Porsche Air-Cooled Oil Thermostat. What You Need To Know.

Testing and installing an Oil Thermostat

Before you install your oil thermostat, you should find out if it works correctly.

An Oil Thermostat is an integral part of your Porsche air-cooled engine. Without proper oil flow, your engine will not be “air-cooled”, more like oil burnt.

Video Lesson on your Oil Thermostat

Testing your Oil Thermostat

If you take a look inside, you can see a number stamped on the brass cone inside. This is the temp that the thermostat opens up at. Also, the unit has to close when cooled. The heat is not exact, and a 10% heat range on either side is acceptable.

Oil Thermostat has the temp stamped inside in Celsius
The Oil Thermostat has the temp stamped inside in Celsius

Heating the Oil Thermostat

We use a hot air gun to heat the oil thermostat. We use a Raytec non-contact tempurature gun to read the temps reached. After we have confirmed the function, we are going to let the thermostat cool off!

Etekcity Infrared Thermometer 1080, Heat Temperature Temp Gun for Cooking, Laser IR Surface Tool for Pizza Oven, Meat, Griddle, Grill, HVAC, Engine, Accessories, -58°F to 1130°F, Yellow
Master Appliance HG-201D Industrial Heat Gun, Quick Change Plug-In Heating Element, 400F, 120V, 600W, 5 Amps, Assembled In USA
Etekcity Infrared Thermometer 1080, Heat Temperature Temp Gun for Cooking, Laser IR Surface Tool for Pizza Oven, Meat, Griddle, Grill, HVAC, Engine, Accessories, -58°F to 1130°F, Yellow
Master Appliance HG-201D Industrial Heat Gun, Quick Change Plug-In Heating Element, 400F, 120V, 600W, 5 Amps, Assembled In USA
$24.99
$229.95
Etekcity Infrared Thermometer 1080, Heat Temperature Temp Gun for Cooking, Laser IR Surface Tool for Pizza Oven, Meat, Griddle, Grill, HVAC, Engine, Accessories, -58°F to 1130°F, Yellow
Etekcity Infrared Thermometer 1080, Heat Temperature Temp Gun for Cooking, Laser IR Surface Tool for Pizza Oven, Meat, Griddle, Grill, HVAC, Engine, Accessories, -58°F to 1130°F, Yellow
$24.99
Master Appliance HG-201D Industrial Heat Gun, Quick Change Plug-In Heating Element, 400F, 120V, 600W, 5 Amps, Assembled In USA
Master Appliance HG-201D Industrial Heat Gun, Quick Change Plug-In Heating Element, 400F, 120V, 600W, 5 Amps, Assembled In USA
$229.95

When your oil thermostat is room temp you can put on the oring. When it gets in the slot, make sure there is no tension in the oring and it is not bound up in any way. We like to use a silicone lubricant to help as you press the thermostat into the case.

We have seen a few engines with silicone sealant on the thermostat. This is not how to fix a leaking oil thermostat. This is very bad. All of the oil will pass through this point, and contamination here can destroy a Porsche engine.

not use a sealant on the oil thermostat
Never do this! No sealant required, the oring is all that is needed.

Other Oil Fittings

With the oil thermostat functioning and in place, we can move onto some other oil fittings. Again no sealant. A copper or aluminum crush washer is all that is required. Remember that these washers are a one-time use, so do no use them again!

Oil pressure sender

Earlier we put in the adaptor for the oil pressure sending unit. Depending on your model there can be different oil pressure sender types here.

Oil Temperature switch

Clean and test the temperature switch before installing it. Use a copper or aluminum crush washer in this spot too.

Camshaft oil line fittings

We continue with a couple more oil line fittings for the cam shaft oil feed lines.

With all of these oil parts, no sealant, fresh seal rings, not too tight, and you will be good to go.

Up Next on the Engine Build

Thanks for watching and reading about your Oil Thermostat.

Up Next, we tackle the timing chain guide rails. There are some tricks to learn here, as the timing chain guides can go in the wrong way, the wrong depth, or the wrong type! Continue to follow along with us and learn what to do to be confident in your air-cooled build.

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