Oil cooler cleaning service in Southern California, 914-6 oil cooler cleaning Options

[Nate W]

Wanted to show some pictures from an oil cleaner service that I recently had done on my 914-6 oil cooler. I really wanted to use this cooler, as my Dad gave it to me and it’s from a real 6 not a 911, but it had been sitting since 1980 (year I was born) and I was worried about attaching it to a nice engine. Anyway I took it to these guys Pacific Oil Coolers in La Verne ( right by Pomona fair grounds). They are a cool shop, they mostly work on aircraft coolers but also 911 oil coolers. They actually manufacture new oil coolers at their location (for planes not Porsches). The manager Wayne was very nice and gave me a tour of the facility which was impressive.

They are able to pressure test the coolers, then run them thru several steps of cleaning baths, make any repairs needed, and they put a nice new coating on the cooler (chrome-a-coat). These guys have been in business since the 60s and definitely seems knowledge since all they do is oil coolers. The cost came out to $240 because I had a crack they repaired and some dents in the case, otherwise it would be $175 for the cleaning and testing. To me this seems like a good deal since our engines are expensive to say the least and also the work/ cost / time of cleaning up the mess and replacing a faulty cooler to me is worth more than that. Just thought I would share in case anyone is looking. I don’t have anything to do with the business, got their info from Pelican but never saw it mentioned here. Their website is oilcoolers.com. Also they said most of their business is people shipping them coolers from all over so not just local.

I asked them about welding on fittings to convert from 911 to 914-6 coolers, they can do it if you provide the fitting and the dimensions.

I don’t have a before picture but it was pretty crusty and old looking, typical stains etc

[mb911]

Circling back on this. I sent a very nice cooler to them a few weeks back. It was delivered and signed 2 weeks ago. I call the following Tuesday to ensure they have it. No they have no record of it yet. They say call back Friday as they had a bunch of deliveries that past Friday. I decide to call back today about a week from the 1st call. Took about 5 minutes of searching to find my name and what I sent which is fine. Then they said nope that was red tagged as there was to much corrosion and leaks. I said that was odd as it was very nice coming off of a nice running engine with no corrosion. Anyway not sure I got the whole story but ended up buying a brand new one this afternoon.

[mepstein]

Circling back on this. I sent a very nice cooler to them a few weeks back. It was delivered and signed 2 weeks ago. I call the following Tuesday to ensure they have it. No they have no record of it yet. They say call back Friday as they had a bunch of deliveries that past Friday. I decide to call back today about a week from the 1st call. Took about 5 minutes of searching to find my name and what I sent which is fine. Then they said nope that was red tagged as there was to much corrosion and leaks. I said that was odd as it was very nice coming off of a nice running engine with no corrosion. Anyway not sure I got the whole story but ended up buying a brand new one this afternoon.

I agree. Very suspicious since I know the history of that cooler and I didn’t see any leaks when the engine came in. No complaints from the customer about oil consumption or leaks on his garage floor. He has about 20 Porsches so he’s not oblivious to how these engines work.