Should I do this to the Oil Line Thermostat?

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

OK another hot summer is looming in the near future and I cannot stand to see the temperature rise on the dear. I do not believe the oil line thermostats are working correctly on my little dear as the oil lines are not always warm. I know the bypass valve on the motor is working.

Here is my idea: I take apart the oil line thermostats and ream out the innards! This is akin to removing the thermostat from a, gasp, water cooled motor. I had to do this to my '83 Capri when I took it back to Houston from Wyoming in '86. It kept overheating in the low altitude, heat, and high humidity. No thermostat, no overheating.

I know that everything is clear and that the fan is running as I have taken the motor out several times in the last three years and always confirm that. The fins are in the correct direction and I'm using 20W50 Dino.

Is removing the oil line thermostats really such a bad thing? Am I going to regret this? Does this sound like a really good East Texas White Trash method of repair, oh, sorry, it does not include duct tape, bailing wire, or cutting torches. Bad question...

[bigchillcar]

what?! no duct tape?! really, david...throw in some duct tape in the repair and you'll win my good housekeeping seal of approval...
ryan

[kqw]

I am suspect of removing the functionality of the thermostat. By the way, have you upgraded to a front oil cooler?

Your objective is to cool the oil. I don't see where you are addrssing this issue.

[emcon5]

The internal t-stat is only $75, and you can buy all the guts to rebuild the external t-stat for ~$150

http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/shopcart/911M/POR_911M_oilsys_pg7.htm#item24

For the internal, I seem to remember a big part if it's job was to keep thick cold oil being pumped at 5 bar pressure into the cooler and damaging it.

Tom

[targa80]

Remember this before you start to tear into the thermostat and front oil line. Have access to replacement parts if the car is your daily driver or just have a second car. More than likely the work will not go smoothly. The threads of the oil lines have a tendency to seize to the thermostat threads. The dealership sells replacement thread saver inserts. In my own case I cracked the thermostat taking the lines apart. There is minimal room under the wheel well to get at the thermostat. THey do sell special oil line wrenches. I ended up removing the oil lines, thermostat and trombone cooler as one whole piece. I then used a lot of heat to break the connections loose. There are access screws to the valve areas on the thermostat. You could open them up and take the guts out. I don't have any input to what you are considering as a fix for high temps instead I am just providing some knowledge from my own experience.

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

Good questions.

The engine thermostat is definately working. This should keep the cold oil in the motor and pressure to 5 bar.

The SC has the external cooler. If the external cooler were in an open loop, then the oil would constantly flow and be cooled. The thermostats are working at times, but they do not seem to work consistently. I would have to re-build both. This would also be the time to put in finned oil lines...

Oh, and my oil lines have been modified by the PO to SAE connections going back to the original Metric. Don't know why, but he did it.

Pat, thank you for the input! I might just do this and replace the lines, but I have to wait until our new house is built. I have to do something in the 20X40 garage besides store Model As...

[widebody911]

The oil won't flow properly if you try to run without the guts - ask me how I know

What I did on mine was shim the plunger slightly, which opens the thermo sooner, and probably actually flows a teeny bit of oil at cold tems. I've bee running it like this for a couple of years now, and it seems to work well.

To shim the plunger, I warmed the piston (after removing it - duh) with a heat gun until it popped, then removed the plunger (looks like a big nail) and put a small nut under it, then re-assembed everything.

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

Thom,

Can you please explain how the oil does not flow properly? Is it the lack of back pressure? I'm thinking that the open circuit will allow the oil to flow to the front cooler at all times when the internal thermostat allows it.

Or do I suck it up and put on the finned lines and re-build the external thermostats? Do I put in the Carrera oil cooler as well, or just leave the trombone?

[Early_S_Man]

David,

Imagine the external thermostat as a capital letter 'H' ... it isn't as simple as your '83 water pumper thermostat!!! The thermostat resides in the crossbar of the 'H' and bypasses oil through the crossbar until operating temperature is reached, then the sliding valve moves to close off the path through the crossbar and open the loop path through the cooler.

If you remove the internal elements of the thermostat ... the crossbar AND loop paths will be open all of the time, and, as pointed out above, flow won't be correct!!!

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

Thom, Warren,

Then I should break down and buy the parts and redo the thermostats? Ok, I understand now. But it was one of those things I really wanted to know.

OK, now I'm going to try and figure out how to re-build the thermostats with bailing wire, duct tape, and a cutting torch!!!! Where were those things located again...

[vash]

david! whoa there turbo guy! dont go doing anthing crazy. like warren said, you cannot just remove the guts. that would be like your heart trying to pump without a bunch of oneway valves getting your life juice going in the right direction. i was also in your quandry. "is the thermostat working?" i used a thermoprobe on my $30 dollar multimeter from sears. i ran the damn car hot! on my bad gauge ( i didnt know it was bad at the time) i got 250 degrees. i was freaked, imagining pulled studs, tweek case.... the lines going to the tstat were damn hot to the touch, in front of the tstat, very cool, slightly warm, like bad beer. i got another tstat installed which jacked my garage up with a messy hell. ran the car hot again, same damn thing! in comes the thermoprobe. the hot line only read 178 - 180! and that is when the stat is just supposed to start transitioning oil to the front cooler. basically, my oil temp sender didnt match my mutant gauge. i wasted alot of time and money chasing phantom problems. i should have started and trusted my thermoprobe. i backed up my findings by going on a cruise with cantdrv55. he even let me drive his car! his lines did the same thing like mine. barely warm in front of the tstat. remember, the tstat doesnt slam or pop into the bypass side. it is spring loaded so things trickle at first...

go to sears first, and if you have a problem, get the mocal tstat. i think that one slams open. cheaper too. use it for just the summer?

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

Unfixed,

Hmmm, get scientific data through temperature testing! Cool idea! I wonder if the wife will bite on this one though, but she is a scientist of sorts. How do we work this into Genetic Engineering and Human Bio-Medicines???

Yep, I'm going to re-build them, make them better, and include duct tape!!!!