T Pieces Replaced....what a pain

[PKN]

.,...in every sense of the word. My hands look and feel like they went through a mincer. I did learn that it is unnecessary to remove the fuel rail, that Lowes does stock a brass T piece to replace the one that doesnt break and that they dont stock one to replace the one that does.

Fortunately I had the Porsche part and God willing I wont have the car when it goes again.

I had two real problems. One was the lowest connection which would not come off the steel pipe it was connected to. I had to use a craft knife to cut most of the rubber off before I could persuade it to come off. The giant screwdriver from underneath the car was not helpful as the cat was in the way.

The second problem was worse. The plastic tube with the push on connector at the back of the manifold snapped off in my attempts to remove it. I remember this was sticky last time when I replaced the main coolant pipes. Plastic epoxy failed miserably to repair it, so I drilled the hole out and tapped it for a brass screw in nozzle. Much easier to push on a piece of rubber pressure tubing and it will never break again.

When I replaced the lowest part of the bottom T, I used a stainless screw clamp and tightened it with a socket. It will be much easier to remove than the space saver clamp which seemed to have bonded itself into the rubber. The remote clamp tool worked OK but just could not open the clamp wide enough to remove.

The upper T in brass, I also clamped with stainless screw clamps and while I was there, I used them on the vaccuum T at the back of the motor which I had previously replaced in brass.

To make my life easier, in addition to removing the manifold, I removed the drivers side air pump bracket and the plastic cable/tubing tray, using a piece of hairy string to hold all of the wiring and tubing out of my way.

I ran out of daylight before I could tighten down the manifold and replace the air sensor and Y piece but an hour tommorrow should see me done. Hopefully after replacing the water pump, coolant pipes, coolant reservoir and T pipes, my cooiing system should be as good as (much better than) new. Incidentally, I decided to use a Walmart coolant that claims to be Porsche compatible. At less than $10/gallon it saved me $80 over the Porsche stuff. I had flushed the system thoroughly with clean water beforehand.

I hope this experience helps others in addition to the other notes posted on this board,

PKN