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Oil pipe removal


Brads

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I am trying to replace the 2x oil pipes from the oil thermostat to the oil tank and the thermostat to the engine but for the life of me cannot undo the nuts. I have tried heat,plus gas & virtually everything else available, does anyone have any tips on how best to undo these bl##dy things?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

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Is the thermostat off the car? Some drop the lines, cooler and T stat off the car to attack them. A dremel to carefully cut through to expose the threads and then carefully apply some leverage to force the cut wider. Be very careful not to damage the T stat threads.

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40 minutes ago, Brads said:

I am trying to replace the 2x oil pipes from the oil thermostat to the oil tank and the thermostat to the engine but for the life of me cannot undo the nuts. I have tried heat,plus gas & virtually everything else available, does anyone have any tips on how best to undo these bl##dy things?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

I think we should know why you are trying to remove them before offering advice just in case the nuts need to go back on.

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Need to remove them as they are badly rusted, I want to keep the pipes that run along the sill as these were replaced by the previous owner about 5 years ago. Trouble is if I damage the alloy threads then to replace the thermostat I will need to undo these as well.

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Assuming that you can get the nuts off the oil tank and engine, drop the complete lines / thermostat and oil cooler as Lesworth suggested.  As the pipes are rusty, just dremel the nuts off.  If you can't get the nuts off the oil tank and/or engine, dremel them off first, then proceed as above.

 

Heat and swinging on the spanners is the only way.  The adapter into the engine is tightened to silly torque, so that should remain in pace, but even if it comes out, it is simple to replace (with a new sealing washer).

 

Do not damage the thermostat if at all possible.  If the threads are galled (most likely), then you will destroy the softer aluminium threads by undoing the nuts.  Dremel and split the nuts.

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As others have said, drop the lot onto the floor. 

My thermostat wasn't working and I couldnt get the caps of in situ. I also could remove the oil line nuts from the start in situ. 

I dropped the lot onto the floor and with plenty heat everything unscrewed without damage. 

The internal parts for the thermostat are cheaper from my local OPC than Design 911 as is often the case. 

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before dremelling a nut (because you may trash the male thread underneath...), i would cut off the pipe at the nut, and put a socket on, lots of heat (will need a vice) and slowly work it back and forth and they should come off. You will need a new pipe if you do that, but you might be planning that anyway. If the nut is stubburn, i have carefully cut them each side but not through to the thread, it weakens them and then you may find then when you undo the the nut, that the nut itself breaks (a good thing), basically breaking away from the male thread which will be totally intact. Its worked for me a few times. 

Edited by Strictly
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  • 2 weeks later...

did not read the suggestion ..here..what i do is use one large and one smaller hammer .Put the larger behind the nut you are trying to lose and hit it several times on the opposite of the nut..works well unless you really have it oxidized ,in that can cut the lines because you will no matter what damage the threads on the alu thermostat...

 

same goes on the oil tank hit it with a support behind the nut..

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5 hours ago, proporsche said:

did not read the suggestion ..here..what i do is use one large and one smaller hammer .Put the larger behind the nut you are trying to lose and hit it several times on the opposite of the nut..works well unless you really have it oxidized ,in that can cut the lines because you will no matter what damage the threads on the alu thermostat...

 

same goes on the oil tank hit it with a support behind the nut..

That’s the way I do it Ivan and had already told Brad, always works a treat for me

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Interesting - never heard of the two hammers trick - I can see how that would 'flex' the nut a bit. Will give that a go when I next have a big nut to undo

Edited by sladey
typo
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51 minutes ago, sladey said:

Interesting - never heard of the two hammers trick - I can see how that would 'flex' the nut a bit. Will give that a go when I next have a big nut to undo

Its very simple and has worked on several I have done. Ideally if you can get to more than two opposing faces it works better but there’s no real need for heat etc

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This is an old mechanic’s trick to loosen stubborn nuts! Metal has an elastic property which is not often realised. Strategically placed and accurate hammer blows will often yield surprising results!.....just hit the bloody thing square on!
David,

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Got one of the pipes of the thermostat housing but the other bl##dy one has twisted the thread off. Thinking now that I will have to try and get the flexi pipes off the cooler, remove the lot then try to remove the long pipes from the thermostat housing on the bench. This is starting to get expensive!

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