OEM oil cooler install (non tow package)

Work on your truck at your own risk.

I bought my truck last year used with 36k miles on it for a pretty low price I couldn't pass up. It it didn't come with the tow package and honestly I didn't know anything about a tow package when purchasing. My previous truck was a 1st Gen and none of those came factory with an enhanced package for towing.

Honestly, I don't do all that much towing but do plan on using a trailer for work in the future and would enjoy knowing my truck isn't getting a sweat hauling heavy loads and going off road. I've added an aftermarket transmission cooler which so far as been excellent at keeping the transmission cool. My temps have been on average 30 degrees cooler.

The factory oil cooler is more like a temperature regulator and has good benefits of warming the oil up quicker on cold starts. Hauling or towing, this helps with keeping the oil more cool by circulating the coolant around the filter housing.

Anyways, I found this kit on ebay that consists of all the OEM parts needed to add the cooler. It was half the price the dealer wanted for JUST the cooler assembly.

In the kit:

-water inlet housing with the ports for the oil cooler
-oil cooler assembly (with gasket)
-oil cooler assembly nut and washer
-thermostat (with gasket)
-water inlet housing O ring gaskets
-the 2 hoses to route coolant to the cooler assembly
-4 hose clamps for the cooler assembly hoses




Price $419
Link below.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/3344365424...WmOM43UQfi&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY


I also bought 2 gallons of Toyota Super Long Life Coolant. Will be needed because you'll lose a gallon at the least pulling hoses.

Tools:

-Breaker bar with a decently long extension for the oil filter nut.
-12mm Allen socket or T60 torx should work.
-Inch pounds torque wrench
-Regular ratchet with 10mm socket
-Long skinny flat head screwdriver (hose and hose clamp removal and install)
-Channel locks (hose and clamp removal and install)
-Needle nose plyers (hose clamp removal and install)
-Brake clean (surface cleaner)
-Elbow grease and 3 hours of nice weather

1. Remove the beauty cover from the top of the engine. 2 10mm bolts.

2. Remove the plug for the throttle position sensor and tuck it away. Optional but recommended to have more room to the hoses. Sometimes these plugs can be quite brittle. You be the judge of it being safe to remove. Mine came off fine.

3. Remove hose clamps away from hoses (the ports for the hoses are quite long and the hose clamps need to be moved far back on the hoses) on your water inlet housing and begin to remove hoses (6 total). I used channel locks and a screw driver to grab and finesse the hoses until they were free. The trick is to twish them back and forth. I started removing them with the larger ones first and finished with the smallest one tucked under the throttle body. The one that took a lot of time was the small one under the throttle body. I had to use a skinny long flat head through the top end between the throttle body and air intake to help move the hose clamp. I then pushed the hose off of its port by wedging the skinny flat head blade between the hose and the hard surface and began working it back off of its port. I used a small cup to catch as much coolant as I could but in the end it was pointless because the coolant got all over everything anyway.





4. After your hoses are removed, remove the 3 nuts holding on the thermostat using the 10mm socket. Be careful not to drop the small nuts down into oblivion. I used a magnet to assist me in not dropping anything.




5. Remove the 5 bolts holding your water inlet housing onto the engine. Again be careful to not drop these.

Arrows are pointing to bolts unable to be seen in the photo but they are under areas pointed at.


6. Recheck to make sure everything is disconnected from the water inlet housing and all 5 bolts are removed.

7. Pull and twist the water inlet housing off of the coolant inlet holding it on. You will feel resistance because of the O ring fitted to this inlet pipe.



Below:
Side by side of the new inlet housing and the ports that are needed to install the cooler.




8. Once the water inlet housing is free, remove it to the left of the engine bay. It does take some finaggling but it will fit.

9. Wipe mating surfaces with paper towels and remove the 2 O rings that join the water inlet housing to the inlets. Replace those with new. The upper smaller (smooth sided) O ring goes home in a grooved slot on the upper inlet pipe. The bottom O ring (rigid sided) fits in a recess. Make sure it is seated properly.

Top O ring from the inlet pipe tucked under the throttle body (green).



10. I took a small break and cleaned all the mating surfaces of the new water inlet housing with a cloth and some brake clean. I "lubed" the upper O ring with a dab of coolant to help with sliding the housing on the inlet pipe.

11. Finaggle the new housing in from the left and reattach it with the old 5 bolts. Tighten them down in a star pattern to assure the housing is properly seated. These are torqued to 80 inch pounds.

12. Install new thermostat with the old 10mm nuts. Tighten in a circular pattern little by little to assure the thermostat gasket is properly seated. These bolts are also torqued to 80 inch pounds.

13. Reattach existing hoses to the newly installed inlet housing using the plyers. This will take some time trying to get them all seated properly. I used a little bit of oil from the oil filter to help slide the hose clamps back into place.

14. Remove oil filter.

15. Using the breaker bar and 12mm Allen socket, remove the oil filter nut.



16. Place the cooler assembly on the filter housing. There is a notch made to pair with the cooler assembly fork on the side of the filter housing. Make sure you mate those up. Screw in the cooler housing nut (30mm) to where the old filter nut used to be. Be sure the cooler housing nut has the gasket on it before screwing that in. I screwed this down medium tight as I couldn't find the torque spec for it. I didn't cave man it on or anything but be sure it's nice and tight.



