I've been really busy the past few months so I haven't been doing much with any of my trucks. Since July is proving to be a slow month for me I'm taking the opportunity to get caught up on some projects. Job #1 is replacing the leaking oil cooler lines on my wife's 2000 Blazer. Previously I had replaced those same lines on my '98 Jimmy. I cheaped out and went with the quick solution, the Dorman replacement lines. They started leaking after about a year in the truck. For my wife's truck I decided to do something more serious and leak-proof.

When I did the oil cooler lines on the Jimmy I saved the set I removed. I took that set to Williams Oil Filter Service in Tacoma and had them build me a new set of lines. They saved the hard lines and brazed fittings onto them and then built short hydraulic hoses to replace the rubber hoses on the originals. They turned out pretty well. I'm still in the process of replacing them so I don't have any pictures of the installation but I did take pictures of the hoses after I got them back from the rebuild:





The new lines cost me about $130. That's like buying the Dorman set a couple of times but fortunately I only have to install this set once. When I'm finished installing them I'll check for leaks and let you all know how they perform.

 

This is what I need to do..
Thanx for posting!

 

Hydraulic hoses? As in for heavy equipment? Those are made for ~3000 psi and average temps of 200+ degrees f.
Those hoses may very well outlast the rest of the vehicle.

 

Very nice. i deleted mine totally. i dont tow etc,dont need em. been without them for a year now. if i decide to redo em il have a Hydraulic shop do it.

 

That's my hope. When I took the lines to the shop the guy tried to talk me out of it. He suggested I look into some after-market lines rather than spend the money modifying those. I explained to him that the reason I came to a hydraulic shop is because I *WANTED* lines that would never leak and outlast the vehicle. Eventually he decided to make the lines for me and take my money, for which I was very happy.

I put the lines on yesterday and finished up some of the other work on the truck today (I swapped my Flaming River u-joint steering shaft from the '98 Jimmy to the Blazer) and took it out for a test drive. No leaks! These oil lines were an investment but it looks like it's going to be a good one.

I really want to thank Cap'n Hook for giving me the idea of taking the lines to a hydraulic shop to be rebuilt. I think that's a better and safer alternative than just replacing them with oil cooler hose and hose clamps.