Oil Cooler Leaking

Okay, thought I had a bad water neck o-ring, but found the leak at the front of the oil cooler were it attaches to the block. A small coolant weep. Is this a big deal, or does it just weep for a while. Do not see any oil in coolant, or coolant in oil. I just do not want to climb under the truck just yet to overhaul the orings. What is the verdict for this one? Thanks in advance folks.

I would do it before it becomes a big problem. My cooler let go without warning while I was headed back to college and I didnt know it untill I got there 6 hours later and oil had over flowed out of the coolant surge tank and there was about a half gallon of water in the oil. NOT GOOD for bearings and such.

Yup, I would do it now before it lets loose. Mine "fortunately" only leaked oil out (rather than mixing the coolant and oil), but it went from a slight leak to a gusher over a week or so. It was a relatively easy fix, I just followed some directions I found in a post on here. I bought the replacement seal kit from Powerstrokeshop.com (although I've been meaning to measure the old o-rings to try to buy them separately as spares). It's an easy but messy job. You'll have lots of oil and coolant pouring everywhere no matter how careful you are...

Regards,
Michael Pliska

Okay, I tried to find instructions for the cooler, but have not found them. It looks like the gasket at the block is leaking. not the o-rings, so were to go from here? I am not sure if the whole thing should be rebuilt, or just the leaking gasket replaced. One of those leave the orings alone if it ain't broke sort of things. WWhat would you suggest? Thanks guys.

I suppose it is feasible to replace the gasket by itself. Have you checked the bolts to make sure they are tight? The gasket on mine was a metal/composite sandwich, which looked pretty tough (in fact I saved my original ones for an emergency since they looked fine). How many miles are on your truck?

Here is the set of instructions I followed:
http://www.thedieselgarage.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61924

Regards,
Michael Pliska

Michael, I got under there, and for the life of me, cannot find the source of the leak. I now don't know where it is. I guess I will wait awhile and see if i can find the leak a little better with everything cleaned off. Thanks for the instruction too. I will use them if it is the oil cooler. It may be the water pump gasket too, a pin hole leak somewhere. Thanks again for the help.