Oil Lines vs. Power Antenna

[Steam Driver]

I've been intending to remove the oil lines to the front cooler (trombone) on my '82 SC to flush them. Merely a precautionary measure since the car has been sitting up for a long while. Although this might not be necessary, they were full of oil the whole time (still are, no doubt) and there was no catastrophic failure in the engine.

I was resigned to removing the rocker panels, etc., to facilitate this, but when I was pre-soaking the fittings with PB blaster I ran into a far bigger issue - they are behind the power antenna and it's connections! This is an "Aw crap!" situation for sure, as in looking in the Bentley manual removing that antenna is a real pain.

So, what to do? I'm sure others have run into this same situation. My original idea was to remove the thermostat and power flush from the rear, but this doesn't seem to be an option given how the thermostat seems to be frozen in place.

[QueWhy]

Removing the antenna is quick and easy. You don’t actually need to remove it, just get it out of the way.

One nut on the bottom L bracket. Unscrew the cap on the top of the antenna, (outside the car)and the whole thiing will be free.

Edit: what do you mean by the thermostat being frozen in place? There shouldn’t be anything connecting it to the car, just the oil lines.

[Steam Driver]

The oil line nuts are frozen to the thermostat housing because of dissimilar metal corrosion and crud. That coupled with the lack of flexibility in swinging wrenches (because of the limited space) makes it very diffiicult to remove.

This is a very common situation; not unusual at all.

Getting back to the antenna, are you telling me there is enough slack in the cables to permit getting it far enough out of the way to get the oil lines out?

[QueWhy]

Oh I see. I wouldn’t try to remove the thermostat oil lines like that. Like I said in your other thread I found it easiest to drop the whole thing as a unit. I needed to replace the line from the engine so it made the choice easier. Taking the lines off the thermostat is sketchy, after a little searching I’d seen enough posts from people that stripped the threads to elect to cut the nut on the line I wasn’t reusing.

Back to the antenna. Yes, there is enough slack to move it out of the way.

[fred cook]

When I had to remove the thermostat on my SC, I unfastened all the oil lines on the ends away from the thermo. Then, I held the thermostat with a giant pipe wrench (about 5 ft long made of cast iron) and used a custom wrench I made by cutting a hex of the proper size in a 1/2" thick piece of steel. With the wrench on the oil line nut, I used a large ball peen hammer to apply shock to the nut. I went ahead and removed all 4 while it was out so that it would be easier later if I wanted to remove one or more while on the car. All 4 came loose without damaging any threads (a common problem).

[7783911]

if the nuts have united to the threads (rust/age) then you will damage the threads of the thermostat. Many people have cut the nut off to save the threads (several not deep cuts will loosen) and then use a replacement nut on the line from PP or Elephant racing...lot sheaper then replacing the gauled thermostat

[BoxsterGT]

DON'T FIX what AINT BROKE !!!!

You are asking for trouble and why pull the lines to flush them???

Much less costly to run fresh oil through the system, but of course it must be hot, and now is not when conditions are hot.

Len

[7783911]

Boxter has a good point point...care is needed in this area

have you run the car at temp to see if thermostat is working (185-109 degrees it should open)..then you will feel the trombone or lines heat up as oil flows...

if your not running yet...it may be easier to disconnect lines at engine side after draining oil. Heat up the thermostat to open it and then blow old oil through to empty those lines and the trombone. (check you in/out lines along the sill to make sure they havnt been crushed by some mechanics jack..common issue and a different story if needs fixing) re attach all, refill and test

[Steam Driver]

My point in flushing the lines is essentially precautionary. This car was a garage find and has not run in about twenty years. The oil in the lines and cooler is what was there when it was parked.

The engine is not in the car, and was rebuilt because of the usual 911SC head stud issues. There were no catastrophic failures involved, and the engine was quite clean inside so I would expect no engine-generated debris in the lines, and I capped them as soon as I removed the engine.

I am having the oil tank cleaned since it sat empty for a long time and was thus subject to condensation and possible rust inside. I had that happen with a 914-6 I had once, and it sat empty for a much shorter period of time.

[speednme1]

Removing the antenna is easy peasy. Oh wait a second...as I took another look at your antenna, you would have to loosen the bottom nut then swing the antenna toward you so that the four screws that are on the back plate face you. Remove the back plate and disconnect the female terminals(3 of them..switch power, ground and power). Loosen and remove the antenna lead wire (grey one) from the antenna housing and loosen a cap like knob (the one that the black harness wire goes through) and pull out the harness that has the three wires you just disconnected. The one(black harness with the 3 wires) on my car was cut and replaced with butt connectors. I replaced the butt connectors with a 3 prong water proof plug.

[mb911]

Why not just remove the trombone cooler only to see what you have.. The t stat is about 450 and the lines are 3 times that.. It's always risky.. When reattaching I use antiseize (the copper stuff) to help in the future..

[speednme1]

For visual purpose...these are the 3 wires you need to remove inside the antenna housing. Black, white and red.

[speednme1]

The way I found mine with the butt connectors and the waterproof plug I used to make it easy to remove. Make life easy

[gomezoneill]

I wouldn't do what you're planning if you are set on it just disconnect the lines at both ends and flush leaving them in place.

[QueWhy]

If the engine is out of the car all you have to do is remove the oil line from the oil tank and the brackets holding the oil lines. Move the antenna the way I described and everything is free. Make sure to jack up the side of the car enough to get out the oil lines and thermostat, it’s a little unwieldy.

[Steam Driver]

But how would you get the flushing media past the T-stat? If it’s closed wouldn’t it just bypass the cooler circuit?

[7783911]

You can open the stat with simple heat application (heat gun, liite torch etc...then powerflush with simple orange cleaner that will also clean out the t stat until in run clear through engine side hose. I went the long route and removed the entire unit from back to front so I could rebuild the t stat, and flush lines and then buff to brass with a single clear coat to arrest tarnishing..i have to admit..looks good). I also had 3 crushed points thats I repaired with heat and air pressure

[QueWhy]

Originally Posted by 7783911

You can open the stat with simple heat application (heat gun, liite torch etc...then powerflush with simple orange cleaner that will also clean out the t stat until in run clear through engine side hose. I went the long route and removed the entire unit from back to front so I could rebuild the t stat, and flush lines and then buff to brass with a single clear coat to arrest tarnishing..i have to admit..looks good). I also had 3 crushed points thats I repaired with heat and air pressure

This method will also confirm your thermostat is working. It would suck to take off the forward lines and cooler, flush them, reinstall, only to find out the thermostat isn’t working and have to pull it all out anyway.

[Steam Driver]

VERY good tip on opening the thermostat with external heat, 7783911. I (obviously) never thought of that. I have a good heat gun, I will try that first. Thanks.

[fred cook]

Originally Posted by fred cook

When I had to remove the thermostat on my SC, I unfastened all the oil lines on the ends away from the thermo. Then, I held the thermostat with a giant pipe wrench (about 5 ft long made of cast iron) and used a custom wrench I made by cutting a hex of the proper size in a 1/2" thick piece of steel. With the wrench on the oil line nut, I used a large ball peen hammer to apply shock to the nut. I went ahead and removed all 4 while it was out so that it would be easier later if I wanted to remove one or more while on the car. All 4 came loose without damaging any threads (a common problem).

Here is a picture of the home made wrench made from a piece of scrap steel: