Well, I was doing some spirited driving out on some country roads, and I noticed that when I was taking corners, my car was getting a little slippery. I pulled off to the side to take a look and my whole left wheel and wheel well were covered in oil. I looked at the piping going to the oil cooler and I noticed that there was oil squirting off one of the lines. After I re-filled my oil to full, to see if I could find the exact spot, it looked like, at idle the oil was dripping out of the banjo bolt that bolts into the cooler.

Now, I am wondering if I should just replace the copper washers that are on both sides of the banjo bolt, or if I should just by the replacement kit from mazdatrix. I know there is a big price difference, but, how long do those old oil lines last? Can I expect them to go out soon? Could there be a crack in one of the lines?

Anything I should watch out for? I only ran the car for a little bit, but I kept oil in the car the whole time, and the oil pressure never dropped below 30.

Thanks guys! Gotta get it back up and running before October 14th. Last Auto-X day....

 

oil cooler lines are known for leaking. get some SS ones and be done with it

 

Replace the copper rings and see what happens. The Oil lines are pretty strong. Make sure you tighten the 23mm bolt on the oil cooler really tight.

You could also inspect the oil lines real close once you have the under tray off.

 

^^^ But adding to this, please do not over tighten them, cause it the oil cooler is made out of aluminum, so if you tight it really tight, you will **** it pretty bad. Yeah fix the leak right away, because oil wont fully go through. So there you go. PM if you need anything. I had the same exact problem.

Ken

 

just replaced the oil cooler lines ... around 20 years old saturated in oil... and hopefully there was no damage to the motor.

 

^^ Yea i found that out. THe big one on the bottome was leaking, so I tightend it and the whole thing just cracked in half.

 

and yeah if you can get steal braded, then even better! haha.

Ken

 

I just replaced both oem cooler lines on a '88 vert for a local buddy of mine. I used the Mazdatrix ss line kit. Fit is perfect and looks great too. Be careful though when tightening the fittings. They are anodized aluminum and they don't need a lot of torque to seal properly. If you should snap one, like I did, the fitting itself is available separately, also from Mazdatrix. The ss lines are far cheaper than oem for sure.

 

The lines are 20+ years old, and will leak over time.

Best bet is to degrease the area completely and then have someone start the car momentarily while you look for the leak. Then replace whatever part is broken.

You can have a new set of oil lines made up the local hydraulic shop for a surprisingly low price.

 

I have same problem, but a much smaller leak.
1. What do you recommend for degreasing the oil lines? Gojo? Soap??
2. By "small" I mean really small. I carefully track oil consumption and didn't notice it until someone pointed out the oil soaked line. I think that's where my new oil or gas smell is coming from. So, to find the leak, do I just have to wait a long time until it leaks enough?

And thanks a ton for the hydraulics shop tip. I was afraid I'd have to spend $200 for new lines, just to take care of a small leak.

 

We (CorkSport) sell our SS replacement lines for $130. Lots in stock.

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

 

Just buy SS lines from mazdatrix for 200 even.
They look trick and work well.
I use these on all client cars.

 

Yeah upgrade the lines, I just did that a couple of days ago, and I got mine from corksport, for 130 not including shipping. Though I live like 15 minutes away. So yeah http://www.corksport.com Get them there!

 

If I were to upgrade I'd go for the $200 Racing Beat or Mazdatrix lines with the AN fittings, etc. I decided on this after a little forum searching.

Really just wanted to know what chemical to use to clean the oil off the line to check what's bad. Hmm... maybe I'll try detergent.

 

Taking corners unusually tight seems to do something to the lines, i havent figured out what it is but i have had a few of the lines punctured after some really tight corners but i think a strut bar might help the situation, maybe not im not an expert

 

Any particular reason why?

 

I use the corksport ones, no regrets.

 

Except being stupidly hard to install if you have air conditioning.

I suggest biting the bullet and getting new OEM ones...

Or re-use your OEM fittings and get some new rubber hoses crimped to them at a hydraulics shop.

Teflon is way too stiff for something that needs to be flexible to install... not because it won't bent, but because it won't twist AT ALL.

OTOH, you can adjust the position of the fittings on the AN versions, and replace just the hoses in case they get damaged... the Corksport ones are crimped.

 

At least you never have to worry about them coming off once they're on

 

You have a BIG problem.
Where are the lines being damaged?

There are really no steering or suspension components that come very close to the oil lines...

 

I had a leak too. I just replaced them with Corksport Steel Braided ones. They work great.

Your lines are old and will corrode over time, just bite the bullet and get SS lines, you won't regret it!

 

i switched to some steel braided ones and it hasn't done it again so i dont really know what the cause was but it only seemed to happen after cornering or the occasional spin out

 

^^^ Maybe the spin outs were caused by the leaking oil, lol

When my old lines busted, I replaced them w/ Corksport SS lines, they've held up great so far. I just couldn't justify an extra $70 (for RB) for the sake of looking cute. Plus I can use that $70 to go to a hydraulic shop and get a spare set using the fittings from my stock lines.

 

Huh? I have AC and didn't notice anything. Took like 30 minutes to replace everything.

 

Well, since I assume they're hand-assembled, sometimes the crimps might be a degree or two off, which makes them a bitch to install (it took me like three hours just to get them to bolt on properly, because the banjo bolts just wouldn't thread... and I couldn't twist the hoses even slightly because they're thick teflon)...

And since the crimps are thick, super-duty ones, the clearance between the air conditioning bracket and hoses was just tight enough to make it really hard to install...

Also, there is a very good reason that the OEM hoses are not straight, barely flexible hoses, but pre-bent pipe with flexible short bits of rubber hose...

my long hose is basically right in front of my engine mount's bolt... so I'm probably gonna have a hard time if I need to ever remove my engine mount bracket.