No I live down here in L.A.
I went to another radiator shop and they said they couldnt test it because you need "special plugs" for the bottom. The prior radiator shop that did a test on this oil cooler did not do it under alot of pressure. Isnt this thing working at least 60lbs because of the oil pressure?
They showed me what test they did and it was just the covering holes with thumbs and blowing air through the top then submerging it under a tank. Is this right?

I went to a machine shop and they said they can test it under about 80 lbs but it's 45 bucks and they can tell me a for sure if it's leaking or not.

It's just that alot is riding on this thing being good or bad so I want to be 100% sure.
can someone please let me know if it's supposed to be tested under high pressure? thanks!

but that machine shop is charging me 45 dollars I think they are only trying to get money out of me, what do you guys think?

dti,
You don't have much history of the car (Why did your Aunt take it off the road? Was it broken? Just lack of use? Did the inter-mix of fluids happen over the years of sitting). As you said, your plugs look good, so maybe the engine is just suffering from the standing idle and 120,000 miles on the clock.

If your serious about getting the engine up and running relatively cheaply (ie, not removing the engine and heads), have you considered spending a few hundred dollars on a new cooler, replace the oil and filter and flush out the cooling system? Sunset or Pelican Parts will sell you a cooler for a couple of hundred $$ and the oil / filter / distilled water another $100 or so.
Then run the car gently for a few miles and see if there is any inter-mixing of fluids - if there is, then you know where you stand, with a big decision as to buy another engine or rebuild what you have got. If no inter-mixing, thats a big win and you can reassess what you want to do to get the car up to scratch.

After all, unlike most of us here, you havn't invested thousands of $$$ in the car so what have you got to lose??....

Haha you got a really good point. I guess I will try it, saw a type S cooler on ebay for not that much. I guess it doesnt hurt to try, that's what the machine shop guys told me. Thanks for the advice. And you are definitely right I don't have anything to loose if this engine goes in the crap hole. Only thing I can do is get a new one

Sorry, but I think you're on a long painful nickel/dime road to discover the obvious.

It's not the heat exchanger - it's top end related - cracked head, D-chunk or gasket.

Forget the 3.2 swap. You need the DME, Wiring Harness, Accelerator assembly, fuel system (tank, return lines, etc.). These bits will total more than the car is worth.

Essentially what you have is a non-ticking timebomb with a chocolate milkshake in the sump.

You have a relatively high mileage 2.5 car which has, or is soon to have, issues with the top (rear window, motor cables, etc.), motor mounts, CV boots, not to mention interior, electrical, or bodywork issues.

Assuming you do sort it out, at the end, you're gonna pour more into it than it's worth and still end up with a car no one will want.

Sell it now to a prospective spec racer for whatever you can get and apply that to a car better sorted.

I don't want to be Mr. Negative...I'd like to paint a rosier picture, but based on your reports, I just can't.

Cheers!

is the engine the same from a 2005 Porsche Boxster? I found a great priced engine with 30,000 miles but off a 2005

Not even close, would need about the same list as a 3.anything.

Could you post several pictures of the car?

You should listen to Lil B - he's giving you some very good advice.

Mark

I understand, and I greatly appreciate all the help you guys have given me. But I will be sticking to the project. I am in no rush to get this thing going. If it takes time and money I am fixing this thing regardless. And Paul ill post some picks of the car, so you guys can see what Im dealing with.

qustion about swap
 

Is it better to try and find a 2.7 liter engine while I'm at it and is it a hard swap?
or is it a minor mods swap?

You have a throttle cable, does the 2.7 have eGas?

No affiliation:

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php?/topic/32774-misc-parts/page__gopid__174100&

Any engine 2000 or later motor is an egas motor. It uses a different DME, different Motronic software version, different wiring harness, different accelerator assembly and different fuel tank, lines and vapor recovery system.

This is not a minor job. It is expensive, complicated and time consuming to convert a non-egas car to an egas engine.

Consider that Boxsters of your model year have been changing hands for as low as $5000, and it really makes no sense at all to do such a swap.

Cheers!

I guess 2.5 it is. I bought this one for 2000.00 from my aunt pics coming today.
I just got the Bentley Manual in the mail today. It's a really good book!

Did you see the 2.5 motor for sale in my link above?

