Partial engine drop

[Porsche-poor]

The Bent. book describes a partial drop of 3" when replacing the o-rings on the oil cooler. I need to reach the back of the engine and replace the oil light switch, how far can I safely drop the engine with stressing the rest of the car?

[walt]

You will be surprised how much a 3-4 inch drop will open up the "front" of the engine. Should not have any problem removing the switch at this point.

[Porsche-poor]

I am hoping that it really is the switch and not the crank case breather hose in which case its a total drop, not something I wanted to do the first year into the car.

[Seeeu911]

Porsche-poor, I'm getting parts now for a similar adventure. keep us updated. Also what were the symptoms of your leak ? only while running ? after a warm up ? does your oil pressure light flicker at idle ?

[ChrisBennet]

I've never seen a leaking oil cooler seal, ever. Has anyone?
-Chris

[Porsche-poor]

Seeu911, oil can be seen along top right sheet metal below CIS, runs under rubber body gasket then reappears under car ready to drip from around the oil cooler area. I pulled the CIS boot off and reached as far as I could over and around, breather hose is wicking it up. The hose looks dry beyond the bend at corner just below CIS. The top of engine looks wet right around the oil light switch. That's why I am hoping its all I have to fix. I will take pictures as I go and post them.

[ga_mueller]

I replaced the thermostat oring, breather hose, oil pressure sender, and oil cooler seals, without dropping the engine, partial or otherwise. The only thing I couldn't do was the breather paper gasket. As this wasn't the cause of my oil leaks, it didn't matter anyway.

[Porsche-poor]

ga_mueller, how did you reach all that without a drop?

[ga_mueller]

David,
As far as the oil cooler, remove the air cleaner/flow meter hardware from the right side of the engine. You can then access the cover on the air cooler to undo the air cooler retaining nuts. Follow Bentleys as far as removing the tin on the side and back of the engine to access the lower oil cooler nuts. You can then pull the oil cooler out to clean and renew the seals. It took me 5 hours total, and I'm not particularly handy. The oil pressure switch is easily replaced using a mirror to locate it, then removing with an appropriate socket. This is a 30min job. The thermostat oring is replaced after undoing the two nuts holding it in place. Again, I used a mirror to locate them. This took about 2 hours. This may all sound somewhat un-macho, but in practice it's very easy and just requires a little patience. After doing all of this, as well as replacing my oil return tubes, I once again had a leak-free engine again.
Good luck!

[boyt911sc]

David,

You cannot performed all the stuff GA_Mueller did on an SC car without a partial drop. The SC configuration is totally diffrent and you couldn't reach the oil pressure switch even if you're a 120 lb. person.

The air-box unit hinders access to this area. I would like to know anyone who was able to take off the pressure switch from an SC motor without any partial drop. Maybe we could share this technique. Thanks.

Tony

[ga_mueller]

Originally posted by boyt911sc
You cannot performed all the stuff GA_Mueller did on an SC car without a partial drop. The SC configuration is totally diffrent and you couldn't reach the oil pressure switch even if you're a 120 lb. person.

My apologies for the bad info for your model. FWIW, I was told an engine drop was "a must" for the stuff which was done. Curious also if it's really necessary on an SC.

[boyt911sc]

SoCal911SC,

It's very interesting to know that someone successfully removed an oil pressure switch from an SC engine without loosening the rear engine mount bolts or a partial engine drop.

I applaud your achievement!!!!!

Tony

[clevy70911T]

Since I'm always backtracking to fix something I should have taken care of last time, I can do a partial drop in 20-25 minutes and the whole CIS took about 90 minutes from walking into the garage. Practice makes perfect.

Pics and description of my partial drop.

Man teaches chimp to remove CIS in 90 minutes with partial drop.

[Porsche-poor]

no joy its not the switch thats leaking or the t-stat. Either the crankcase vacuum hose has a split at the low point where it turns the corner and goes behind the engine or its leeking from some where else. I did the partial drop and was unable to get the hose end.

[K. Roman]

drop it all the way!!! It's not very difficult and is very rewarding knowing you can see all the leaks and then tend to them.

[echrisconnor]

I can now do a partial drop in about 15 minutes. It makes working on the back of the engine a snap. On my car, I can easily drop the fan down 10+ inches which makes it possible to really crawl into the engine bay and look at the back (front)without any mirrors.

A trick was suggested to me the other day which worked wonders in locating oil leaks back there. If you spread talcum powder on the back of the engine, it makes it very easy to see what's leaking. I didin't have any talcum poweder so I just used Comet, which worked seemingly just as well. Then when hosing it off, everything is nice and clean.

To find my leaks, I went so far as to do a partial drop, and then started and ran the engine for about 15 minutes, while dropped. After this time I was able to just stick my head back there and see what was leaking. Also keep in mind that the airbox drain is close to the same area. If you overfill your oil and any is getting sucked into the airbox, you may see oil around there from this as well.

Good luck!

[Porsche-poor]

Nope inside of the air box was dry. Makes me think its the crankcase breather.

echrisconnor can you give me a list of things you disconnect while doing your drop. I did not do the shift coupler so I could only go about 3"

[echrisconnor]

All I undo is the shift coupler (and of course the two engine mount bolts). Granted, I have no heat so none of the HE tubes interfere with dropping. I also have a backdated exhaust with the crossover oil line. I don't know how it works with the later oil lines. My first time, I just undid the coupler and started dropping very slowly checking all the way round that nothing was hanging up. All the fuel lines and electrical fittings have plenty of room to let you drop quite a good distance. I was amazed at how easy it was to drop it down a good ways. My first concern had been the 'S' shaped oil line which goes from the oil cooler to the sump, but it allowed for plenty of movement.

c

[Porsche-poor]

Looks like I will plan on trip number 2 into the back of the engine. Didn't disconnect the shift last time, will this time and then watch the oil lines as it goes down.

Thanks

[Porsche-poor]

How low can you go. Got to the back. Thanks. Didn't solve the problem though. Crankcase breather is solid and not coming off. IfI ever get my hands on the guy who put this engine together I'll.....

Almost every hose clamp on this car is facing the wrong way.

Any way leaking or wet area can be seen in picture. The notch dead center just a little up from the bottom. No matter how many times I took a rag to it it just came back from under the engine tin.