83 OPRV overtightned and stuck

[cdc]

I am in the process of re sealing the oil cooler but I had to take the housing off the block with the OPRV nut still in the housing as its super tight.

I removed the spring and plunger from the block and they just slid right our. I was also reading the OPRV should be a hex head nut but the one on my car is a hex torque bit.

Can I reinstall the OPRV spring and plunger in the block then put the housing with the OPRV head on with the cooler housing or will this cause alignment problems?

[POPS 83 944]

When I did the cooler on my 83, I had to put an Allen wrench in the bolt and a wrench
onto the Allen. When it popped loose it hurt my hands just from the pop. I thought I broke the
cooler housing.

[arttrout]

Been there! In my case the PO reseated it with 59 yards of Teflon tape and red lock-tight. Also, the 8mm (I think) Allen socket started to break out. I had to grind the outside to a 15 mm hex and drive a 15 mm hex socket onto it. I then heated it fairly hot to break the lock-tight (be careful with heat as aluminum will melt before it glows), put it loosely in the vise so it didn't crack but stayed in place (note, I did not try to clamp on a side, but put it in a position that it was wedged), and using a 2 ft breaker bar, put about 200 ft-lbs to it. Came off OK then! I was prepared to buy one used at that point. This was 2 weeks of trying to take it off without breaking it. The 15mm socket is still on there, a permanent part of my car now!

[Gawernator]

wow..

[Rasta Monsta]

Gentle use of rattle gun.

[John_AZ]

Originally Posted by cdc

Can I reinstall the OPRV spring and plunger in the block then put the housing with the OPRV head on with the cooler housing or will this cause alignment problems?

You need to remove the OPRV head to align the oil cooler housing.
Pelican sells the "early" OPRV alignment tool for the 3-piece OPRVs:

Pelican Parts - Product Information: PEL-TOL-P218

A few members have used a deep well socket and short extension to align the housing to engine. Can be done with a little practice and patience to center.

Get a new aluminum OPRV crush washer or you will have a lot of oil drips.

J_AZ

[cdc]

I managed to get it off, I had to heat it up and use an impact wrench to get it off luckily nothing broke. I tried the impact wrench without the heat and it still wouldn't budge.

[smokin_944]

Once you have removed the OPRV it might be an idea to look for the one piece OPRV(early) that replaces the earliest version(3 piece). That way, you won't encounter this problem again. You could probably obtain one for 50$ or so.

[89-944NA]

Originally Posted by smokin_944

Once you have removed the OPRV it might be an idea to look for the one piece OPRV(early) that replaces the earliest version(3 piece). That way, you won't encounter this problem again. You could probably obtain one for 50$ or so.

If you can find a used 1 piece OPRV for $50...let me know, I'll take a dozen

[maryinbulb]

yeah,Been there! In my case the PO reseated it with 59 yards of Teflon tape and red lock-tight. Also, the 8mm Allen socket started to break out.

[cdc]

Got it all reinstalled tonight and ran some shout through the cooling system. Funnily enough there were no washers just the top 2 seals cooler element. When I reassembled everything I found I could not use the plastic washer as it made the element stick out over the top of the housing so I just used the spacer and measured the gap as the write ups say and everything worked fine.

[arttrout]

maryinbulb, don't belive me? http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-924-944-968-technical-forum/565302-headgasket-what.html