Tom M'Guinn

My car has oil in the coolant. I've not finished testing yet (compression tester broke; leak down tried to cross thread), but from the symptoms, there is a chance that the problem is oil housing seal. If so, does anyone have any write-ups (other than Clark's) and/or does anyone have any tips/advice....


The car does not overheat -- even when driven hard. The plugs all look roughly the same, although I'm keeping my eye on No. 2. There is no water in the oil that I can see. Car pulls like a freight train, runs great. No noticeable coolant loss once I started paying attention, although I worry if was an inch or two higher a month ago. Place your bets... HG or seals...

Ski

Seals - since you have not mentioned anything about any white smoke or a different exhaust smell.

The repair is pretty straight forward, some of the bolts can be a bitch with the exhaust manifolds in place. Remove the oil filter, remove the pressure sender, then pull the OPRV out, remove the housing bolts. When you pop it off, the small collar with o-rings at each end will either come out with the housing or stay in the block, o-rings should be in the kit for this. Get new o-rings for the OPRV too, as they did not come in my last kit. The large gasket for the housing itself, is the only gasket that I use any type of coating on - I use that sticky spray gasket stuff(can't recall the brand) to spray a very light coat over the side of the gasket that fits to the housing to help it stay in place as I put it back on the block. The small collar, I put in the block before putting the housing on.

hosrom_951

As you (and Ski) mentioned, more likely to be the seals.

It's straight forward but make sure you purchase/use the OPRV alignment tool (costs $20 or less).

Space is limited down there.

JustinL

I'm in the process of doing the same thing on my car. What is the best way to get all the gunk out of the cooling system? Is there a coolant flush that helps clear out the snot?

hosrom_951

Flushing the coolant AND engine (oil) system several times wored fine for me.

JustinL

Any specific chemicals that will loosen the oil residue in the cooling system?

Tom M'Guinn

Well, compression looks good -- just under 150# on all cylinder. I picked up an oil seal kit today, as there still seems to be no signs of a bad head gasket...

Does anyone know if the seal kit works with both versions of the oil connector pipe? Does anyone have the TSB covering the connector tube they could post? Does the kit contain n/a parts I don't need for on a turbo car?

Danno

Yeah, you'll probably have extra stuff for the NA that you won't need. Here's the procedure I use for re-assembling the oil-filterhousing:

1. install new O-rings on the connecting tube, note that there's an outside and inside end

2. push end with groove closest to the edge into the filter-housing, seat it as deeply as you can.

3. install large gasket onto filter-housing

4. line up filter-housing with block and push in, rotate and slide to center OPRV hole on housing with block (use 1-piece OPRV as alignment tool on later cars, use dedicated alignment tool on '86 951s).

5. DO NOT EVER PULL out the filter-housing in step #4, you should continually be pushing it towards the block and rotating to line stuff up, but never pull it back. If you do, remove it completely and re-seat the connecting collar/tube fully into the housing again.

6. hold filter-housing in place and tighten bolts

7. screw in OPRV, pressure-sensor

The trick here is that there's only a small ledge on the filter-housing for the collar-tube to fit into and seal. That's why you want to use the end of the collar-tube with the O-ring at the very, very end to fit into the filter-housing. And you also want to be sure to seat that collar into the housing as far as you can. Then the other end has more than enough room to fit into the block (it will actually be 2-3mm from being fully-inserted into the block).

The problem comes in when some people push the collar fully into the block first, or even worse, push the end of the collar with the O-ring at the tip into the block fully. Then very, very little of the remaining collar is exposed to seal against the filter-housing. Which then cause oil & coolant to mix.

So while it may be more awkward to install the filter-housing with that collar in place, it provides a better seal.

Tom M'Guinn

I am in the middle of this thankless job. What a mess. Everything and anything that can leak or ooze on my face, has. Oil..coolant...power steering fluid...road grime..

At least I found out I have the updated one-piece OPRV, although it came out without an O-ring on the end. Maybe its stuck in the block...

Crazy Eddie

Tom
You have a way with words ....
I am in the middle of this thankless job. What a mess. Everything and anything that can leak or ooze on my face, has. Oil..coolant...power steering fluid...road grime..
I feel for ya Bud
I have no f#$% idea what you guys are talking about but it sounds really complicated ....

cruise98

There are two versions of the collar Danno is talking about. The new one is symmetrical. So pay attention. The updated part # is 951.107.152.03.

Danno has a good procedure. I would add one comment to it...be sure to lubricate the o-rings before installation so they will not roll.

SD Porsche Fan

I'll be tackling this job this weekend. What should you lube the o-rings with? And I am also curious what people have flushed the cooling system with to remove oil residue?

Tom M'Guinn

Porsche's technical bulletin says to use oil on the o-rings.

I too am curious about how to best flush it. There was more oil in the resevoir than came out the bottom end. I'm planning to pull the resevoir and wash it separately, but the rest of the system may be more of a challenge to flush clean.

SD Porsche Fan

I didn't receive the OPRV o-ring with my gasket kit so my weekend project will be delayed.

Anyone come up with an agent to flush the cooling system out to remove the oil residue?

Sam Lin

Powdered dishwashing detergent (for automatic dishwashers), the cheap, basic stuff with no additives. Just use tap water, and flush a couple times with it and clean water, finishing with repeated clean water, once with distilled water, then fill with your distilled water, antifreeze, and Water Wetter mix.

Sam