OK - I tried to change the oil pressure switch - hoping this would rid me of my oil leak problem, and while installing the new one, I dropped/lost in in the tin

While looking inside, where the switch goes, I could see the oil, and it looked as if it was being syphoned - you know like gulp, gulp - and the gulps were in sync with the drips coming from up underneath the car.

So - I have two problems / questions:

1. Do you think a magnent will pull the switch out? Its not visible and if not - is it difficult to remove the tin? If not, how do I go about it? I took out the flat head screws, but the tin didnt move.

2. If it is not the switch - (it looks like its coming from the cooler - I hope not - but if it is, can anyone guide me through removing the cooler without dropping the engine? - And is there anything else I should check before I assume its the cooler?

Thanks - ALL help is appreciated

To answer your questions briefly, because I'm drunk...

1. No. You're screwed. It's lost.

2. No. But you can loosen the oil cooler enough to replace the seals. I've done it. I think there's a PP article about the subject.

My recommendation: Drop the engine, pull the right side engine tin and retrieve your widget. While you're in there, replace some seals.

OTOH, if you don't mind it rattling around, replace your engine oil cooler seals, put in a new sender and rock on.

My opinion only,
Rusty

engine can be dropped in 15 minutes ...

you'll save 5+ hours of work trying to get anything done with the engine still in there.
it'll be MUCH easier with the engine out (and MUCH faster)

Andy

OK - the magic question: How does a person that has never dropped a 914 engine go about dropping it in 15 minutes. Are there any threads on dropping the motor - or is the Haynes manual the best place to look?

Yeah Andy! We all don't have a Brad around!

15 minutes... chyeah!

Its more realisticly 2 hours, and in this heat, more..

http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/9...engine_drop.htm

About 1 hour today, and that was w/o factory heat exchangers and lower tin since it has headers and a Dynomax muffler, and I've done my share of dropping motors. I didn't break out the air tools.

FWIW, it's much easier to just cut the back of the car off out of the way! (no, not today...)

just 6 bolts ...

1) jack car up has hign as possibe. evenly.
put jack-stands under the control arms where they connect to the body.

2) disconnect harness from relay board and brain.
fuel pump wire etc.

3) disconnect hoses, like gas lines (including breather lines if you have them, vacuum lines etc.).

4) disconnect clutch, speedo and accel cable.

5) disconnect shift-rod on the firewall, leave rod hooked up to the tranny.

6) disconnect heater tube and heater cable

7) leave everything on the engine/tranny. (like exhaust etc.)

8) disconnect tranny groundstrap

9) disconnect transaxles on tranny (4 bolts each side)

10) put a jack under the engine, around the oil-drain plate.
(put some plywood inbetween, thin 2 x 2)

11) remove 6 bolts. 2 on the engine mount bar, 4 on the tranny. (unbolt the tranny mount on the body, that way it's not in your way when you slide the engine out).

12) lower the whole thing and slide out the back


if you can't get the car high enough because you only have small jacks, remove the air filter/carbs if they are in the way.
or, if you can, remove the rear valance to get the clearance to slide the engine out on the back.

also, you can take the jack out under the engine once it's lowered and just slide the engine/tranny out by itself.
that also gives you some more clearance.

after you did that once or twice, you can do it in 15 minutes

PS: assembly is the reverse ...
Andy

I think Andy forgot about the two days of soaking all nuts and bolts in PP blaster, or the 4-5 hours of picking crud out of the special bolt heads, so the special socket will fit.

I'd estimate another hour for swearing and bandageing knuckles.

Another hour for tape/marking hoses and connections so you can get them back where they belong.

I did leave out the 4 hours for washing the grease from the axels out of your hair and the time spent at the hospital getting the stictches put in. (Should have bagged the ends and tied them up)

More work than you were hoping for, but well worth the time and effort. You'll be glad in the end (Well, I was anyway)...

