Oil cooler cleaning service in Southern California, 914-6 oil cooler cleaning Options

[Nate W]

Wanted to show some pictures from an oil cleaner service that I recently had done on my 914-6 oil cooler. I really wanted to use this cooler, as my Dad gave it to me and it’s from a real 6 not a 911, but it had been sitting since 1980 (year I was born) and I was worried about attaching it to a nice engine. Anyway I took it to these guys Pacific Oil Coolers in La Verne ( right by Pomona fair grounds). They are a cool shop, they mostly work on aircraft coolers but also 911 oil coolers. They actually manufacture new oil coolers at their location (for planes not Porsches). The manager Wayne was very nice and gave me a tour of the facility which was impressive.

They are able to pressure test the coolers, then run them thru several steps of cleaning baths, make any repairs needed, and they put a nice new coating on the cooler (chrome-a-coat). These guys have been in business since the 60s and definitely seems knowledge since all they do is oil coolers. The cost came out to $240 because I had a crack they repaired and some dents in the case, otherwise it would be $175 for the cleaning and testing. To me this seems like a good deal since our engines are expensive to say the least and also the work/ cost / time of cleaning up the mess and replacing a faulty cooler to me is worth more than that. Just thought I would share in case anyone is looking. I don’t have anything to do with the business, got their info from Pelican but never saw it mentioned here. Their website is oilcoolers.com. Also they said most of their business is people shipping them coolers from all over so not just local.

I asked them about welding on fittings to convert from 911 to 914-6 coolers, they can do it if you provide the fitting and the dimensions.

I don’t have a before picture but it was pretty crusty and old looking, typical stains etc

[RKramden]

Wanted to give a shout out to Ultrasonic Cleaning in Carson (So. Cal) as well. They cleaned and pressure tested my cooler off of a 2.7 even during Covid! Personally, I really don't see the isssue over using a used cooler. There are no moving parts, they will not have a complete failure and any leaks would be noticed long before you lose an engine. If you have it professionally cleaned, you get a pressure test readout which I don't beleive you get with a new one.

[Superhawk996]

Personally, I really don't see the isssue over using a used cooler.

You’ve forgotten about the potential for shrapnel to be in the cooler if the engine it came off an engine that had a catastrophic failure. Shrapnel has a propensity to get hung up in small passages only to come loose at a later time.

If the cooler is off a running engine you have a personal history with, cleaning is a reasonable solution.

If buying a cooler used, off an engine that had who knows what happen to it leading to its demise? Personally, I’m not going to risk a $10k - $20k engine rebuild to the chance that old engine parts may come out of the used but cleaned cooler.