jh, I think that oil line is toast. I know people say they can repair the oil lines and such, but I would probably just replace it. Chances are, your oil line has been crushed elsewhere too.

I had to replace both of my oil lines when I bought my 3.2. I have no idea how I got my oil lines off without damaging my oil thermostat, but it is very common to damage the threads on the aluminum thermostat when removing the steel oil line nut. I think the thought of cutting off the oil line nut is a good one, if a technique can be devised to not damage the aluminum threads. A lot of guys will take a mapp gas torch and heat up the steel nut. There is a "thermostat saver" that is available, but you end up with oil lines that are too long and hang even lower under the car. Oh, and check out the price of a new oil thermostat if you need more "excitement"

lug nut torque: 98 ft lbs.

Since you have had your line off, can you tell me if it is under pressure? Does the engine and tank oil have to be drained prior to removing the line? I am not concerned about the threads as I will heat them first, but will gravity cause all the oil to flow out is what I need to find out.

It isn't worth it to show them then trust them. I have directly told people that the lugs must be hand tightened and torqued, had them agree, then have them walk 10 feet to the car and use an impact wrench to torque it past 100 foot/pounds.

Just take them off and deliver them to the shop.

When the car is not running, and is not hot, no oil is passed to the front cooler so it is not under pressure. You can remove the line without draining the oil tank and engine, but you will still get the oil that is in the cooler and lines coming out.

The line IS under pressure when running, so you cannot just clamp rubber hose to replace the damaged parts. People have soldered copper water pipe fittings to fix the line, and as mentioned there are a number of threads about using air pressure and heat to pop the line back out.

I would snug the lug nuts down, then put the car on the ground and torque to 60 ft.lbs, then a final torque to 90 ft.lbs. Also always tighten the opposite nut, rather than working your way around in a CW or CCW rotation.

If you have aluminum lug nuts you might invest in a 19mm socket with a plastic insert so you won't damage the finish on your lug nuts.

Also while you're purchasing the lug nut socket get a Bentleys Manual from our host. If you're going to do any work on your car it's a must.

Better have someone who's worked this path from thermostat to front cooler tackle it,..or, at least, read every frikin' thread here at Pelican University regarding this procedure to repair. Many have shared some very informative headaches......none of which I would wish on anybody..Many here who can help you, should you feel "froggy".

Just run your hands along the oil line runs to check for OTHER "dents" (or get her on the rack and have a look/see) along the way.

That front cooler may be called on at given' times,..and needs to be there when needed,..I'd not take the chance....ONLY if your constantly checking temps,..and if she gets too hot (for whatever the reason), pull you're butt over and wait for the temps to recover,..THEN you'll go get her fixed 4sure.

Pelican's a life saver....so is my P-wrench.

Best,

Doyle

I was thinking about this some more.

As for how do you jack up the 911, I think we can safely say that it's been covered alread in other threads. Do what works for you, and use good jack stands.

Is the oil line under pressure? No, not when the engine is stopped. Will oil leak out? Yes. Expect a lot of oil to leak out. If you have some of those blue nitrile smurf looking gloves, you can slip a glove on the end and tie it off with a zip tie or some tape.

Put a garbage bag over your right front wheel. This will prevent oil from dousing the wheel and brakes, destroying your brake pads and adding to the clean up time.

Buy some Purple Power or Super Clean. You'll need this to clean up your work area and probably yourself too.

PB Blaster is your friend. If you are a Republican, this is the only time you'll want to be liberal. Really really liberal. If you have a right angle die grinder, maybe you can cut through the nut down to about 1/16th, then loosen the nut with an oil line wrench. This will lessen the clamping force of the nut considerably and may save your thermostat from impending doom.

Question about the oil line removal.................

I see a lot of people who say that the removal from the thermostat was a nightmare due to the steel thread mating aluminum.

When I looked at the thermostat and how little room there is to get at the nut in front of the stat, I thought that it would be easier to remove both lines on the engine side of the thermostat since they are aluminum on aluminum, then put the unit in a vise, do the heat/spray cycles and then turn the nuts to get the hose off.

Doesn't that make more sense?

It's not the model of car, they just do it too often to want to do it right.

Guns are for cowboys.

you can try it, and get back to us. But don't say you weren't warned in advance. My guess is that after the first nut strips out your threads, you'll not want to remove any more oil nuts than necessary, and you'll take a more conservative approach, say remove only the nut that needs removing and leave everything else alone.

I drop the entire system. Drop the return line at the oil tank, and the feed line at the joint under the muffler. That way you don't have to mess with the thermostat fittings in situ at all, you can do any work you want to do on the bench. Works great for me. Or, since your line is trashed anyway, you can try cutting. If you can get a Dremel or angle grinder in there, you can cut the nut down then chisel it off.

That's an even better idea.

And I am going to try and salvage the line by pressurizing and heating. If it doesn't work, I need a new line anyway.

The strangest part about this whole thing is that I have 4 bars at speed (1 or 2 at hot idle), and the temp has not gone over the first mark on the gauge. I would bet this has been crushed for quite some time. The PO never really drove it (500 miles in the last year), so it never made itself known.

yes, drop the thing as a unit

but spray first - in fact spray the threads dozens of times & tap the metal or drive the car & repeat, repeat, repeat

you might try gently before dropping the whole thing

From the looks of it, I guess I will have to drain the oil tank first as 1 line goes directly to it. Correct?

98 ft/lbs..

Edit: Asleep at the wheel, didn't see that there was a page 2...Please proceed as if I were normal!

+1 to removing your own wheels and taking them to the tire shop...

There was a recent thread by someone who cut through the nut with a dremmle cut off wheel. Sounds like a good idea if you are not saving the line.

just a note on tire shops.... as a general rule they inflict huge amounts of damage to your wheels - always take the tires alone in... can clean off the weights yourself before going or they may be "cleaned" off for you with a screwdriver - go to a place that will let you watch the guy running the machine and tell him you don't want one mark on your wheels inside or out. You have to watch what type of machine they have and if it grabs the rim or the inside of the wheel.. in either case the grabbers need to have a bit of padding or you will get your wheel gouged. They should be using a "non-touch" tire machine... if not go somewhere else.