The other night I left my Cobra outside (usually I put it in the garage) which means it was exposed to colder temperatures than normal. The next morning I started it up and pulled it into the garage. As I get out of the car to walk behind it to go inside the house I see a huge trail of oil from where I started the car to where my car is now currently parked. I look under the car and oil is pouring out from where the oil filter is located.
Afraid to start the car again, I pushed the car out of the garage, put ramps in front of the front tires and start the car briefly to pull up onto the ramps and to check and see where the oil is coming from. Well, the leak had mysteriously stopped. So I put my hand on the oil filter and wiggle a little bit while the car is running. Oil comes pouring out of a tiny little weep hole in the bottom of the cooler. I then hustle to turn the car off.
I decide to have the car towed on a flat bed to the dealership. The dealership states that there is oil coming out of the weep hole and that they'll have to replace the oil cooler. Duh! :bash: But, I asked them if they checked the tightness of the central tube that the filter screws on that passes through the cooler into the engine block. I believe this tube secures the cooler to the block. The service writer stated he would go back and ask the mechanic. Apparently the oil tube has an o-ring on it and the oil tube can come loose when removing an overly tight oil filter (I learned this by performing a search on SVTPerformance and reading that this had happened to other members). Well....it has been at least three months since I last changed my oil. Wouldn't it have leaked sooner? Something must have cracked internally in the cooler. The service writer stated that they checked it and it was still leaking.
My warranty has expired and total cost to fix is $750 parts and labor (drain the coolant, replace the coolant, drain the oil, replace the oil, burp the cooling system, blah..blah...blah...). I feel like I am getting raped. I wish I had checked the oil tube myself before I took the car in, but I didn't find out that this could be the problem until the dealer already had the car. It could have been a simple fix, but now I have to take the dealer's word for it and assume the there was an internal failure of the oil cooler.
Just a heads up if this ever happens to you. Take a minute to drain the oil and remove the filter. Then take the correct size allen wrench, insert it into the socket in the middle of the tube and try to tighten it. I guess I'll always wonder if the oil cooler actually failed or if it was just a simple tightening procedure that was needed. :shrug:
Afraid to start the car again, I pushed the car out of the garage, put ramps in front of the front tires and start the car briefly to pull up onto the ramps and to check and see where the oil is coming from. Well, the leak had mysteriously stopped. So I put my hand on the oil filter and wiggle a little bit while the car is running. Oil comes pouring out of a tiny little weep hole in the bottom of the cooler. I then hustle to turn the car off.
I decide to have the car towed on a flat bed to the dealership. The dealership states that there is oil coming out of the weep hole and that they'll have to replace the oil cooler. Duh! :bash: But, I asked them if they checked the tightness of the central tube that the filter screws on that passes through the cooler into the engine block. I believe this tube secures the cooler to the block. The service writer stated he would go back and ask the mechanic. Apparently the oil tube has an o-ring on it and the oil tube can come loose when removing an overly tight oil filter (I learned this by performing a search on SVTPerformance and reading that this had happened to other members). Well....it has been at least three months since I last changed my oil. Wouldn't it have leaked sooner? Something must have cracked internally in the cooler. The service writer stated that they checked it and it was still leaking.
My warranty has expired and total cost to fix is $750 parts and labor (drain the coolant, replace the coolant, drain the oil, replace the oil, burp the cooling system, blah..blah...blah...). I feel like I am getting raped. I wish I had checked the oil tube myself before I took the car in, but I didn't find out that this could be the problem until the dealer already had the car. It could have been a simple fix, but now I have to take the dealer's word for it and assume the there was an internal failure of the oil cooler.
Just a heads up if this ever happens to you. Take a minute to drain the oil and remove the filter. Then take the correct size allen wrench, insert it into the socket in the middle of the tube and try to tighten it. I guess I'll always wonder if the oil cooler actually failed or if it was just a simple tightening procedure that was needed. :shrug:
