Risk with Dorman Upgraded Aluminum Engine Oil Filter Housing

[crockett]

I just installed the new Dorman aluminum housing on my 2011 Dodge Grand Caravan (Pentastar).

Be VERY careful when inserting the aluminum pipe into the engine block! I was 100% sure that I did it right at 90 degrees. While tightening all screws in the suggested order, the metal pipe marred the surface inside the engine block badly, and exactly where the o-ring sits.

This was never an issue with the OEM cooler housing since this is all plastic.

I spent 2 hours refinishing and polishing the inlet in the engine block with a Dremel to prevent any oil leakage. I tested at idle so far and it doesn't show any oil in the valley. We will see if its starts leaking at higher oil pressure.

The placement / machining of the aluminum pipe on the Dorman cooler housing seems to be off slightly, and a tad too large in diameter, making it hard to align right without damaging the engine block. Be VERY careful!

 

[Hemi395]

This is what scares me about these aluminum parts from a company like Dorman....

 

[crockett]

Needless to say, if the marring is too deep you will have an ongoing oil leak. In order to fix that you would need to hone and sleeve the intake in the engine block. Nothing you can do while the engine is in the car. Labor to pull the engine, dismantle, hone / sleeve, dress and install would be around $2,500.

 

[HunterCat]

How many miles did you have on the Caravan before the OEM part failed?

 

[DILLIGAF]

I also cleaned mine up before installing it on the wifes JK.

Even with a bit of fitting, I rather use Dorman over That OEM garbage they call an oil cooler. ... lol...

 

[Rado]

interesting read thanks

 

[crockett]

How many miles did you have on the Caravan before the OEM part failed?

Well, I'm at 159k miles. I recently replaced the knock sensors underneath and had to remove the oil cooler for this. I used new o rings. It was doing fine until I had a coolant leak at the radiator. I replaced the radiator but still had a small leak somewhere. So I did a pressure test, so the oil cooler started leaking at around 10 psi, and I replaced that sucker. Then I tested to 13 PSI, the damn plastic thermostat housing started to take a ****. Replaced that as well. Now there is a 4th leak close to the lower radiator hose, replaced that, still dripping over night.

I swear, they install all this plastic BS on purpose, well knowing that people will get tired of repairs at around 150 to 170k miles and dump the entire car!

Love the room, layout and stow-n-go seats in my Grand Caravan, but the rest is utter garbage. Looking into the new Toyota Sienna now before the weak trans goes out next.