Getting it out:
1) go to Harbor Freight and get the $40 transmission jack
2) Cut a piece of plywood to fit against the bottom of the oil-pan/heat exchangers/tranny.
3) Use Andy's explanation of what to disconnect and use the plywood sheet on the tranny jack to safely and VERY easily lower the engine/tranny out.
4) Tranny jack now doubles as a wheeled dolly for rolling the drivetrain around. You'll pat yourself on the back for being so smart. Best $40 you'll ever spend. Ok, maybe not the very best, but definitely worth it.

After it's out:
1) Remove the intake (all of it)
2) Remove the cooling fan and fan housing
3) Now you can remove the tin pieces.
4) CLEAN everything. If your pressure sender has been leaking for very long all the oil will have attracted dirt to make a very nice substance with the viscosity of spackling compound. This oil and mud paste may be completely blocking your oil cooler, and cooling fins. (see pictures below). Now if your leak is a recent occurence this might not be the case, but when I got my car it ran hot and this was why. Just cleaning this gunk out of the fins and cooler lowered my oil temps by a full 20 degrees (thats degrees with a C, not an F!!!! ) At this point you can also replace your oil cooler seals and it will take all of 2 minutes and there will be no swearing, bleeding, crying or throwing of tools.

Here's what mine looked like before the cleaning.
-Ben M.

I think most people are at 15 minutes around step #4, unless you are on speed like Andy!

and the plugged cooler. If you just replace the cooler seals without pulling the engine you can't really check for this sort of thing.

before you work on any car, pull the negative cable off the battery. safety first.

that is by far the nastiest motor i have ever seen. my best time on pulling a motor is 22 minutes in a bug.

That's exactly how my oil cooler looked too. If I had tried to replace the seals with the engine in the car I would never have known how clogged up the cooler was and would not have cleaned it. Having the engine out of the car is a GREAT opportunity to perform lots of maintainance that otherwise would be neglected or very difficult to do. It's not that hard to do and the benefits of all the maintainance that can be easily done, not to mention that the oil cooler seals are a breeze to change with the engine out makes the task WELL WORTH IT in my opinion. I was reluctant to drop the engine to do my oil cooler seals too because I had never undertaken such a major feat on a car before (I'm definately not a gearhead type, by any means) but the job was pretty straight forward and it went back in easily too. Now my engine doesn't leak oil, the cooler is clean, the valves are adjusted, the cooling fins on the cylinders are clean, the sheet metal and fan shroud are painted, shift bushings, oil temp switch replaced, engine and engine compartment totally cleaned up, and the sound of the car starting back up after I took it out and put it back in gave me a great sense of accomplishment considering I barely know which end of a screw driver to use. In other words DROP THE ENGINE

More power to you if you can do all that in 15 minutes! I usually end up fighting something. This time there was a CV bolt that was partially stripped by whoever installed it, and the remote oil cooler lines were a beatch to get off the barbs while trying to save the hoses.

Couple of notes:

If you are going to do any head work, remove the headers first. Kind of a beatch to work on those bolts with the motor on a jack, cart, or whatever.

I usually don't put the engine on a jack, instead:

Loosen the 4 trans mount bolts. Use two floor jacks, each under one end of the engine mount bar. Snug them up. Lower the car as much as possible, and roll a furniture dolly under the motor. The furniture dolly is nice, carpeted, and very stable. Undo the front mount bolts, release the floor jacks slowly and lower the motor onto the furniture cart.

Move one of the jacks to the back and support the trans. Remove the bolts, then lower the assembly the rest of the way onto the furniture cart.

Now you have your floor jack (s) available to raise and lower the car, do other work, and not be an expensive, slippery, tippy, engine dolly!

sm

Ok Guys -

I havent dropped it yet. got so pissed - i decided to go to Santa Barbara and play golf - at least thats the excuse i gave my wife

I am going to take you alls advice, and drop the engine on Wednesday since im taking the rest of the week off. I will post the results - and if i have any problems.

Thanks

our engines NEVER look like that on our side of the mountains. must be wheat chaff.

kevin