My Red '97

[78F350]

...and today we have rain. The top looks good and should keep the interior dry. I'm not going to put the hard top back on until after I finish going over the engine maintenance.



This afternoon I'll be clearing some floor space in the garage. If I have time over the weekend, I'll do the spark plug tubes and oil cooler.

[78F350]

Busy at work, some travel, and waiting for parts; I finally got some more work done on the Red. Clearly it has been leaking oil for a while and that needs to be addressed before putting many more miles on the car. Oil is everywhere. I cleaned the engine and after a drive it was on the top, the bottom, and both sides. Best to start with the simple common stuff before worrying about the RMS or anything difficult. Spark plug tubes and the oil cooler o-rings are my prime suspects and good to do anyway as preventative maintenance on a 180k+ mile car. As I worked through them, they clearly needed it.


The spark plug tube o-rings were clearly leaking and most of the coil boots were in rough shape. I replaced the right side with the parts I had on hand, but had to order a set for the left side - forgot that I had used up most of my stock on another car during the summer. How to remove old spark plug tubes: http://986forum.com/forums/518603-post5.html



After going for a 15 minute drive and checking the top of the engine, it was clear that coolant was leaking on top of the engine as well as oil. Most likely suspect for that is the oil cooler and it can be a cause of intermix of coolant and engine oil as well. So far there has been no intermix, just leaks. I removed the old oil cooler. The large o-rings on the coolant side were shot, but the oil side didn't look that bad. I was glad to find that the oil cooler on this car was the standard one and not the version that was specific to the early '97s. That meant that I could put a new, larger S-Model oil cooler on without an adapter plate.

After putting it back together, torquing the bolts to 7.5 ft/lbs (90 in/lbs), I ran the engine to check for leaks. There was a sound of rushing air, not quite right for the intake. I moved around listening and feeling for leaks. the oil filler tube on top of the engine was hissing. I put my hand on it and it easily rocked back and forth. With the engine off, I found that the rigid part of the tube that bolts to the top of the engine was cracked and not fully inserted into the engine. I have two used ones 'in stock' from scrapped engines. Tomorrow, I'll have that replaced and go for a drive. Hopefully that will take care of the leaks.

[78F350]

Replacing the rigid oil filler tube...
Here's my general procedure, but not an exact guide:

Put the car in the 'service position'.
Disconnect the negative battery terminal.
Cover the drain holes on the sides of the engine compartment so tools and parts don't fall in.
Remove the throttle body:

Disconnect the intake tube from the air filter.
Disconnect the AOS hose.
Loosen the throttle cable.
Unbolt the support underneath.
Rotate it upwards.
Remove the wire connections.
Remove the bolts holding it to the intake crosstube.

Remove vacuum hoses from the intake crosstube.
Slide the boots and remove the crosstube.


I cleaned the intake and throttle body. All the vacuum hoses look good and are flexible. AOS and it's tubing look good and that reminds me that I still need to sort through all the receipts to see what maintenance was done and when.


What a mess underneath the intake. The filler tube isn't broken, there just aren't any bolts holding it on. It had probably been pushed in place and stayed there until the previous owner replaced the coolant tank. Glad I didn't drive the car any further. I started cleaning up the oil and dirt. The long lost bolts were deep in a puddle of grime. I fished them out and kept cleaning, hoping to find a few 10mm Snap-on sockets. No luck, but I got it clean enough to help isolate any more oil leaks after I finish this maintenance.


There's a loose wire under here. I'm 97.5% sure that it should be connected to the alternator '+' terminal. It's all covered with black heat shrink, so I can't see for sure if the insulation is red or brown. 2.5% chance I'm going to be very disappointed the next time I start the car.


When I started putting it back together, the flexible portion of the oil fill tube felt too loose. I gave it a tug and it came off in my hand. That's not right, it's broken off and a bottle has been fitted to the end. Glad I still have a spare.

I looked a little further at the tubing installed for the coolant tank. It works, but the main coolant hose to the tank has a big kink in it. I might as well correct it while I have this much access. That's going to mean draining some coolant again and taking off all the hoses to the coolant tank. Time for a break and dinner. This is not going to be technically difficult, but it's going to take some patience. I started out with 90s alternative music and coffee. I've already had to switch to beer and Christian contemporary to mellow out a bit. I may just finish posting this and let the car rest for the night. My schedule is free for most of tomorrow.