crushed oil line

[Goodie]

Does this oil line need to be replaced? The damage is located just forward of the stat.
Thanks for your feedback!

[Danny_Ocean]

Nah, not really. There are several previous posts as to repair techniques.

[Josh D]

Easy fix using heat and pressure. i've done this myself and it works. Here is the thread with the process I followed:

Fixed my Crushed Oil line for $5 and a beer.

[Determined]

I've done myself too, make sure to spread the heat evenly and watch your pressure. To help it conform back to a decent shape during heating I used some large channel locks with duck tape over the teeth to prevent damaging the oil line, then carefully pressed the line softly at various points and it came out really nice.

[Tidybuoy]

Just a dumb thought...if the oil line gets a little crushed, does this block flow or does the line just change it's shape but flow is not affected. Just wondering.

[widgeon13]

I'm assuming it just effects the efficiency of the cooling as the exchange of oil is not as rapid as before. Perhaps you would see a rise in the operating temp. Now complete blockage would be another thing.

[Goodie]

Thanks for the good feedback and suggestions. I'll give it a try this weekend.
The hard part (on this particular car) is removal of the line(s), the rest looks pretty basic.
Thanks again!

[500_19B]

Originally Posted by Tidybuoy

Just a dumb thought...if the oil line gets a little crushed, does this block flow or does the line just change it's shape but flow is not affected. Just wondering.

The area does get smaller as you deviate from a round shape. Given that the perimeter is constant, let's say you had a round shape with a perimeter of four units. It's area would be 1.27 units^2. A square section with that same perimeter would only have an area of 1 units^2.

Now if you flattened that same perimeter of four into a rectangle with long sides 1.5 units and short sides 0.5 units (i.e. perimeter still equals 4), then your area will now be down to 0.75 units^2, and it will just get less and less and the the rectangle gets "flatter".

It is a good question, as intuitively many will think that it would not make any difference if the tube was square or round...

As for the original question: I too used the heat with a MAPP torch + pressurized air method and it worked great.

[Rusty Heap]

My airpressure/heat method is copyrighted by my firm LlamaMechanic Incorporated, and everyone who has used it now owes me $5, or a beer.


glad it's helped so many. Ah Yes, the THUMB has returned once again.

[Josh D]

Originally Posted by Rusty Heap

My airpressure/heat method is copyrighted by my firm LlamaMechanic Incorporated, and everyone who has used it now owes me $5, or a beer.


glad it's helped so many. Ah Yes, the THUMB has returned once again.

Be glad to, come on down to AZ and get it!!

BTW, I was born in Monroe, WA in '70.