17. Install new hoses for the cooler assembly with the provided hose clamps. The odd shaped hose on the bottom ports with the red strip going to the cooler assembly. The oblong U shaped goes on the top ports with the green stripe going to the cooler assembly.

18. Reinstall oil filter and reattach throttle position sensor plug if you've removed it.



19. Replace lost coolant via radiator until it's full. Start the truck and allow the air to be purged from the system. I had to add a gallon of coolant. I ran the truck down the street and back and had to add another quarter gallon to match the factory level in the reservoir.

20. Run the truck until it reaches operating temperature to make sure the thermostat is working.

21. Check for leaks.

This process took me about 3 hours with a couple breaks and taking my absolute sweet time. As long as you have basic knowledge of hand tools, this shouldn't be difficult.

 

This is an incredible write-up for someone wanting to tackle this installation or just wondered how it worked: Thank you! I have a Tacoma with the tow package, so it has this oil cooler installed. However I was always interested about how it did its' job and this post explained it entirely. I assumed the oil filter plate was circulating/sending engine oil elsewhere to be cooled. Running coolant through it is a much better solution.

I searched specifically for a Tacoma with the Tow Package when I was looking for one. To me, it's an incredible bargain for all you get as included OEM pieces, even if you are unlikely to ever do any towing.

 

did you do the transmission cooler also?

 

Yea it's installed. I had a shop do it but I could have done it myself.

 

Glad it helped you better understand it. Thanks for the kind words.

 

No problem! Until I read your post, the light/medium duty clamps at the end of the hoses near the oil filter always worried me somewhat. (Thinking they were possibly handling oil under pressure.) It struck me as odd that it wasn't a more robust connection. Learning (from your post) they were actually carrying coolant put that worry to bed.

Losing coolant isn't good either of course, but you usually have a little warning if you're paying attention that something is going on so you can deal with it. Losing oil pressure: the light comes on and it's over.

 

Hey, Can I restart this thread, I have a question and thank you.

Can this be done to an 09 V6 with a manual 6spd? I want the oil filter riser that the oil cooler came with. I want to run a bigger filter, a Puralotor PL30001(they are blue I think). My current filter area is WAY TO CRAMPED and the larger filter will not fit down inside, and scraps and tends to want to screw on crooked. The kit looks like it raises the filter up. Can I just buy one of those and plug those lines, or do I have to buy the whole kit?
Would a factory tow package even fit on a manual THAT MAY BE FOR AN AUTOMATIC? If so how? Adventure trailer possibly someday.

Thanks and sorry for restarting this thread and thanks a bunch and keep the mods a flowing and coming.

Brian

 

-Yes. Will work on all 1GR-FE engines.

The cooler housing doesn't need to be plugged in for you to JUST raise the filter up. The original filter screw can be removed and the housing can be screwed down in it's place without replacing the other parts. You just wont have the oil cooler being cooled by coolant circulation

I'm not sure why you can't just use the OEM filter...

From what I know, you can put a trans cooler on a manual, but it is different somehow. And that how, I don't know. All of the other Tow package stuff should be able to be added just fine.

No that's why it's here. To help. Though I doubt most people will go the lengths I did for my drivetrain to withstand more abuse.

 

Thanks so much. I have with noticeable difference, in 3 vehicles(07 Kia Sportage, 04 Neon R/T and now my 09 Tacoma) a significant difference when I added a large capacity oil filter. There is a slight increase in performance-Larger filter, less struggle to circulate the oil. I also think the extra room to circulate the oil keeps the strain off gaskets(head, so on). The engine is happier and it doesn't use any extra oil(running Mobil 1 209 something). The Purolator(PL30001) may use 1/2 quart more. This also adds more oil for protection is what someone on TW told me.

So what is that part called again? What about those tubes on the side? Do I have to dremel them off and weld? I think it would look cleaner. Is it necessary?

Thanks,
Brian

 

It's not necessary because those tubes are for coolant and if you don't have the correct inlet housing to direct coolant to the oil cooler, then the tubes and hoses are a moot point.

 

Cool, no pun intended

Part name again?

 

Oil cooler assembly 15710-31010

Though buying the complete kit is like 2 or 300 dollars cheaper than buying the part.

 

I seen that. The oiler cooler is like 651 direct from the stealership.......ZOINKS SCOOB. Thinking twice........will do my research.

Thanks

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/155244400146

 

Doesn't appear to be a Toyota OEM part but that should work for you. You're also gonna need the washer and assembly nut to replace the existing nut. You won't be able to install it otherwise.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/185757184574?fits=Year:2009|Model:Tacoma|Make:Toyota

 

I think I will keep those metal tubes there in case I decide to put the towing package on later.
Thanks, you've been a big help.
Brian

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/125073433499?fits=Year:2009|Model:Tacoma|Make:Toyota
What do you think of this? Is this part of it, the tow package? If so I'm on it like paint on a wall.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/404091749629
Found another one cheaper and with the gasket

 

If all you want to do is "raise" the filter plate, use an oil cooler adaptor plate and plug the cooler line ports:

 

Thanks. Bought one already, but will probably put the towing package on later.

My mom is dieing of stage 5 kidney failure....really tough times.
Brian