GS550EF Oil Cooler Woes

[phaeton]

OK Guys, I made a post last year about some seeping oil lines, and after getting a pair used from this site I realized that my problem is not indeed with the lines, however with the JIC fittings that connect to the cooler. It seems that as soon as the engine warms up, I have oil running up and out of those threads at an almost alarming rate (ie I can see it seep down). So now, some questions:

1) Why the hell is it leaking? When I was installing the lines those JIC contact points were very clean, and seemed to seat perfectly.

2) Why do I need the oil cooler? I have the TSCC engine, Suzuki made other 550's that were just aircooled. Can't I just plug the holes for the banjo bolts on the bottom end and nuke the cooler? It can't possibly provide THAT much more cooling, especially to the fact that there are no fans on it so in standing traffic it does little to nil.

3) Can I weld the lines to the cooler? If I just weld them tight, I will still have the travel provided by the lower end of the fitting so I will be able to fit the bottom end on no problem, and this _should_ solve the leaking issue, provided I get it done well.

Thanks for any help in advance, this thing is just really starting to get to me. The bike is 110% other than that, pulls like a dream, but its almost embarrasing. I can't pull onto friends driveways because I don't want to stain them with oil, when a drop drips on my exhaust it smokes white so at night when I pull into intersections people think I'm going to go up in flames...

[brveagle]

You need to use some sort of thread sealer.. (i.e. teflon tape)

That will solve all your problems. I have an older 550 motor (80) and it's air cooled, but it's only an 8 valve motor. You have an 16 valve motor and i think that your motor needs that oil flow..

[phaeton]

Just simple teflon tape on the threads? That will be OK regarding temperature and whatnot?

[focus frenzy]

yes teflon tape will work.
the later 550 engine is a cross over to the oil cooled gsxr engine, and was designed so that the oil helps with the cooling (the 49 state GSXR engine doesn't have a fan on that big cooler eather)
you cant just plug the lines.

some of the later model 1100's used a bypass system that only sent some of the oil through the cooler, these can be plugged off, but Suzuki put coolers on them for a reason, if a cooler wasn't needed they wouldn't have put them on there.

[phaeton]

Thanks guys, I'll try it out and give it a whirl when it gets a bit warmer

[Ghostgs1]

Phaeton, Teflon tape is good to at leats 350 deg. F. As for pressure sealant in threads at these temps, probably a 2-3 thousand lbs. per inch would be no problem. It's good stuff. Ray