No Paul, send me the link so I can check it out.
I forgot to mention took the coolant out and out came nothing but oil. OIL! but wheres the coolant? Maybe my aunts mechanic worked on it and thought it was oil cooled and put oil in there?, It's very weird. I have like 9 quarts of oil in 1 bucket looks like with a little bit of antifreeze. Very weird. Im posting picks today just that it was to dark yesterday.

No affiliation:

Porsche pics
 

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so...
 

As you can see in my pics I took out the hoses and out comes nasty mix of oil and coolant. As I was taking it out a little water came out. So heres a question pretty sure there's still more oil in the pipes. How do I flush it out of there + the radiators? can I stick a hose somewhere and "let it rip"? Because I am going to have to take all this junk out of the piping and radiators right? thanks!

got the bentley manual today! its a really good manual

Who added the 'Porsche' monogrammed dead pedal?

Cheers!

I dont know lil bastard it just came like that. I wanted to ask can I stick a hose and with the pressure get all the gunk out of the radiators and water lines? or should I take out the radiators to get them cleaned? Does the coolant flush just consist of taking the coolant out or actually flushing the system with a water hose or something like that? :confused:

flushing
 

flushing with a system cleaner is probably going to be needed. and a single pass through with a water hose stuffed up the whazoo hose is not going to get the crap out. :troll:

you will likely need to add some cooling system chemical and then get the system hot. same procedure as refilling and burping the cooling system, and probably need to do it twice. there must be some chemical that you can add that will bind the oil and keep it from seperating from the water.

lastly make sure you have oil in the engine in the correct place before you hit the starter

Flushing the cooling system
 

Back in my hot rod days, we used to use Arm & Hammer "Washing Soda" to clean out the radiators in the old cars we would get. It was the only stuff that would clean out the cooling system with any effectiveness. Dissolve it in a bucket of hot water and pour it in. Run it for a while to get it circulated throughout the system and then flush with clean water at least two times.
After reading all the posts on this thread, I wonder if someone may have inadvertantly poured oil in to the wrong filler cap since they are right next to each other.

i would be careful with the arm and hammer idea. the motor is aluminum and therefore affected by caustic chemicals.
There is a special tool used to flush the cooling system completly, also with the car jacked as such, I bet there is another few gallons or so of coolent/oil in the front radiators and lines.

you really should listen to the advise from the experienced people in the group. even if you can fix it without pulling the motor, I bet you will spend 1000$ to do it correctly.

just the repeated flushing of the system will be expensive as the antifreeze is high dollar.

god forbid you have to pull the motor, easy 5-8 K fix. you will be overrun with "while you are in there fixes"

buy a 2.5 motor for 2-3-4K pull yours and trade it in for the core, and you have a instant fix for a huge problem.

Call LA dismantlers they will have all the parts you need.

http://www.ladismantler.com

you really are opening pandora's box. I dont think you understand/believe just how costly this can get real quick.

I had that same thought about someone pouring the oil in the wrong filler tube. Wouldn't it be nice if that was the only problem?

Haha definitely, I got tired and called a german/ porsche mechanic to come check out the car and once and for all tell me what is wrong with the damn car :dance:
But definitely agree with you guys if the motor is bad Ill just try to find a motor do a swap and presto! But about the flushing thing. Is there any chemical? or method besides that machine pressure flush? Im sure there is. But just in case I do have a compressor

Zerex Super Cleaner

buy a uview airlift coolent system pressure tester flush tool.

http://www.uview.com/ProductDetail.php?PartNumber=550000

buy distilled water and porsche coolent, or there is a texaco brand that is ok as well to refill.

while you are in there, take off the water pump and look at the vanes, if damaged, replace pump.

I noticed prestone bottles in the background. Is that what you refilled your system with?

yeah but it's the nitrate, silicate and all the other stuff free. I saw it on pedros garage while he refilled his, he mixed 50/50 water and this coolant. Does that pressure system thing just help you bleed the cooling system? or does it do anything else?

Also How can I fully get the oil out of my radiators and tubes? a chemical? and also do you guys recommend me taking out the thermostat and cleaning it or just leave it be?

does that zerex system cleaner help to clean the oil?

the pressure tool is advised in order to prevent air pockets that may or may not get bumped out. If an air pocket remains inside the engine block, the motor will over heat in that area and could the damage motor.

As for the zertec, i dont know if it removes oil. i dont know of anything that says, "removes oil", I am assuming because there is not supposed to be oil in there.

easy suggestion.... lower the car down, and raise the front. you will notice gallons of fluid pour out.

or you could remove the hoses in the front, with the rear in the air.