Replacing the Oil Cooler Lines.

If your CVPI is leaking oil this article could help you fix that. The oil cooler lines are very prone to leaking and can present a problem if your worried about driveway staining or oil getting on other things like your serpentine belt.

This is applicable to all 1998+ Panther platform oil cooler equipped vehicles. (Stock on the CVPI, but found on others per vehicle application)

Tools Needed:

• Sockets (9/16 was the primary socket i used, Some years may be different)
• Extensions
• Jack & Jackstand/s
• Eye Protection
• Oil
• Oil filter
• Cleaner - I used brake cleaner.

Skill needed 2/5 - If you can change your own oil this won't be much different.

In this case my oil lines were leaking badly and had coated the lines and the surrounding area in a thick slippery nasty sludge.

So I ordered a set of new hoses and planned to change them during my next oil change.

After I jacked up the car as I normally would for a oil change I started by spraying both ends of the hoses with brake cleaner to expose the retaining bolt head which were cakes in oil sludge.

Then removed the following bolt.

As noted in the picture it was a 9/16 socket used and be VERY careful removing the bolt to avoid stripping out the threads now and upon re-installation.

Once you have the bolt out you can pull on the hoses (if you can get a grip) and they will pop out. Take note of which hose goes where as there is a upper and lower hose. Take care to not get oil on yourself as the lines will have oil in them.

Now for the Final bolt before the lines can be completely removed.

Once that bolt is out, then grab the lines again and pull until it pops out.

As you can see these were really nasty.

To reinstall I removed the caps on the ends of the new lines to protect them during shipping and by hand applied a thin coat or oil to lubricate the o-rings. Push the lines in as far as you can then insert the bolt to snug them up. This part is where is is very important not to over tighten the bolts and strip the threads out.

Once that is done proceed with your oil change if you wish or add some to replace any oil that leaked out. Once finished start the vehicle and check for leaks.

Enjoy your handiwork and the money you saved doing it yourself!