So I’m a President’s Day weekend away from having this job done. My only real problem is the coolant line slip fitting in the picture above (the one on the back of the block on the passenger side). I can see in a mirror that the gasket in the slip fitting is all distorted, it doesn’t look like it is all the way in there. I’ve ordered a new coolant line and try that. I think my sin here was not getting the coolant line slip fitting all the way together. I pushed as hard as I possibly could using coolant as lubricant. That said, it just wouldn’t go all the way together.
What have others used to lubricate the gasket in these slip fittings to get them all the way to the bottom of where they are supposed to go. The shop manual says to use coolant. Is that enough? Should I be using something else?