hard oil line replacement

[GMR911]

Hi, need to take my hard oil lines off that run from the t-stat to the front cooler. The lines are squished and the local hydralic hose shop say they can cut out the flat spots and repair them for about $140.00. But I need to take the lines off the car. Any tips on taking the lines off the T-stat or even for repairing the lines. Also, my car has the loop cooler, so this may be the best time to upgrade. Thanks, Jerry

[ZCAT3]

Jerry - you need two large wrenches to take these off. The best time to do it is during an oil change, but no big deal if you have oil in the car. You will need an oil pan under each connection point. I did this using 2 decent large crescent wrenches and some PB Blaster to loosen the connections a bit. Do a search here on this and you will get lots of suggestions.

Bill

[911pcars]

The easiest method is to remove the entire external oil cooler, lines and thermostat. Remove the oil lines that connect to the engine and oil tank, remove brackets and supports, then drop the thermostat with the oil lines and cooler connected.

Separated from the chassis, you now have complete access to the thermostat and oil line fittings, but you have to be careful loosening the fittings. The aluminum tstat threads tend to corrode and transfer material onto the steel fittings. With the lines on the ground, use double wrenches w/long handles to loosen, maybe soak with thread penetrating liquid (Kroil or equivalent) and apply some heat. Buggered threads can be repaired with a tstat thread repair kit available through PParts (?). When it all goes back together, use anti-seize on the threads.

Good idea to replace the loop cooler at this time. Plan to install a small Spal fan to assist air flow.

Hope this helps a little.
Sherwood

[GMR911]

Thanks for the replies guys. Not particularly looking forward to taking these off, but I need to since the hydraulic hose shop estimates I may have ony 50-70% flow though those flat spots. Thanks for the info, Jerry

[vash]

two 15" crescent wrenches did the trick for me. believe it or not, if you do it in the right order, you can get those tstat connections off with the tstat in place. cover your front brake assembly with a big garbage bag to protect the brake pads.

cliff