cambria

Any guides as to how to install the oil pressure relief valve, on a 32v engine, in the car, other than taking steroids?
TIA, Terry

Bill Ball

I don't think this calls for steroids. I've done it once on an 88. Pay attention to the way things come off when you pull out the valve(order of parts, direction of springs). Take off the oil filter first to give you enough room to maneuver tools and expect oil to drip for a while. Getting wrenches on the pressure sender and relief valve is awkward. That's about it.

cambria

Bill, Thanks for your response. My problem is that there are two oil relief valves that are located above the oil cooler lines, which is above the oil filter and above the oil pressure sender. One has a springs is extreamly difficult to compress back into the block by hand and it's also in a confined space. If I were taking steroids I would have enough hand strengh to compress the spring and turn the cover bolt at the same time.

Bill Ball

My bad. I was thinking of the oil t-stat bypass valve. Wrong valve(s).

I haven't fiddled with those pressure relief valves. I see the problem and the need for steroids. I don't have a good suggestion. I'm trying to imagine a way to lever a ratchet to compress the spring, but I don't see a good way to do it. Anybody?

Mrmerlin

HI it might help to remove the alternator then remove the oil cooler lines, oil will drip but you will have plenty of room to work it might be helpful to cut the big wrenches in half as they will fit better of course you wont be using them for any big jobs, Stan

cfc928gt

I did this once when I was much younger, don't think I could manage it now. It begs the question, why do you need to do this?

cambria

Stan, I did go ahead and removed the alternator at your suggestion and that did give me enough room to get both hands and arms into the space. However, when you get that much of your body in there you can't see the hole. This bolt must be aligned perfectly or it won't thread. I have tried various levers and other tools, including several of Rub Goldberg's.

CFC928GT, this all started after a partial rebuild of the engine and I had 5+ bars of oil pressure after driving the car for about an hour. I pulled the oil cooler hoses and only found a small amount of oil in the lower hose. The upper hose was dry with no signs of oil vever being in the hose after the rebuild. Only soulution I could think of was the two relief valves were stuck. When I pulled the valves they had a blue coating on them and one had a shinny bur.

Bill Ball

Where is Rube Goldberg now that we need him?

You are certain that your oil pressure sender is OK? It 5-bars if bad.

cfc928gt

Cambria, when I did this about 16 years ago on my old '78 I also 'hunted' for the threads. It took a number of attemps over two days and then all of a sudden, bingo! I guess I was holding my mouth just right. I never thought I'd get it back on. Keep trying, you eventually will. As far as oil in the cooling lines go I believe this is controlled by the oil thermostat that sits just above the oil pressure sender. After you finally get the caps back on please change out the oil thermostat, it's very inexpensive, around $40. The symptoms I had on my GT was zero oil pressure on restarting the car on a hot day after sitting a couple minutes, very unnerving. The unexpected surprise was the GT now runs cooler which I assume is because the hot oil now flows properly to the radiator. The PO and I had both been chasing the hot running problem to no avail. The PO put in a nice DEVEK radiator and I'd wedged the thermostat permanently open but both didn't solve the problem. It was the oil thermostat. Keep trying, you'll get it eventually.

cambria

CFC928GT, I am thinking that I will take a trip to HF in the morning and buy a 6" bar clamp and reverse the jaws so it will expand> I can place the non asjustable end on the wheel well and the other on the relief valve. I will then put a short bolt, backwards through the socket with a nut and use the bolt as a pivot point to turn the the relief valve. Then adjust the clamp so the threads touch. With pressure on the clamp and turning the relief valve it should go in.
I ordered a new oil thermostat from 928 Specialists last Thrusday, so it should be here by next Thursday. Thanks for your insight.

Bill, I am sorry to report that Rub died many years ago but his philosophy lives on in some of us.

Thanks for the help, Terry

cfc928gt

Terry, just noticed you're in DENVER, amazing what one learns when they pay attention. Where are you located? Are you aware of the Rocky Mtn Sharks, our loosely organized 928 club? Can I help?

SharkSkin

As Bill said, check the sender. Also, make sure you wired it correctly. If the gauge goes to 5 bar when you turn the key to "On"(without starting) that indicates bad sender/reversed wiring.

cambria

THE RELIEF VALVES ARE BACK IN.
As CFC said it's a two day job. Two days to figure out how to get it into position and one minute to thread it in. What I did is I used the pivot bolt hole for the power steering unit and threaded a 8 mm x 2.5 lg bolt onto the pivot. On the bolt I had a 1.125x1.125x.125 steel angle 6" long double nuted and washered. I adjusted the angle so that it was centered on the relief valve. Installed the releif valve and spring, put the the relief valve cap and one triple thick washer into the socket. The scocet was then slid into place using the angle as a lever. (I premeasuered the distance from the face of the angle to the top of the relief valve cap with it started into the threads.) When everything was in place, just screwed it in. Rub Goldberg lives on.

Dave, the oil pressure gauge does not move when the key is switched on, I only moves after I start cranking the engine. I did reverse the wires and the oil pressure gauge would peg when turning the switch on with out starting the engine.

Thank you all for your help and CFC for your offer.
Terry

cfc928gt

Cambria, congratulations! Ingenious solution, all I remember was after I got it on was saying 'never again'. We would love to have you be a part of our Denver group, it's a great bunch of guys and very informal.