Hmm... Well I was trying to take off the front oil cooler line to take off my front cover, and I ended up twisting the metal part up, but twisted it back.

It still looks just a little squished but not too bad.

Anyone done this? I wonder if I'll have to replace it or if it'll be ok?

 

Been there, done that. Ran it like that for years without issues. However if you have stressed one specific area you will probably want to replace the line to avoid it bursting on the highway miles from home....

As long as you have not seriously restricted the oil flow you should be fine.

 

gyah... for some reason that damn line still won't come off.

I think I need a breaker bar... but I have no good way to keep the small one in place since I don't have and can't find any thin-wall wrenches.

 

Lol I just took my oil cooler lines off to replace them and I COULD NOT get that bolt to go until I got it off the car. I had to break that little metal line to get it out too what a bitch. I had a friend stand on a ratchet then I used a crescent wrench to torque it off.

 

Well what annoys me is that I took it off twice before... and now it won't cooperate.

 

When I replaced my Lines I took the lines from the block off, then brough the cooler and lines to a shop and had them impact them off, cause they were frozen.

 

Basically what I do is to use two wrenches. I remove the undertray and support the first wrench on the shop floor with a jackstand and length of 2x4. This keeps the fitting from rotating in the front cover. I then use another wrench to loosen the outer locknut after soaking liberally with penetrating oil. Adjustable wrenches work well, or if you have the proper sized metric wrenches (don't know the size off hand) then you can do that. Be patient and apply even pressure. Don't lean into the wrench or you will round the nut.

If all else fails, cut the metal tube and then unscrew the whole fitting from the front cover. Then get some metric to AN adapters and make up your own lines with AN fittings and braided stainless hose.

 

Well, I finally got it to come off. Just took some more "convincing" than usual.

Just took a while to get the supporting wrench to stay still (I let it rest on the sway bar).

I also got the oil pan off (what a PITA... I did jack the engine up just a bit and that made things a bit easier though, since you have to anyway)...

Since you have to hold the clutch in to prevent damage to the thrust bearing when removing the eccentric shaft bolt, I'm gonna use this extendable, locking squegee... it works pretty damn well but I'm gonna see if it's still on there in 10 minutes just to make sure...lol

RTV is enough to seal up the front cover and oil pan, right?


(Speaking of undertray, I bought one off of eBay a while back and I'm wondering what to use to attach it... I think bolts the same size as the oil pan bolts will work but not all of my "threads" are much good (those little things that clip on to act as threads I mean). I wonder if zipties would be ok for some of them... Or is there a way to refresh those clips?)

 

RTV will work but remember there is an oil passage that leads into the front cover though the gasket surface. Don't clog it up with the sealant. And if you are not running a front cover gasket you need to switch the oil o-ring to a thinner unit for a proper seal. I'd recommend using the gasket and whatever o-ring configuration came with the car unless you are aware of the intricacies of changing it...

I always use a gasket on the oil pan with a coating of RTV/silicone on each side and have never had a leak.

The undertray bolts are M6 x 1.0. Use stainless and lots of antiseize. If the threads are gunked up, run a tap through them.