Porsche 911 & Carrera Oil Circulation

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If you have recently removed the oil lines from your thermostat, you may have found that the threads that attach the oil line to your thermostat have been removed with the oil line! Don't despair, our 'thermostat saver' is a small cap that that you can reattach to the thermostat and then attach the oil lines. No need to purchase a new thermostat because the steel lines have gummed up the soft aluminum threads. Simply install the thermostat saver with a bit of Loctite, and you should now be able to attach and remove oil lines without any fears.

It's a common problem when removing oil lines from the external thermostat. The aluminum thermostat threads become fused to the steel tube nut that secures the oil lines. If you get enough leverage to force the nut free, it takes the aluminum threads along with it - destroying the expensive thermostat and the oil line.

Elephant Racing has the solution; we are manufacturing a 30mm tube nut replacement kit that let's you save thermostats and oil lines. If your oil lines won't come free from the thermostat, use a cut-off wheel to slit the side of the tube nut. You can then break the nut free using a cold chisel. This technique sacrifices the tube nut to save the expensive thermostat.

You then use our kit to replace the tube nut that was cut off. Both the oil line and the thermostat are saved.

The kit provides a 2-piece tube nut. The threaded nut fits over the end of the tube and is slipped on first. Then a spring lock ring is then slipped on. The spring lock ring cinches down on the tube, preventing the nut from coming off.

Your 911 motor depends upon a full and ample supply of oil in order to survive and keep cool. Age and the elements over the years can contribute to oil line failure. The failure of an oil line can lead to catastrophic failure within your engine, leading to a costly rebuild. Make sure you seize the opportunity to replace your lines before your engine decides to seize itself after a major oil leak! If you have a question on what lines you need (they can get confusing) don't hesitate to ask.

These are the small oil lines that are located on the rear of the engine. They supply oil to the Camshafts, and the rockers as they move back and forth. On later cars, these oil lines also supply pressurized oil to the Carrera Pressure-Fed Chain tensioners. The cam oil lines are made of flexible rubber and fused to metal fittings. It is very common for the junction between the rubber and the metal to begin leaking after many years.

The Carrera Pressure-Fed Chain Tensioner upgrade is popular for many older cars, and may have been installed by a previous owner. Make sure that you check the photos shown below to assure that you order the correct lines installed on your car. The switch to the new style chain tensioners occurred in late 1983 - engines with serial number #64D3717 and greater used the newer style tensioners. In 1987, Porsche improved the Carrera Pressure-Fed Chain Tensioner Kit by including a set of small brackets and oil line adapters. If your car is missing these small brackets and the mounting hardware required, then the lines may vibrate excessively and develop cracks from repeated engine vibrations.

Additionally, the right side rubber/metal oil line that feeds the chain tensioner was changed to accommodate the new mounting brackets. NOTE: If you are replacing your right side cam oil line on a pre-1987 car, only the later-style line (designed to be used with the brakets) is available. This later-style line looks nearly identical to the early-style line, with the exception that the rubber portion of the line is a slightly different length. Customers have been confused in the past thinking these updated lines were manufactured defectily, when in fact they are merely an updated design. In order to install this newer-style line on a 1984-86 engine, you will also need to use the newer-style hard-line that connects to the right-side chain tensioner (part number 930-107-348-09-M20). The older-style hard-line can also be slightly bent and modified to work with the newer style rubber-metal line, but we don't necessarily recommend that approach.

The entire procedure for upgrading to the later-style chain tensioners is documented in our Pelican Technical Article: 911 Carrera Chain Tensioner Upgrade.

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