Installing Oil Filter Relocator On Rb26

[cowie165]

Ok I've had this filter relocator sitting in my garage for 18 months now and the car is *ahem* overdue for an oil change. I've decided to bite the bullet and fit the relocator myself.

Tools used so far:

14mm socket

shifter/adjustable wrench (because I don't have the required 23mm spanner)

plumbers tape

Here's a few pictures to start. No, I haven't finished. I began this morning and hope to finish tomorrow arvo after church.

This is a UAS oil filter relocator purchased used for $150 (RRP $395! ). The seller said that he fitted it to his car, forgot the o-ring on the plug that meets the block, and it leaked as soon as he started it. As it was a pain to fit, he decided to just sell it.

I wasn't sure how I was going to mount it, and I thought I'd have to remove the inner wheel arch to access the engine bay wall.

[cowie165]

As it turns out, there is no need to remove the inner wheel arch. You can drill straight through and place a bolt there. For reference, of the four bolts coming through here, the inner two are the fitting for the HICAS solenoid.

ps what the heck is a Buzz Spec?

This is where I want to fit the relocator. I checked out the front subframe as a few guys (Ronin09, SydneyKid) suggested it, but the previous owner of the kit had trimmed the braided hose too short for me to place it there. Repainting the strut brace is on the 'to-do' list

[cowie165]

I was considering placing it here. Unfortunately it just isn't going to work.

Anyway, time to change the oil. I ran the engine for a few minutes then opened the sump. Shortly after, I managed to pull off the oil filter.

Sorry about the poorly lit photo. The filter has been removed and is sitting face up in the centre of the shot whilst I worked out exactly how I was going to get it out of there...

And here's my oil filter wrench. $2 for 4 at the supermarket. Worked a treat.

[cowie165]

Ok I've spent some time on this job since taking those pics earlier today. Right now, the relocator plug is fitted to the block, the hoses are fitted to the plug, and I had to pull out the battery, the strut brace, the alarm siren and the HICAS solenoid just to have enough room to work. Tightening the hoses on the plug was a major pain in the butt.

The plug doesn't seem to fit as snugly as any oil filter I've ever fitted. If this thing leaks, I'm sure I'll be inventing new swear words. Cool, I'll take some more pics tomorrow and hopefully finish up.

[GtstCoupe]

Yeah the 26 looks like a mission to do anything in that engine bay

,but well ya get around it, still looks good ,will b nice all finished.

goodluck

[MANWHORE]

You're an absolute genioius with that oil filter wrench!

I've tried a few different 'proper' wrenchs and they have never worked. Many people have said hammer a screwdriver trhoguh it, but i've been weary just in case if I still can't get it out, then i can't drive it either.

So far, what i've been doing is cleaning the filter very well. Then washing my hand very well, so I can get a grip on it and just turn it.

If onyl I knew about those grippy pad things.

What are they called?

[MANWHORE]

Oh, just a quick warning for ya.

I have a friend who installed one of these recently. They're great once you get it all good iwthout leaks.

when he first put it on, it wasn't quite right.

The engine oil leaks very quickly if you dont' ahve it right.

He leaked out about 2 or so l of oil in maybe 1 minute? there was a massive puddle on the floor.

[cowie165]

You're an absolute genioius with that oil filter wrench!

...

If onyl I knew about those grippy pad things.

What are they called?

Thanks! I have to open enough jars for my wife it just seemed logical. I'm not sure what they're called but they live in the kitchen (detergent, steel wool, etc.) section of the supermarket. It is extra handy because it is so thin it is easier (for me) that trying to fit in a proper wrench under the plenum.

The engine oil leaks very quickly if you dont' ahve it right.

He leaked out about 2 or so l of oil in maybe 1 minute? there was a massive puddle on the floor.

Yep, I can relate to that. More to follow, but not as bad as leaking litres, thankfully.

[cowie165]

I can't remember why I took this pic, but here it is.

Next step was to mark out where the backing plate was going to fit nicely. As you'll see, I had to remove the HICAS solenoid plus some other part that had 'JECS' stamped in the front of it. It was my only solution due to the short length of braided hose available.

Ok here is the backing plate fitted. The bolts are M8x25mm. 25mm is just a touch too long and 20mm would be a touch too short. If you can find them, grab some M8 locking nuts. Bunnings was out so tough luck for me.

I used a piece of rubber (from an old car mat) and cut it to shape to make a crude gasket to help the two metal surfaces (plate + strut tower) bind nicely. This also helped stop the bolts protruding too far into the strut tower as the clearance between the bolts and the FR spring is uber tight. I also used washers on the backing plate.

If you decided to use washers like I did (not fitted in the pic), you may need to file down one side a few mm otherwise you will not achieve a flush fit when you place the filter mount onto the backing plate. When I say one side, I mean one edge, so that it is straight for a bit, rather than curved. Hrmmm. Ok, I mean file it down from 11 o'clock position to 1 o'clock position.

Here is why I used the washers and rubber gasket. I almost forgot to mention - after you drill through, grab a file and clean up the burred edge, otherwise you won't achieve a tight fit.

