Broken Tube
 

Alright, I've got a 30-valve 2.8, and there's something interesting I noticed about a week ago. I've got a ribbed tube, which is cracked and broken, and has nothing in it, which runs from the left front of the engine to the right front of the engine. It is completely cracked and destroyed, it would have to be replaced.

1) What is it?
2) Should I replace it?
3) Is it supposed to be empty?

Thanks in advance,
Ben

look at Kris Hansen's site
 

<ul><li><a href="http://www.kris-hansen.com/Audi/breather_fix.htm">Kris Hansen's site</a></li></ul>

Thanks! I had no idea what the hell that was.

Any idea of what happens if it isn't replaced?
 

As far as I know, mine has been broken for years. I've never noticed it before, probably because the entire midsection was completely gone and only the tips remained on each end (block 1 and block 2). The only reason I noticed is because I was screwing with the engine and I noticed a little plastic piece that had fallen in the rim of the oil cap. I looked around and saw this breather hose. It's probably been gone for awhile.

Ben

You'll probably have oil residue coating your engine..
 

as well as possible unmetered/false air (not going thru the mass air meter). How's your idle, any performance issues? If everything seems ok, I'd just put some foam in the tube ends so that you don't have the oil go all over the place.

my 2 cents (and worth everything you paid ;-)

What happens with a broken tube
 

Thanks to Bert, I've been able to see certain effects of not replacing this tube. I'm going to be replacing it.

I have noticed a slight oil residue, which burns off when the engine gets really hot, on my engine for the past couple of months. It started happening around the same time that I had an oil change done, so I figured maybe there had been just some sort of spill or incompetence...I can see now that since the problem persists, and it is just a very slight residue, that it is probably a result of this tube.

Second, the idle really isn't too bad, but it could be smoother (it isn't perfectly smooth). I figured that this may just be a sympton of having just under 140K miles on my engine, and it still may be, but we'll see if the idle is smoother.

Performance issues? Well, the car isn't as fast as I'd like it to be, but that's mainly just Audis fault for only squeezing 193 hp out of my V6. As far as everything else is concerned, I'm not sure if there is a lack of performance. I've done a lot of modifications in the past half year, and I feel like the car is much faster...but then I've had it for almost 4 1/2 years, so sometimes I don't notice when something changes gradually...like decreases in performance. I will notice an increase though if it comes with fixing the tubing...I'll post about it when I fix it.

Thanks for the help! Now that I can explain a couple of the things that I've noticed about my engine in the past few months, I'll try to remedy them ASAP with this fix.

Ben

no problem, and good luck.

Fix it, for a couple bucks..
 

I had to repair mine, which cracked during G2 install, used 5/8th's hose to patch it in.

Another inexpensive fix.
 

Broke mine when changing my valve cover gaskets recently. I cut two fittings from the plastic hose, purchased 6 feet of 3/8" or 5/8" (don't recall)heater hose from a local auto shop($7) and some metal hose clamps. Attached and ran in same location. A bit bulky but the engine cover still fit okay. Seems to be working fine. Time will tell.

UPDATE: All fixed!
 

Instead of paying the $90+ for the replacement tube, I decided to go to Home Depot and buy some supplies to repair the one on there currently. All in all, without driving time to and from Home Depot, the fix took me about 10 minutes. More importantly, it cost me a grand total of $2.47. I simply bought some new tube and used it to patch up the cracked areas, melting it onto the old tube with a lighter (after taking the entire assembly off the car and washing it out thoroughly of course, since there is oil in the tube). Like I said, $2.47 and 10 minutes (just-as-good method), or $90 and as quickly as you can clip on a new assembly. Those extra 9.5 minutes of my life definitely weren't worth an extra $87.53!

Ben