I recently replaced my oil pan gasket due to a bad leak and was shocked to see oil still dripping ( pretty bad leak ) , upon further investigation saw that the oil came from behind the oil cooler . Did some searching on here and saw this was a common issue with our cars , so I immediately began to search for a DIY and none came up, I called Cerritos Infiniti and they charged $275 for the work , so I decided to do it myself and make a DIY thread .

Tools :
pliers
ratchet 1/2 drive
14mm socket
22mm deep socket
( container ) something to drain the oil / coolant in
paper towels
degreaser
Q-tips

Parts : O-ring part # 21304-JA11A ( paid $16 )




Step # 1
Drain oil into container from drain bolt with 14mm socket ( pictured below )



Step # 2
Remove oil filter ( pic below )



Step # 3
Remove connector bolt with 22mm deep socket ( pic below )



Step # 4
Remove lower coolant hose from oil cooler using pliers and let coolant drain into container
Then remove upper hose connected to oil cooler ( oil cooler is free at this point )



Step # 5
Clean oil cooler ( mine had a lot of grime and build up )
remove old o-ring





( how it looks cleaned up )





Step # 6
Replace O-ring lubricate top of O-ring with oil



Step # 7
Clean mating surface on engine ( where oil cooler bolts on )
NOT PICTURED

Step # 8
Slowly center oil cooler with connecting bolt inside and begin to screw it in
Angled pipe goes to top coolant hose and straight shorter pipe to lower coolant hose
I hand tightened first bolt first, secured hoses in original spots and then used pliers
to pinch clamps on to original location
Torque connector bolt to spec 36ft/lbs



Step # 9
Screw oil filter back on
Double check your work
Should look like this




Step # 10
Add oil / coolant and check for leaks

 

Did this about two months ago. Stopped my leak

 

Good stuff, thanks for the DIY.

 

FTW - It was pretty easy and resolved a PITA leak ...

 

NP man , anything to help out the forum fam , I am sure this should help many others with mystery leaks and helping troubleshoot .

 

Very common.... good job, but 16$???
21304-JA11A $3.25 shipped (US Mail) $7.00 shipped (USPS Tracked)
just in case someone needs one

 

Yup Cerritos Infiniti charged that much , being that I needed it right then and there I had no choice . But I did see that you have them much cheaper , I posted a pic with receipt because I knew I was paying $10 more lol

 

yeah I can understand sense of urgency means sometimes you'll pay more....
but at least you got it done and done right

 

thanks I am glad It is finally done , for some reason Cerritos Infiniti is much more expensive than other dealers further out , maybe location . They sit in a super high traffic area and are always full

 

Good call - many people ask about this. Nice to have a write up to shop how simple of a fix it really is

 

Pretty simple and not much skill required for this simple job . Too many oil leak threads

 

So happy to see this! I've had a bad leak and couldn't figure out where it was coming from! It wasn't from the pan or filter. I figured it was the Oilcooler O ring.

 

I'm going to edit and add bleeding the cooling system which is a vital part of this process

 

Cool, I'm looking forward to it. I'll be doing all of this myself. Went to the dealer this past week and had my oil change, they said the o-ring for the oil cooler is bad and that's why I'm leaking. They wanted $156 to replace the o-ring. And what do I see when I sign in to driver? A DIY on how to replace the o-ring. =D

Thanks for the great write up and pictures. Really informative and helps a newbie like me a lot.

 

No leaks on my car yet but seems like something ill be doing on my next oil change.
Great write up.