oil cooler line removal

[Ruby83]

Help! I have the oilcooler lines free at both ends and am trying to fish out the old ones. I have both brackets free, I just can,t seem to find the right route for extraction. let alone fishing the new ones in for connection. What a nightmare 300td 1983

[pawoSD]

I ended up using a dremel to remove them (cut them in several places).

Installing them took me over and hour to figure out which way to fish them through. I hope your doing your motor mounts at the same time, or its only going to be all the harder....

[Brian Carlton]

I recently did them on the SD.

The upper one is the real PITA. Get the end from the cooler unbolted and up in your hand. Then you must carefully swing the end going to the cooler in a big circle to get the oil filter housing end out from behind the motor mount. At one point, the cooler end it going to be pointed directly at the windshield. It's not easy, but, AFAIK, it should come out of the W123 in the same manner as the W126.

Now, going back in with the upper one is much harder. You can do it without removing the mount, but it requires quite a bit of patience to get the end of the tube to pass behind the mount. In fact, there will be a point where you are convinced that it cannot go. I recommend that you put a piece of duct tape on the end of the tube to prevent damage, because you are going to have to shove that tube fairly hard to get it to go behind the mount. Once the oil cooler end of the tube clears the mount, you are all set. The tube will just feed, in a circle, until the oil filter end reaches the oil filter housing.

But, you will spend at least one hour screwing around with that upper tube to get it past the engine mount.

This is why some members suggest removing the mount. I decided not to remove the mount but, spend most of the afternoon struggling with the upper tube. The lower tube is easy. Do it last. The upper tube needs all the space you can find.

[Ruby83]

Thanks for the help. I tried over and over to fish them out without any success. I feel retarded. My new oil cooler to bolt to the new radiator is due to arrive at noon w/new cooler lines. I,m contemplating jacking the mount bracket just high enough to get the new lines through,but I'm afraid to open up another can of worms. anyway I finally cut the old lines w/a hacksaw to at least fein some progress. I know that the install is going to be rough.Thanks brian

[RockinWagin]

I unbolted the mount and only had to jack up about 1 to 1.5 inches to get the new hose in. I did remove the engine shock (I was in the process of replacing anyway). Good luck.

[Ruby83]

Thats the problem. I haven't been able to find a diagram of what I haave to unbolt to lift it up high enough to sneak the new lines in and get a good start on the threads on the oil filter housing. I have a 4t bottle jack and a block of wood for under the pan,I'm just not sure the procedure for unbolting,so it will rise enough.Thanks to all bri

[pawoSD]

There is a hex bolt up inside the motor mount (you access it from the hole in the frame underneath, be careful not to let it fall down in there when it comes loose! It can also be a pain to get this one out) and then you have to undo the small nut on the bottom of the motor shock, once those are out it should lift right up. If you don't have a small gear wrench for the engine shock nut its going to take a while. It took me over 37 small increment turns with my regular small wrench while holding the shaft of the shock with another.... Good luck!

[Brian Carlton]

Originally Posted by Ruby83

Thanks for the help. I tried over and over to fish them out without any success. I feel retarded. My new oil cooler to bolt to the new radiator is due to arrive at noon w/new cooler lines. I,m contemplating jacking the mount bracket just high enough to get the new lines through,but I'm afraid to open up another can of worms. anyway I finally cut the old lines w/a hacksaw to at least fein some progress. I know that the install is going to be rough.Thanks brian

It might be a situation where it is impossible on the 300D. It's very difficult on the 300SD.

I believe that you can simply unbolt the engine from the engine mount and lift it up about 1.5", by jacking the oil pan. This is more than enough to sneak the line behind the engine mount.

I have not done it myself. Possibly one of the other members can give you the intimate details of removing the engine mount on the W123. If you had this much trouble to get it out, you are not going to be successful in getting it back without removing the engine mount.

Edited: see post #7, above.

