "canned" cars. Kee-Rist, you can't get a car with just an AM radio and a heater without $5K worth of junk in a "convenience PKG". And Trucks today are made for Soccer moms, and wanna be rednecks, etc. who think it's cook to have $50,000-$70,000 worth of truck that doesn't see a bag of dirt in the back. So I'll keep the Jimmy and the Quad until each DIE and I can't fix them, or I get planted 1st.