Air con pipes, removal woes
Discussion
After sorting the condensers and new rads, the air con man came and the pressure test found a couple of holes in the long pipes under the car (996 C4S). £300 quid at design911 led to some research and a half price secondhand set from a Boxter arrived on Friday.
But I can't get the old pipes off, what's my best bet for this? Dremel off the bolt heads? No chance of getting these off, the allen bolts rounded out despite plenty of care cleaning them out plus WD40, air con man did warn me they'd be a pig to do. Front end came apart eventually, carbon thing was awkward.
But I can't get the old pipes off, what's my best bet for this? Dremel off the bolt heads? No chance of getting these off, the allen bolts rounded out despite plenty of care cleaning them out plus WD40, air con man did warn me they'd be a pig to do. Front end came apart eventually, carbon thing was awkward.
I put some mole grips on mine and the head snapped off ( you also need to support the joint with some other mole grips otherwise you will twist the pipes), worth a try, maybe your bolt will loosen.
If it snaps like minne then when the head is removed the bolt body is then still stuck in both unions.
Dont then try to grind the old union to separate them, do not use a normal grinder, I did this and the plastic coating on the good pipe which also forms a seal to the end union melted and wrecked the pipe over the engine and that can be a grand in labour to replace ( engine drop)
I guess its possible to dremel them apart if you you do a bit then take lots of breaks to overheating.
If it snaps like minne then when the head is removed the bolt body is then still stuck in both unions.
Dont then try to grind the old union to separate them, do not use a normal grinder, I did this and the plastic coating on the good pipe which also forms a seal to the end union melted and wrecked the pipe over the engine and that can be a grand in labour to replace ( engine drop)
I guess its possible to dremel them apart if you you do a bit then take lots of breaks to overheating.
Me, well mostly. It wasn't hard to check the condensers, they fell apart in my hands.
You should have a mobile air con guy local to you, just google for one, that's pretty much what I did. Did a pressure test first which revealed the leak. A lot of hard work later with 2 2nd hand Boxter pipes fitted (Porsche wanted over £300) and I had him back. Leak was worse than ever but quickly diagnosed as a pinched o ring. Now charged and ice cold, tested to 200psi but running at 100psi.
I used AC/DC Air Con as I'm in Nottingham, he was very helpful, turns out we share a love of 80s two strokes motorbikes, so we got on ok.
The pipes under the car were a total pain in the neck to put it politely. I realised I couldn't get a drill straight enough from the back as the drill chuck interferes with the pipe (also advised on some forums). So.... on the bigger outer pipe I dremeled off enough material from the pipe I'm replacing to be able to lever it off with a screwdriver. This left the bolt in the pipe that must not be messed with (engine out to replace). New HSS drill bit and it took a few minutes and the bolt came out ok. Tried similar with the smaller pipe but access is way harder so ended up taking off more of the "good" pipe union than I wanted, but I had some spare steel so made up an oval washer to spread the bolt load, also had some stainless identical bolts in a mix box so good to go. Don't ask about getting the carbon canister out and I still need to sort out where the emergency release on the petrol flap should be, cos I don't have one.
Not a job I want to do again, but car is now usable in the heat, I don't think it had worked for years, so I pity the former owner.
In for minor service and gearbox/trans oil next week, have asked for opinion on suspension (feels knackered) and exhaust - there's a group buy on 911uk on topgear exhausts I'm in on.
You should have a mobile air con guy local to you, just google for one, that's pretty much what I did. Did a pressure test first which revealed the leak. A lot of hard work later with 2 2nd hand Boxter pipes fitted (Porsche wanted over £300) and I had him back. Leak was worse than ever but quickly diagnosed as a pinched o ring. Now charged and ice cold, tested to 200psi but running at 100psi.
I used AC/DC Air Con as I'm in Nottingham, he was very helpful, turns out we share a love of 80s two strokes motorbikes, so we got on ok.
The pipes under the car were a total pain in the neck to put it politely. I realised I couldn't get a drill straight enough from the back as the drill chuck interferes with the pipe (also advised on some forums). So.... on the bigger outer pipe I dremeled off enough material from the pipe I'm replacing to be able to lever it off with a screwdriver. This left the bolt in the pipe that must not be messed with (engine out to replace). New HSS drill bit and it took a few minutes and the bolt came out ok. Tried similar with the smaller pipe but access is way harder so ended up taking off more of the "good" pipe union than I wanted, but I had some spare steel so made up an oval washer to spread the bolt load, also had some stainless identical bolts in a mix box so good to go. Don't ask about getting the carbon canister out and I still need to sort out where the emergency release on the petrol flap should be, cos I don't have one.
Not a job I want to do again, but car is now usable in the heat, I don't think it had worked for years, so I pity the former owner.
In for minor service and gearbox/trans oil next week, have asked for opinion on suspension (feels knackered) and exhaust - there's a group buy on 911uk on topgear exhausts I'm in on.
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