I am in the middle of a big project on my 944. And part of this project was oil cooler seals (preventative maintenance, they were 6 years old). I have run into a problem. All the time I hear of people changing their seals without the oil pressure relief valve alignment tool. However after 50 minutes under the car adjusting everything just a tiny bit at a time, I have had no success. Every time, after about 1 turn the valve gets so tight I am afraid of damaging something, so I back it out.

Can I leave the oil cooler bolts loose, install the valve on the housing, then tighten the oil cooler? Or do I still risk damaging things?

Another quick question. My oil cooler housing has '98' stamped inside a circle on the upper part of it. Does this mean it was manufactured in 1998? That is quite suspicious, because the owner in 98 kept good records, and it's not in there.

Also, the first 3 rows of threads on my OPRV are absolutely flattened. Is this normal?

Oh, one more question. Where does the O-ring go on the oil pressure relief valve? Mine had a tiny little plastic ring at the end of it, but no O-rings (none inside the engine where the OPRV came out from either). I do have a replacement OPRV O-Ring and crush washer.

Thanks in advance for any help,

 

You should just get the alignment tool. $30 is nothing compared to the repair cost of a seized engine.
If you were closer you could borrow mine.

 

You should have the 1 piece valve... and in that case, alignment is not nearly as critical as the 3 piece assembly. You should use the tool, but you can get by without.

Leave the housing a touch loose while slowly and carefully screwing in the OPRV. As long as you don't force anything, it should self align, for the most part. All of the moving parts for the OPRV are inside the unit, reducing the chance of binding.

Your rebuild kit most likely has seals and o-rings for all years. The early style uses some of the left overs.

 

Heres a good place to get that tool, if you decide to.



ZDmak ebay store

 

Yes, since you have the early valve, the first three rows of threads should be flat. Your's is also correct with that plastic seal at the end of the valve and the crush washer at the other end.

 

Turn it over!

Or it could be something entirely different...

 

All the other writing is right-side up, makes me think it was replaced.
I was under the impression that on the newer style valves the alignment was more critical.
So, there is no O-ring required for my ORPV??
Hmm.

 

Hey Chris,
If you decide to buy the tool let me know we can work out some sort of deal because Ill need it when I do my car. How is all of that going btw? When it was all said and done how much did it cost you for parts in CND funds?

 

No, the piston is housed inside the assembly. The alignment is an issue for the early cars because the piston slides in a 2 part bore. (block and housing) Also, if the spring on the early valves is not put in square, it can tilt the piston and lock it up.

None the less, you want both of them in straight.

For the O ring, I never rebuilt the one from my '87 block, so I cannot specifically answer. I would guess that there would be one on the end. Are you sure that is a plastic spacer and not a hardened O ring?

 

On the OPRV alignment tool - note that there are two different tools, one for the older 3-piece valve (I think '86 and earlier) and one for the newer one-piece valve. There was also a replacement for the three-piece valve which is one-piece and different than the later one-piece value - whew!.

The tool commonly found at Zdmak and other places is for the older valve housing - this tool is normally under $20. The tool for the later (>'87) is different and costs about $45 (got mine from Pelican Parts). You can probably do the job without the tool, but I used it on my 951 and the piece of mind was worth it !

 

I'm sure it's a rubbery-plastic washer. It has sharp corners on it. I believe it is supposed to be an O-ring.
It didn't make sense to me either for the newer style valves to be more sensitive to alignment than the older ones. Good that somebody else thinks so as well.
Redlyne, the project couldn't be going any worse. Over 2 weeks behind schedule. Just wrote half of my freakin mid-terms, the other half are still to go. Submitting assignments 1 minute, 15 seconds before deadlines... that doesn't help the car project.

I seem to have much time to wait for this car project.
So, if you are interested in working something out for the OPRV alignment tool, I say sure!
I would be willing to order one. I agree, it's worth the peace of mind to have it aligned right. I have enough things to worry about when I fire it up, I could use one less.
I will continue checking around for the best price on it, but $20 US sounds pretty darn good.

I was kind of hoping that I could get away without it since I have the new style, shoot.

Well, let's end this with another question. I have the oil cooler half-installed, with the oprv in 1 row of threads. Has been like that for a day. It wouldn't hurt anything to sit for a few more days, would it?

 

Geez man sorry to hear youre having such troubles. Did you replace all the rollers and front oil seals as well? How did that go? Ill need to replace mine, the whole front end of my car is secretion city. PM me on here or on Beyond as to what youd like to do about the alignment tool deal