...why do things like this always happen on weekends, when you can't get parts, and when they can ruin your plans like this?

I suppose the good news is that I noticed it before my bearings took a dump...

Here's to another 200 bucks that won't be fixing all the other problems I've been itching to fix for months...

I freaking hate oil leaks.

 

Werd

 

Yeah, I just had a ss oil line spring a leak. I already had all the fittings though, so it cost me all of $18 for some new ss braided hose and some time.

 

The front oil line is by far my least favorite part on the car (except for the bell housing bolts...unless I had ratcheting box wrenches...)...

The damn thing is so hard to fit a wrench into... and now I can't get it unbolted because I need a bigger adjustable wrench.

I bet the next thing to go out on my car will be the clutch... although I need new shocks too (but that's really more an issue in autocross, not in normal driving).

 

Surely you can get some made at a hydraulics shop for under $35??? There was a writeup on here not too long ago. They won't be blingin' but they'll probably last for damn near ever at a 2,000psi rating.

 

https://www.rx7club.com/2nd-gen-archive-72/custom-oil-cooler-line-partlist-270545/

 

all i got to say is god bless the once a year tool sale at sears, so much cheap stuff that is o so good

 

Once of the reason I'm a big fan of braided stainless lines made with AN fittings. On the off chance that one pops, all you need to do is replace the hose because the fittings are easily reusable.

You may find a speed shop that's open this weekend from which you can purchase the -10 hose and fittings to make new lines, but it's doubtful that they would have the metric adapter fittings in stock. Many hydraulic shops have an emergency service truck you can call, but unless you really need the car that's probably a little expensive.

 

I cut up the hose I managed to get off so see if I could find the leak...

I couldn't find a leak, but I noticed that the rubber hoses were hardened and rotting (full of hairline cracks)... but I guess 15+ years of 200 degree oil isn't so good for oil...

 

I bought the pair from Corksport for $130...

http://corksport.com/store/category/...rx-Engine.html

They seem to be very high quality at the best price and included very good installation instructions.

I found this to be enough of a pain in the *** that I only replaced the one that was leaking(Lower), I did not have the patience to do the upper at the same time. The entire line was seeping oil through all the tiny cracks in the rubber.

 

Take your oil cooler lines off, I needed a crescent wrench to get at the front nut. Then take them into a hydraulics store and have them fab you up some new ones, but make sure they shorten the rear line because it won't fit right if they don't. I had mine made for $80.

 

I already ordered Corksport lines a few days ago...

I didn't want to use my old fittings, since they were kind of beat up from using an adjustable wrench...

 

FYI, there was a bad manufacturing run of aftermarket oil lines. I bought a set from Mazdatrix (not the Racing Beat brand) and the pressure line simply popped off at the block. These were the ones that look much like the Mazdaspeed ones.

Turns out the manufacturer had gone to a different nipple that was smaller than the prior one, so it didn't fit as tight inside the braided oil line itself.

Mazdatrix replaced mine with Racing Beat lines, (and have since stopped carrying the other brand).

 

RB lines are just AN lines/fittings that are pre-assembled and cut to the proper lengths.................................FWIW.

 

For a period of time we (CorkSport) were using the same manufacturer as Mazdatrix. We sent the lines out to be pressure tested and were less than happy with the results. The fittings were bad and leaked a bit under high pressure. We have since gone to a new manufacturer and these things will withstand as much pressure as your car will ever be able to throw at em.

Those intructions took me forever to write. Glad you like em!

 

I installed the corksport lines a few months ago, and it was a big pain in the ***. That being said, I'm glad I replaced both at the same time since when you replace weak link in a system it simply hastens the failure of the next weakest link.

 

I just installed these a couple of days ago. The instructions alone were worth the price. The installation wasn't as bad as everyone makes it sound. The only real problem I had was that I discovered one of my oil cooler mounts was broken.

 

Jesus! I got the lines in today and they are total bitches!

No pliability whatsoever, and the fact that they aren't bendy like the stock lines makes it even harder to install when you've got air conditioning...

It's going to take a lot of...manipulating... to get the banjo bolt into the long line's rear part... It's hard enough to thread that thing WITHOUT the stiff line in the way.

Also, the little foam and metal wire piece that keeps air from bypassing the radiator makes the long line's front part hard to install as well (and I don't want to just remove it).

 

You guys need to re-design the front line to deal with the the air conditioning hose... (I'm going to try to zip-tie it out of the way though...)

Teflon is really way too stiff considering that actually getting the bolts threaded requires extreme precision... I managed to get the long line hooked up, but it took me damn near an hour just to get the rear end threaded.

Also, the crimps are TOO THICK and tend to bump up against the air conditioning bracket.

It would be less of a problem if you were using AN fittings, since then you could adjust the angle of the ends... you can't do that with a crimped fitting.

 

We could have made them thinner, but we pretty much wanted to make sure that these things were NEVER going to fail.

 

True...but you sure didn't make it easy on us!

 

THERE IS NO VICTORY WITHOUT SACRIFICE!

 

Yeah, nearly 5 hours of sacrifice...

And they're still barely on there straight due to the air conditioning hose...

I can't seem to shake the feeling that the oil cooler isn't on there straight any more (since the rubber mounts are stretched on one side, and I swear it looks like it's not at the right vertical angle)...

This is because I had to undo the cooler to get the front banjo bolt in... and then had to force it back into position because the hose is too stiff.

I'm seriously going to freak out of any of the banjo bolts leak and I have to take them off (I do have spare washers though...).

Plus, it might end up rubbing on stuff, like the front stablizer, and the air conditioning hose, etc...

The crimps are definately too big. One, because they hit the air conditioning bracket, and two, because they catch on the edge of the radiator.

A little bit of pre-bent hard line would have gone a long way on these things (and not only in the stock locations...).

 

I feel your pain. As I said, I found this to be a very frustrating chore. Putting tourqe on the banjo bolts to remove them made me feel as though I would destroy the rubber mounting brackets. Replacing the lower banjo bolt/washers after first attaching the engine block side was the most frustrating part. I ended up detaching the entire oil cooler in order to get that bolt threaded correctly. However, once I got it installed and everything put back together it seemed to fit very well.

I DO NOT look forward to doing the longer line. Any tips on making the upper hose easier would be appreciated.

 

I just saw a picture of the RacingBeat oil cooler lines and I see that instead of using your old banjo bolts, these lines use an adaptor in place of the banjo bolts and then the lines attach to the adaptor. I was wondering if anyone knows if this feature makes them easier to install.

Here are pics of both...