Dorman Oil Cooler

Krazykmainor · Oct 21, 2012

Is there any difference between the OEM Ford oil cooler and the Dorman cooler? There's quite a bit of price difference between the two. Is the Dorman an acceptable replacement?

lincolnlocker · Oct 21, 2012

mostly where they are made, and most anymore you get what you pay for. other than that, couldnt tell ya.

yeehaw · Oct 21, 2012

dorman does a good job at building stuff to oem specs, but i'd still feel safer running the OEM run myself.

Krazykmainor · Oct 21, 2012

Thanks for the input. My oil cooler has already been replaced once with OEM, but I have a feeling a thorough flush prior to replacement was not conducted or even worse prob it was flushed after replacement. I am now seeing 30*-40* differences in my EOT/ECT. The truck will be heading to PSE soon to get studded and I figured while they were in there I would go ahead and replace it and have a good flushing done. I guess whats a couple hundred more for peace of mind with the OEM.

yeehaw · Oct 21, 2012

as my co worker says "it's only money you'll make more" LOL

kyle43335 · Oct 21, 2012

i have plans of trying one.

Big Angry Hillbilly · Oct 21, 2012

I have had no good luck with any dorman products.

Snake · Oct 21, 2012

BAH - I've heard others say the same thing about Dorman products, and like you I'd buy OEM before Dorman

OP - if you really want to never worry about a clogged oil cooler again, check out Bulletproof Diesel. Yes, its expensive. But most certainly you get what you pay for.

Big Angry Hillbilly · Oct 21, 2012

The only downside to the bulletproof cooler I've been told by bulletproof is it does not hold the oil in the cooler as long as the factory cooler, (higher flow rate) and is not recommended for heavy towing. Now this information is almost a year old so things may have changed.

I would be ok using a dorman ignition coil or something easy to change if that was the way a customer wanted to go, but I would typically not even offer dorman parts, because like I said they have not proven good in the past and I get to swap it out again for free.

Mdub707 · Oct 22, 2012

An OEM unit was only $251 .... how much is the dorman. Though, if memory serves, the price on the OEM's just went up a hair recently to like $275.

kyle43335 · Oct 22, 2012

Mdub707 said:
An OEM unit was only $251 .... how much is the dorman. Though, if memory serves, the price on the OEM's just went up a hair recently to like $275.

more than that in my area

F-250-Owner · Oct 22, 2012

138 for the dorman from RockAuto....

Big Angry Hillbilly · Oct 22, 2012

Call international. Betcha it's even cheaper.

Mdub707 · Oct 22, 2012

kyle43335 said:
more than that in my area

Tousley sells them online for that price all day long bud. Might want to check with Sunrise here too, they've been pretty good price wise.

Krazykmainor · Oct 22, 2012

yeehaw said:
as my co worker says "it's only money you'll make more" LOL

Haha! So true so true.

I completely agree with the "you get what you pay for" theory. I was just curious if anyone, or should I say quite a few people had any luck running the Dorman. I will most likely go with another OEM as I will have a reputable shop do the work this time and I feel like I will stand a better chance with it having a proper flushing conducted before the swap

Big Angry Hillbilly · Oct 22, 2012

Like you said. Make sure the flushing is done. Big cause of repeat failures.

Dalton_H · Oct 23, 2012

You can get them from ptp for 300 shipped to your door as well, even less hassle then going to the dealer. I bought mine last week through them and it was actually 6 bucks cheaper then my local dealer and that was with my dealer resale discount and no tax.