My Red '97

[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.