Cleaning used oil lines/thermostat

[Silveresrty911S]

Searched for some theards on cleaning used oil lines and thermostats and didn't come up with anything. I bought a used carrera heat sink 14 tube cooler and in the process of receiving a couple of sets of used oil lines and a couple of thermostats I should receive in about a week.

Should I invest in the oil line wrenches or will my torch and large channel locks or other large wrenches suffice?

What is the best way to clean them, is it something I can do or send them out to a radiator shop or the like? Need to get the temps down for the summer driving. TIA Rick

[pwd72s]

Good question. I've read to beware of used coolers because they may contain bits from a blown engine. So, how DO they get cleaned? Alcohol wash? What?

[Silveresrty911S]

I questioned the PO of the oil cooler and he assured me it was from a car that had been hit hard from the rear, allthough it seems like the brass tube coolers would be less restrictive in holding any particles in the cleaning process. Any good advice?

[Joe911]

It seems to me that a radiator shop with the hot tank might be a good way to clean one out.

[tmctguer]

i bought used oil lines and a new cooler. i never thought about the "blown engine bits" and in retrospect, i should have tried to flush the oil lines with brake cleaner or B12.

as much as i tried heat and penetrating oil on the connectors from the lines to the T-stat, a dremel tool was what ended up freeing the mechanism. upon assembly, i used a combination of oil line wrenches, and large adjustable end wrenches. i had 1 very small, but stubborn leak, and it took some torque and a large wrench to finally stop the drip.

i can't imagine large channel locks as a tool that would work, to be honest. you'll need something with a 'fixed' opening so that you can concentrate your effort at loosening/tightening instead of that + keeping the channel locks in place.

[jase007]

Rick:

Your Targa looks good after the repaint and I like the polished wheels and ducktail. I think that tail might look good on my car as well.

A little off topic here but germaine to a thread we had way back re: tires for narrow bodied (non-flared cars). As a result of your input and others I finally decided on Yokahama AVS ES100s and am very happy with them. As my minilite's are 6.5 x 15 I was able to fit 215/60/15s without any problems. Car is lowered a bit but not to euro height b/c of urban environment around DC.

Here is a link with the car at the bottom of the page.
1976 911S Targa

Cheers,

Jason S.

[jase007]

To stay on topic... I too have a set of lines and a carrera cooler out of a 74 Targa (was retrofitted to car I bought). As my 76 Targa didn't have an external I am going to tranplant ALL of it to the car to keep cool this summer. Unbelievably, the car actually stays below 215 in stop and go in DC / VA "swamp" heat with no external cooler.

Am planning on having a radiator shop flush and pressure test the carrera cooler for peace / piece of mind.

Jason

[banjomike]

Your saving grace is this... after oil goes through the cooler and the lines it goes straight to the filter. Any gunk should get caught. That is assuming that the early setup is like the late setup.

[Evans, Marv]

I believe the best way to have the oil cooler cleaned is to find a radiator shop that can clean it sonically. The lines and thermostat, you can clean out pretty easily.

[dwightp]

Hmmm. "after oil goes through the cooler...straight to the filter. Any gunk should get caught" Correct, except for the fact that most standard oil filters have a high pressure bypass.

I'd recommend calling a local A&P or aircraft engine rebuild shop. They do the cleaning on air cooled aircraft engine oil coolers. Should fit the bill just fine.

[Silveresrty911S]

Thanks for all the info, what type of cleaning fluid to use on the lines and thermostat? I'll try and ask about sonic cleaning and pressure test when I take it in

Jason,
Nice ride! My 215/60x15's feel great, I'm right at 24.75" in the rear with slightly rolled fenders and it will just rub when accelerating hard out of a corner on right and left handers. The car seems to be balanced well as she just touches the outer most corner of the tires on each side. I'll be raising up 1/4 -3/8" so I don't ruin the new paint or tires.

[carmad]

Send it to Pacific Oil Cooler, they use high pressure, high temp ultrasonic cleaning to remove any debris. They clean until particle size is down to 10 microns. Then x-ray. Just sent mine there.
800 866 7335.
www.oilcooler.com