[cowie165]

Here's my end result:

As you can see, I had to move the solenoid to down behind the battery, and the aluminium muesli bar shaped thing (right of the oil filter) to under the strut brace.

The solenoid has to rubber plugs with washers on each side of each rubber plug. I removed the washers from the side that would mate with the engine bay, once again, to ensure a snug fit. I used the original bolts and grabbed a few M6 nuts to go on the end, as I had to drill two new mounting holes. Locknuts would have been nice, but as I mentioned, Bunnings was out of metric

Anyway it looks quite tidy and if you didn't know an RB26 the stuff I moved wouldn't look out of place.

It was time to start. eck.

[cowie165]

Remember when I said the plug that you screw onto the block didn't feel like it fit like any oil filter I've ever done? Boo UAS for your plug and the crummy o-ring.

To put things into perspective, you are looking at the plug from under the car. To the right of pic is the diff and the left of pic is an engine mount. See where the anodised hose fittings meet the shiny plug? Now see right at the end of the plug is a thin line of... oil. Whilst the engine is running, the oil pressure indicates normal however there is a tiny tiny leak right here and it drips about every sixty seconds. Bugger of a thing.

When I screwed in the plug, it didn't have that nice feel when you can tell the rubber gasket/o-ring is mating with the block, rather it screwed in and then I felt metal on metal. Not having done this before I hoped that was normal. Evidently, it isn't. The o-ring is too thin for this application.

Well I've called it quits for the day. A close friend always says, 'it is how someone acts after a mistake that is the measure of the man'. So instead of being cheesed I've worked out a way around it. I still had the Ryco Z145A sitting on the end of my oil pan, so I have grabbed the o-ring from the old filter and my next move is to fit the Ryco o-ring onto the UAS plug. If that doesn't seem tight I'll look at fitting both o-rings together.

Fingers crossed. I don't need the car until Wednesday

[Beer Baron]

good one mate. looks cool. BTW the thing you moved is the boost control solenoid, not HICAS.

[cowie165]

Cool, thanks Richard! Hey that'd mean its a vacuum line and not fluid like I thought so should be able remove the rubber hoses and shorten them? Now that I've moved the solenoid, they hose is about 100mm too long and bends all over the place.

Mate do you know what the thing in the silver box is? It didn't seem to need to be where it is and has a massive plug (loom) coming out the back end.

I actually used your engine bay pic for reference to try and work out the best way to place it! Your setup seems a bit flasher than mine and mounts differently, but was a good starting point for me. Cheers

[MANWHORE]

Try using both orings at the same time for safety.

When we installed it onto my mates car, the cheap oring that came with it actually ripped when it was tightened, thus the massive leak.

There just so happened to be a spare oring in the kit. We coupled that with an oil filter o ring, and it didn't leak anymore.

[markimak]

RB26 gotta love the filter location. having all different lines and wiring around the filter didnt help either. when i did my first service on my GTR i ripped the filter oring. (Ryco) and repco was close at the time. did it at night after work. it dripped a little bit. i replaced it soon after that. repco are dicks. hate ther attitude

[Beer Baron]

yep, you can shorten those lines no problem. acutally the shorter they are the better.

that silvver thing I think is the resistor pack for something. most likely the injectors.

[GTRgeoff]

That is most certainly the injector resistor pack.

Nice effort Mark. Just wondering if it wouldn't be easier putting the straight ends onto the block end and the elbows ate the relocated filter end? That's how I intend to fit it in the GTR33 with the oil cooler kit I have. Should be a bit easier to install.

[Beer Baron]

i think he has 90 degree joints at both ends. I'll have a good look at how my trust one fits up, as it fits very nicely.

[cowie165]

Thanks for the kind words Geoff. It's a case of suck-it-and-see. I'm still confident there is a happy ending to this story

At the moment the oil is draining in readiness for me to attack the block plug before I go to work.

Richard is spot on. This kit has 90' elbows at both ends of the hose. If that wasn't the case, I would have been forced to mount the relocator higher to accommodate the hoses.

Geoff do you think you could use a transmission cooler for an engine oil cooler? Are they manufactured for a specific viscosity or is a cooler a cooler? The reason I ask is that I keep seeing R33 auto trans coolers selling here for $20 and thought it might be a 'cost effective' way out...? Not that I need it on a road car, but moreso just thinking out loud.

Cheers. Wish me luck.

[cowie165]

Ugh, nothing worse than coming home from work at 9pm and realising you have a few hours of knuckle scraping car stuff to go.

1. I have refitted the block plug, but due to kids in bed, not yet started the motor.

2. I owe John P and the UAS boys an apology. When I removed the plug, I couldn't find the o-ring!? I was certain it went on, and the car obviously hasn't moved, but I cant find it anywhere. Sorry John, the leak appears to be totally my fault and not due to the kit. Fortunately, the Z145 o-ring/gasket/whatever fit very nicely and was thick enough to do the job by itself.

3. I'm beat.

4. I miss my 1/24 cars. They are less dirty.