Hi

Anyone got a used Oil cooler for my XM 1995 2.5TD VSX?

Anyone know where I can get a new one?


Nick

Hi Nick

Unfortunately they are a regular failure item for a 2.5 and most of us that need one seem to bulk at paying Citroens price for a new one. There are various postings on the site about this. I seem to recall a price near £200.
The other problem is being sure that it is the oil cooler and not the head gasket gone. Most people take the water pipes off the oil cooler and join them directly with a short length of 15mm copper pipe and a couple of jubilee clips. This does not seem to do any harm to the engine. If it is leaking oil then eventually the oil will continue to escape into the water side of the oil cooler until it fills up and starts to drip out of the pipe ends. Doing this should sort out the actual cause of the oil in the water. I have looked at alternative oil coolers and think the standard Citroen one for other diesels could be made to fit. These are much cheaper new and plenty of servicable ones can be found on scrap cars. You will need the fixing bolt as well as these coolers are smaller than the 2.5 ones.

Regards

XMexc

Will the other ones still give the oil throughput required to the filter etc or would they constrict the flow compared to the one on the 2.5?

£200 is rather optimistic for new. When I looked it up on Citroen Service for my dad it was somewhere around £500.

Hi Rowan

As far as I could see the oilways were the same cross-sectional area so it was just the reduced internal volume and number of cascade elements inside that would reduced the cooling capability but not restrict throughput. I reasoned that with about 50% of the cooling capacity of the original one this would be better than a direct connection with no oil cooler in circuit. I did not get as far as fitting one but I did run for about a year without the oil cooler just the direct connection without any problems. I eventually decided that it was a headgasket problem not a leaky oil cooler so the car is SORN until I get round to it.

Regards

XMexc

Hi all thanks for this -I will by pass the cooler and see what happens there are no other 'head' type symptoms

I also need an oil cooler.

The first symptom was overheating, bad enough for the computer to cut power and force me to stop. Very useful to prevent damage. When I opened the expansion tank cap it looked like the entire system had been drained an refilled with black grease. This took a lot of cleaning out. Fairy liquid helped a lot!

I bypassed the oil cooler by connecting the inlet and outlet pipes together. I used another length of rubber hose to join the inlet and outlet points of the oil cooler. This pipe blew off at one end the first time it was driven and oil leaked out confirming that the oil cooler was at fault not a blowing head gasket as I iitially feared. I have since clamped the pipe on more securely to contain the leak until I can replace or repair the oil cooler and everything is running fine now.

My main question is, does anyone know if any other vehicles use the same oil cooler? There are lots of citroen and Peugeot vans fitted with 2.5litre engines, maybe these use the same cooler?

I have a SPARE cooler that was given to me with a few other 2.1 parts....

Its in my shead and ive seen it recently, it still has the coolent pipes attached to it, I dont know its condition however, is there a way of testing it?

Rgds
Paul

Thanks Guys I have bypassed it and the car goes like a rocket still ...cleared the oil out of the ssystem with Dishwasher block etc alls well

Looking to fix the now defunct radiator Fans!

Hi Paul

Testing needs to be by applying pressure to the oil side (difficult to set up) or by vac on the two water pipes (easier but needs the pump). Pressure from the water side may just seal the leak and tell you nothing. Got a spare mains driven vac pump for a tenner at a Radio Rally last week. It not a car one but it works fine so I will bring it up for you to borrow when I collect the next lot of bits.

Hi Dragon

A while ago I had a good look round scrap PSA cars for the 2.5 cooler without success. Last week while recovering a 2.5 engine from an XM they had a Relay van with a 2.5 engine. The oil cooler was a similar shape to the 2.5 one but the water pipes were different. Thought there might need to be a bit of bodging to make it fit an XM but could not be sure as the van was in for repair not scrap so could not pull bits off to investigate
The smaller oil cooler from the other PSA diesels will physically fit a 2.5 XM and accept an XM oil filter. You need to recover the shorter hollow bolt/nut as well from the smaller engine as the replacement filter is thinner. This option provides less cooling area than the original but must be better long term than a bypass pipe.

Regards

John

IO have one on a 2.5TD which I am slowly dismantling.
If other sources dry up you may wish to considerit at £100 ?

I did not mention that new ones still seem to be available. All you need is £550.02 !!!!!! and that's for one !!!!!!

Hi all

Thanks for this - The oil cooler is by passed and all is still well. I shall l be getting rid of the car at the end of next year - if anyone is interested - need to upgrade or get another one.

After a fruitless search to find a replacement oil cooler for my 2.5 TC diesel engine, I fitted an oil cooler from an XM with 2.1 TC diesel. It is a little bit smaller but fits OK, provided you have the centre threaded tube that goes with it. The coolant plumbing is a bit of a challenge, bit can be achieved with 15mm copper central heating tube and bends, and good hose clips. It works, and I do not think the engine knows any difference. At last I have coolant that is oil free.
Piers.

Cheers

I am now about to get rid of the car as it has come to the end of my tether - not really - I need to update so my wife advises.

My triple oil cooler by pass has had no effect on my car.

Nick