What is this hose...vacuum line?

I noticed that after the engine had been warm for a while, the brake pedal got quite hard. It still works and is definitely still power assisted, but less so than normal. The problem seems to come and go. That's what made me think this might be a vacuum line. It's hard to tell where it goes but it looks like it attaches to those devices on the metal bracket just above the throttle body (lol I don't know what those things are either
)Here is one broken end:

And the end of the main part:

And here's the part I broke off. Originally I just broke the pipe in one place, but when trying to trace where it went a couple of complete pieces just came off in my hand. It's like egg shell



Can anyone tell me what it is? Thanks!
I should have specified my engine - it's a '98 2.8 30V. Does it have this mechanism? I read about something in the Bentley manual that sounded like the above but it was for the 3.0 only: "Plastic two-position variable intake manifold..."
Anyway I have got some fuel hose from Ace Hardware that fits neatly over the broken hose so I was thinking I'd give that a try.
Look again at the front of the manifold.
pack in front of the manifold.
Here is a vac diagram to help.
PDF not so good, I'll try again.
Last edited by jcman; Apr 28, 2012 at 12:07 PM.
This line that I broke definitely doesn't connect to anything at the front of the manifold. , it goes to the back near the throttle body.
Here is the PDF
Trending Topics

It looks like the line in question is the line that connects the vacuum reservoir to the intake manifold tuning valve.
I have hooked up the fuel pipe I got from Ace and gone for a short drive. Feels normal, but then the brake issue was intermittent anyway.
So what does the intake manifold tuning valve do?
Bringing Audi to Life for Audi Fans
Your intake manifold has a air flow vectoring tube "spool" in side that runs through it front to back, it changes airflow at two points in the intake plenum runners at low and high rpm's, volume and velocity of airflow makes a big difference in a manifold.
Can you recommend anything I can use to fix this?





