Observations on Replacing Oil Return Tubes

[Rot 911]

Well in spite of paying for two day air delivery, the oil return tubes I ordered from Pelican were delivered by UPS 6 days after I ordered them. Giddy as a school girl on her first date I scampered home to try and install them and hopefully eliminate that small pool of oil that resided under my '86 every morning. I won't go into the step by step details on how to do it, that is well covered in the Pelican Tech Article and Wayne's new book. I'll just give you some observations I made as I attempted to complete the task. First, I have done this before on my '72 E, but the engine was out of the car and the heat exchangers were off the engine. I wasn't sure it could be done on my '86 because the first thing I saw when I had the car jacked up and on stands was the driver's side tubes were almost completely hidden behind the heat exchanger. I decided to tackle the hardest one first. I got out the trusty vice grips to crush the tubes and pull them out per the instructions in the article and by Wayne. Two things I discovered, first, you can barely get at the tube closest to the front of the car on the driver's side and, two, I must be a wimp. The tubes are easy to crush, but I will be damned if I could just "twist them out." Crying like the limp wristed sissy boy I must be, I got my trusty pry bar out and with little effort just pried the suckers out. This can be done with no damage to any other part. Next, make sure you use plenty of Dow 111 on all the green seals, you want those tubes to expand easily. Make sure you have the tube lined up squarely with the hole in the head and the engine case, because you can push the seal out of the groove if you try to push the tube into its seat at an angle. The only problem I had with installation was getting the snap rings into the groove. My snap ring pliers would not fit up behind the exchangers, so using one screw driver to hold one end on the tube in place, I used another to work the snap ring into the groove. By the way, I only used one hose clamp, each time placing it on the tube end that fits into the engine case. On the driver's side it was easier to first fit the tube up behind the heat exchanger then, with the hose clamp split apart, work it on the tube and then tighten it down. Total time from jacking the car up to taking it for a test drive was 2 hours. This morning I was greeted with an oil free garage floor!

[ChrisL]

I just completed the same job on my '86 Carrera and have similar observations. You can do this without removing the heat exchangers, but the driver's side is difficult to do. The passenger's side is cake.

I didn't have a problem getting the old ones out. I used vise grips to crush the old ones, making a z-bend sort of thing after flattening them.

I'm not sure about the looseness of the snap ring after installation - putting it on the inner tube stretches the cr@p out of it, so it's a little limp after installation. Little or no stress on it, so I don't think it's a problem.

Also, the hose clamp trick works wonders - don't know how you'd get them seated without something to provide leverage without crushing them. I, too, couldn't get my snap ring pliers in there after installation, so I used a screwdriver to slide it into place.

All in all a pretty easy and effective job. No leaks so far!

Chris.

Here's a shot of the driver's side. With the oil pipe and heat exchanger it's a bit of a challenge to get the old ones out and the new ones in.

[ChrisL]

And here's the passenger's side. Very easy to get to.

[tmctguer]

when i did mine, i removed the heat exchangers (i was converting to SSI). but i found that if i gave the tube a very slight twist while pushing it it, it slid it very nicely. so, i did a combination -- the hose clamp for leverage + the slight twist to slide it in place.

[Doug Zielke]

Good story from Kurt, and excellent images, ChrisL. Thanks guys!

It's reassuring to know the tubes can be replaced without taking off the heat exchangers (with all the peril that job entails).

Mine are still leak free, but I know it's just a matter of time.

[john walker's workshop]

the left exchanger has to come off if the engine has the air injection tubing in place. on the right side, only the injection tubing has to be seperated from the injectors, to provide clearance.