Update and conclusion; On Friday the cheap 32mm spanner I had ordered on Monday finally arrived in the post. Within 15 minutes of it hitting the doormat it looked like this:
It's cut in two, making it shorter and hence able to be swung in a restricted space. You may also notice I thinned down the jaws on the 32mm part to make it easier to fit into the confined space around the circumferential collar around the engine end of the higher of the two oil cooler hoses.
Once off (I didn't disconnect them from the cooler itself, just unbolted the cooler from the car) I took the whole lot to my local Pirtek where some very nice chaps removed the fittings from the old hose (which looked like this:
... ) and re-attached them to some very nice, shiny, braided new hose. I was happy to slip them £40 for their troubles and dashed home to fit the newly-repaired assembly to the car. Given that I had lost a fair chunk of oil from the sump I drained the rest (and there was more left in there than I had imagined; it was only just showing on the very tip of the dipstick but I can only assume that there is quite a lot of capacity in the sump below that), changed the oil filter and re-filled. Given the VAST amount of oil that the car took - nigh on 8 litres, much more than a usual service - I guess that the oil filter isn't usually drained and hence it isn't possible to easily do a complete oil change on a 944.
After some fresh oil and new oil filter and I started the engine and it runs as sweetly as ever - thanks to those who reassured me that things would probably be fine on that front, you were right!
Things that are worth noting include;
1. The fittings on the end of the hoses are two-piece, so are re-usable. Pirtek looked at them and thought they were one-piece and hence not re-usable, and only dismantled them because I persuaded them it was worth a try.
2. The 32mm spanner is necessary to undo the engine end of the two oil cooler hoses. The upper hose appears to be a pig to get to and it is, but there is a smooth bit on the 32mm collar which, if you look closely, makes getting it off easier; you can spin the spanner on the smooth bit when you need to move it back before re-engaging it on the flatted bit again when undoing the collar. (That sounds odd but will make sense if you look closely at it.)
3. It's well worth cleaning the oil cooler fins when it is off the car; I blew a large amount of leaves and other road debris out of mine with a compressed air line and I expect it will work a lot better as a result.
4. I don't know whether the routing of the hoses on my car was as it was done in the factory, but it's possible to route them better with a bit of thought. It's a fiddly and difficult job but well worth getting right.
5. The new hose (with fittings) is rated to 6000psi! Assuming the engine oil when cold runs at 10 bar, that's about 140psi, so the new part is
significantly over-specified for the job!
6. Porsche quoted me £612 for the two hoses (not available separately), plus VAT. That, plus a few hours of labour, would probably mean this little escapade would come to a four-figure sum if done in a dealership or even a more expensive indie. I did it for £40 for the hose, £7 for the spanner and about £20 for the oil and filter. Four-figure repair bills are what write off cars of this sort of age and value, and really goes to show that these can be very expensive cars to run. Being willing to get your hands dirty (
very dirty, in this case) can save a pile of cash. And possibly save the car from destruction.
Particular thanks to ChrisG (on here) for his wise council by telephone and text message in helping diagnose and solve the problem. It's not the first time he has offered such assistance and it's really appreciated - thanks Chris.
Oli.
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