[Ruby83]

The ups driver just dropped off my new oil cooler w/new cooler lines. I located the hex under the shock mount that need to be loosened along with the little shock nut. The hex won't budge with the little angle one i have,and i'm terrified of stripping it. The radiator and oil cooler are ready,i have new lines,coolant and all,but I'm at a standstill because of not being able to lift theengine so i can get the stupid oil cooler lines installed. I don't want to give up. This is a 300td turbo wagon. What is the size of the hex?8 or 10mm. I guess a hex on the end of an extension w/a ratchet? Sorry for all the posts.bri

[Brian Carlton]

Originally Posted by Ruby83

I guess a hex on the end of an extension w/a ratchet? Sorry for all the posts.bri

That's exactly what you need.

Don't worry about that. Help is what we do here.

[pawoSD]

I had a huuuuuge thread on this exact topic, so don't worry We're all here to help each other!

Here it is, reading it may be helpful....

Help with motor mounts/oil cooler project...not going too well

[babyjames]

Taking a heat gun and warming up the end of the arm that attaches the motor to the mount might help things along, too. Don't get it too hot, obviously, but if that bolt has been in there for fifteen+ years, there may be corrosion, or possibly some red loctite. Either way, the aluminum will expand more rapidly than the steel bolt, so a little bit of heat, here, could go a long way.

If all you have is a little L-bend 8mm (or is it ten?) allen wrench, then feed the long end up through the subframe and into the socket-head fixing bolt. Then take a deep-well 3/8" drive socket (8 or 10mm, whichever is the same size as the allen) and put this socket on the short end of the allen wrench. Use as many 3/8" extensions as you have on hand to lengthen your "handle" (insert the extensions into the socket on the allen wrench).

When jacking the motor, use a pretty big block of wood. I've got a piece of 2x10 that is perfect. I like the piece of wood to be bigger than the pan.

I just did this on my wagon a couple months ago, so I know how you feel. If you start to get too frustrated with it, just walk away for a day or so. Your brain will keep working on the problem in the interim; you'd be surprised what kinds of insight may materialize....

Jay.

[Brian Carlton]

Originally Posted by babyjames

If all you have is a little L-bend 8mm (or is it ten?) allen wrench, then feed the long end up through the subframe and into the socket-head fixing bolt. Then take a deep-well 3/8" drive socket (8 or 10mm, whichever is the same size as the allen) and put this socket on the short end of the allen wrench. Use as many 3/8" extensions as you have on hand to lengthen your "handle" (insert the extensions into the socket on the allen wrench).

This is the worst option. That long end of the allen wrench will do some serious twisting and it's hit or miss whether you crack the screw loose or round out the fastener.

A socket wrench with a proper hex bit will go a long way to ensuring that you can crack the fastener loose without stripping it.

If it strips after the use of a proper hex bit, and some heat, then you know that you have done everything possible.

Sometimes patience is a virtue. Letting the fastener soak in penetrating oil overnight will sometimes do the trick, when coupled with a bit of heat.

[rs899]

It may be covered in the thread referenced, but, stick a little valve grinding compound or even a paste made of ajax cleanser on the bit to insure a tight fit in the bolt. (make sure the cavity on the bolt is clean). Then apply force with a suitable tool to snap that bolt out. Worst case and you strip the bolt you can take the arm off and either drill it out or get one from a junk engine.

I have done about 10 or 12 of these and haven't buggered one yet (most recently two weeks ago) It's scary when the bolt pops free- but yours probably will too.

[Brian Carlton]

Originally Posted by rs899

I have done about 10 or 12 of these and haven't buggered one yet (most recently two weeks ago) It's scary when the bolt pops free- but yours probably will too.

You want to talk scary:

How about breaking loose the two large cap screws (12 mm?) that hold the starter to the bell housing. You need about 150 ft.-lbs. and when they finally let go, the sigh of relief that you would have heard was louder than the crack from the cap screw.

I don't even want to think about what happens if you strip the head on one of those.