Just trying to get my new oil strainer/pickup into its hole in the block - very awkward. Have pushed it in by hand most of the way, but its gonna require some kind of beating to get it in the rest of the way. Any tricks people have come up with?

Ah, got it in, just had to beat it a bit harder with a mild steel drift.

yeah that thing is annoying.

did you have the fortunate job of pulling it out too? they are crazy hard to get out, i think i'll leave it next time.

Tried to remove my pickup tube once - I think there's an o-ring at the end of it. No luck. Mine wouldn't budge. Left it in and no problems. Engine now has 209k on it. I wonder if anyone's ever had an "issue" with the tube or o-ring?

Left it in and no problems.

i think that's the best approach. i won't ever try to remove one again. find it highly unlikely that seal could be broken. there is an o-ring up there that is why i removed mine to replace it. it wasn't nearly as tight when i reseated it as it was when trying to remove it. i would have rather left it like it was knowing how tightly seated it was. i recall someone from the old yahoo boards years ago mentioning that it shouldn't be messed with because it's pressed in, but i don't know how true that is. i will say that when i got mine out the orings was brittle and in terrible condition, flattened, hard and cracked. looked more like a cracked washer than an oring.

 

I wonder if anyone's ever had an "issue" with the tube or o-ring?

not that i've seen. would be hard to diagnose though, might be easier to assume it's oil pump, main bearing or some other oil supply component related. it would be tough to pinpoint that as the cause.

 

wonder what CCR does with theirs? they've done a ton of these things.

i will say that when i got mine out the orings was brittle and in terrible condition, flattened, hard and cracked. looked more like a cracked washer than an oring.s.

 

Wouldn't that be reason enough to pull it out? I left mine in when I tore into the engine as I couldn't figure how to get it out... but now I am scratching my head, should I change it?

Only reason i took mine out was that it was utterly filthy, no point in spending a grand on an engine and having dirty bits in it still! I never planned to re-use it, so getting it out wasn't too bad since i didn't have to worry about damaging it. They are really cheap from subaru.

Wouldn't that be reason enough to pull it out?

well yes, except they are a pain to remove and as tight/pressed in that they are i believe them not to be a cause for concern. the motor was fine i was replacing the oil pan gasket and figured i'd replace that oring while i was in there.