Oil cooler lines, rust

[quk@sievers.com (Phil Payne)]

In message <Pine.A32.3.91.970228125737.46350C-100000@gnu.uvm.edu> "Louis A. Mulieri" writes:

> 	Dorab's post reminded me that one of my oil cooler lines, too, is 
> rusty. My mechanic, great guy, recommends changing to prevent 
> catastrophic failure.

They're always rusty, unless you get the stainless steel ones.  Leave them 
alone until they weep, and them change them _IMMEDIATELY_.  It's curious, 
perhaps, but several people I konw have seen their oil cooler pipes fail 
immediately after some other work has been done in the area.  It seems that 
failure is often triggered by a careless knock on the pipe.

> I plan to keep my car, 1988 5ktqcs, for at least 
> another ten years and it seems that the most efficient, if not cash-flow 
> friendly, choice would be to replace the entire system while it is down.  
> That is both lines and the cooler.  Since the cooler is Al and the lines 
> some other 
> steel alloy he says there is danger that the line may not disconnect 
> without breaking the connector.  Has anyone had experience with failure 
> of this system?

Most long-term Audi drivers will have experienced it.  With the earlier oil 
coolers (such as US ur-quattros) there's usually a space on the oil cooler side 
of the connector to take a wrench to neutralise the torque when undoing the 
line.  On later designs, it's a good idea to place a transmission jack under 
the cooler.  I've never seen an oil cooler fail for fatigue or corrosion.

(Bricks and jackrabbits, yes.) 

--
 Phil Payne
 phil@sievers.com
 Committee Member, UK Audi [ur-]quattro Owners Club