Replacing oil cooler lines, need to remove engine mount&shock?
 

Whats up guys-

I'm going to be replacing my oil cooler lines soon.

I plan to follow the DieselGiant instructions, they look well written up. The instructions mention removing and replacing the driver's side engine mount as well as the shock. Mine are new; do I need to remove them or can I leave them in place?

I still plan to jack up the engine and all that, just wondering if I can skip the mount/shock removal step since I have new parts in there. Perhaps they have to be removed to give clearance to remove/replace the cooler lines?

Thanks. Wish me luck, heh.

Rob
79 300SD

I replaced my mounts when I did my oil cooler lines 2 years ago, if yours are new, keep them, but do remove the drivers side shock and mount while removing/installing the cooler lines, it makes it way easier. Be prepared to become unhappy when taking those out/especially putting in the new ones. It took me an hour of fighting with them to get the new ones in. To get the old ones out I just cut them in a few places with a dremel. :D

Since your compressor is up top (If I remember right) you should have more clearance than those of us who have an R4 at the bottom by the cooler lines. You might get lucky and be able to twist them out w/o having to undo a lot.

I have done the oil cooler lines on my car without removing the engine mounts.

It is possible just to snake them out.

I am almost done swapping out the leaky dying oil cooler from our 300D, putting in a nice new used one. :D ;) Its clean and in great shape though. Then an oil change and it'll be all set. :)

Getting the bottom line to re-attach to the iffy threads was a tedious and loooooong process (3hrs)....BOY AM I GLAD THAT ITS DONE. :eek: :dizzy2: :rolleyes: I was stressing out that I'd destroy my new (used) oil cooler's threads, I finally forced it on, and it doesn't leak, I ran it till the cooler was running nice and hot for a while, not a drop anywhere. Big improvement over the old one, it had a cracked tube in it so the whole thing was a mucky oily mess. I'm guessing now that the new one is on there it can never come off again....without another set of lines and cooler being needed. :rolleyes: Should be a loong while till that happens though.

Glad I did this job when I had my engine out. It took about 10 min. :D

ditto
be sure to use backup wrenches (cut and grind some from the pawn shop to fit)

I have removed from earlier SD without jacking the engine, either way its ALOT easier to jack it up.

Leave engine jacked up?
 

Thanks for the advice, work's been busy and haven't had a chance to start yet. I'll probably get at it later this week.

It may take me a few days to get through the work, as I won't be working on it steadily. A couple hours here, a couple hours there. Is it ok to leave the engine in the jacked-up position; ie jacked against the wood block placed on the bottom of the oil pan?

If not, can I release the motor at the end of the day and let it rest directly on the frame (my engine mounts will be out)?

Rob

old ones out
 

Just pulled the old lines out, went much smoother than expected. Took about 15mins to figure out how to wiggle them out, after all the brackets were loosened etc.

I found that both went out by first sliding each line so that the union to the filter cannister moved up and to the left (towards the steering booster), then working the front end down between the frame and the left side of the oil pan, then sliding down and out. So each exited in a forwards direction, through the gap between the frame and the left side of the oil pan, oil cooler end-first.

Hopefully the new ones will go in as easily...crossing my fingers.

It's a 116 chassis, maybe the extra space helped me out here. Also my radiator and fan belts are removed...perhaps this made it easier as well.

Rob