dellis32

Greetings everyone, I’m a new member and Porsche owner. I purchased a 1986 black/black Carrera from a rennlist member last fall and thoroughly enjoyed it until I had to put it away for the winter. I’m planning to use my car as a three season daily driver, just to test my longtime theory that it would be better to drive a great older car than a boring new one for similar or more money. (at least that’s how I rationalized it!) I’m also hoping to run some DE events later this year at Limerock.

Now for the debris question, while getting the car prepped for Spring I topped off the oil and thought I’d possibly overfilled it. Being cautious, I decided to pump a little out of the tank through the filler neck. Everything went well until I pulled the hose out. There was a little resistance, but I didn’t think much of it until I saw there were two ‘shaved’ areas on the hose about an inch long. I can only assume the slivers are now in the tank. My plan, after reading a bit here and on Pelican, is to remove the tank and then have it cleaned at a radiator shop, unless anyone has a better recommendation. I want to avoid having any oil flow towards the engine, so is just removing the tank drain plug best or should I remove some of the oil lines as well while draining? Should I jack up the front of the car? Also, are there any other tasks that I should think about doing while I have the tank out?
Thanks in advance.

rusnak

What do you mean "I pulled the hose out"? This is not necessary to drain the oil. If you have some chunks in the oil tank, it is a good idea to try to find them and remove them. I doubt the chunks are inside the oil lines, since you did not start the motor.

When draining the oil you should not make it standard practice to remove any lines. Just the two drain plugs. Leave everything else alone.

Auto_Werks 3.6

I believe he is saying that sharp edges inside the tank shaved plastic off the pump he was using. You might slightly raise the driver side, and then remove the "soft" rubber line where it attaches at the engine oil cooler. This will make a mess, but you will be sure the tank will not deposit debris in the cooler. I doubt it would flow into the engine even if you left the hose attached and drained normally, but it is only held on with a basic hose clamp regardless. I would try to catch everything that comes out in a clean container and hopefully find your stray plastic. I would also concider trying to flush with some cheap oil, after isolating the tank. It would be nice to not have to remve the tank at all. If you are in doubt there are some interesting ideas in the following thread:
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=93303

Hopefully the radiator shops in your area still boil tanks out...
Good luck.

dellis32

Hi Rusnak. Sorry, I should have been more clear. I was using a small hand pump through the filler neck to pull a small amount of excess oil out rather than opening the drain plug. (won't do that again) It was the hand pump hose that was shaved. I wouldn't normally disconnect any lines. I was wondering if that would be a good idea prevent any oil from flowing towards the engine while the pieces are still in there and taking the tank out. Thanks!

dellis32

Hi Auto_Werks, thanks for the input and clarification. I'll keep you posted.

rusnak

Oh, I see. Auto has some good suggestions. If you have to take the tank out, I guess once it's out you might have some luck removing the oil sending unit. Hopefully the pieces come out when you drain the oil. If they do, I'd just probably stop there rather than risk getting more debris inside the tank.

TA911-64

I've had a few issues like this over the years! The only thoughts I'd add are...if you haven't started the engine already;DON"T! This keeps the debis isolated to the tank and filler tube. I'd drain the oil into a
CLEAN container for re-use. Hopefully the debris will come out. If not, look with a light to see if it's laying near the drain hole where you could pick it out with needle nose pliers (carefully!). Otherwise, pour the oil back in (I'd strain it through cheese cloth) with no plug and try again. After a few tries...
THEN it's time to go to the next steps of tank removal, etc. GOOD LUCK!

dellis32

Thanks Tom, I'm hoping it'll come out while draining also. My work schedule has been crazy this week so I probably won't get to it until the weekend. In the meantime my paranoid brain has imagined that this stuff has evolved and grown legs or flippers and is swimming towards the engine...

TA911-64

I wouldn't worry THAT much!! Consider this...If anything had to enter your oil supply, rubber shavings are FAR less dangerous than sand or metal shavings. By your description, the size seems small enough
to do little damage. I can't imagine clogging any passages at that size. That being said, I'd still make every effort to "find and remove" for better sleeping at night!