I am about to replace the oil cooler base and was wondering: Is the the stainless upper "coolant" part of the oil cooler self contained? In other words, can I just remove the long hollow bolt holding the two halves together and not bother draining coolant and crimping off the coolant lines leading to and from the cooler?

To the best of my recollection, the upper, "water" part of the cooler is self contained and I should get no coolant leak when I remove the large center bolt and split the base from the upper part.

However, the risk of coolant contaminanted sump and crankcase is serious enough I want independant confirmation before I trust my recollection, especially considering that my recollection has been known to be wrong before <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />

Thanks in advance!

NCDiesel