Oil Breather Hose Replacement Question

Doug E · 07:20 PM

Has anybody successfully replaced the oil breather hose with the engine in the car?

I recently developed a leak where the hose connects to the breather cover and now I need to replace the hose. I'm not looking to do either a full or partial drop so I thought I'd take a shot at doing it with the engine in the car.

I've backdated the heat so the left side of the engine compartment is pretty much open ... it will all come down to getting to the clamp by feel / use of small mirror.

Any tips or ideas from experience?

TIA.

oneblueyedog · oneblueyedog's Garage

It's possible. Very difficult though. Get a hand mirror to scout out the back of the FI. The wires will be stiff and possibly brittle. It will also be oily. All that is holding it on is a hose clamp. Getting to the screw and loosening it is difficult. I replaced the screw in the clamp with a metric hex head. I had an easier time tightening it with a ball driver hex head wrench. It's all by feel. Messy too. I found I had the leak mostly fron the internal thermostat. You have to do a partail drop on that job in order to clean off all of the accumulated oil, sand and grit. I removed the FI as a unit when I did mine. Make sure you get the Porsche hose and not a length of similar diameter straight hose. The molded bends are essential to keep it from kinking and clearing the other hoses and wires.

Good luck.
Lee78sc

Doug E · 03-26-2004, 04:20 AM

Thanks Lee.

I just had my engine out over the winter for a rebuild but wasn't smart enough to replace the breather hose ... now I'm paying the price for that

Agree it will be messy and difficult so I'm going to dive in and give it a try today. Worst case scenario I'll do the partial/full drop but I did want to try it this way in case that can be avoided.

I am planning on using an official P-car hose as well as a new clamp.

I'll let you know how it goes.

sammyg2 · 03-26-2004, 06:34 AM

It all depends on the orientation of the hose clamp. A partial drop would be the minimum required IMO, also note that the old hose will probably be as hard as a rock and difficult to pull off without good leverage. The new one should be a little easier, but still takes some force to install.

The gasket under the breather is also sometimes suspect for leaking.

KTL · 03-26-2004, 06:47 AM

I've done it with the motor in the car. Just take the airbox and the airflow meter off the engine. Then ram (okay, maybe wiggle would be a better choice of words

) your head into the engine bay and you can see what's going on down by the engine breather cover. I just saw this about a month ago when I was replacing the fuel line under the intake manifold (with the manifold attached and engine fully installed/no partial drop).

Oh wait.......... you've got a SC. Just buy a Carrera.

john walker's workshop · 03-26-2004, 06:52 AM

kevin, your year is easy compared to an '81. there's all that extra stuff back there for the frequency valve. i would suggest removing the engine and not wasting time. the thermostat o ring is the worst offender, if you haven't already done it, and the oil light switch after that.

Superman · 03-26-2004, 07:19 AM

Listen to John. I failed to do that a couple of times, and now I listen more carefully.

Doug E · 03-26-2004, 08:30 AM

Thanks for the additional feedback fellas.

While the engine was out this winter I did replace the breather cover gasket, the termostat and the O-ring so that is why I am assuming it is the hose.

Trust me Superman, I'm a believer in John ... I actually placed a call to him during my rebuild with a question about reusing wristpin circlips (b/c of course I forgot to buy new ones ahead of time - doh!)

ChrisBennet · ChrisBennet's Garage

JW is not kidding. Here's the breather hose on an '81 SC:

Doug E · 03-27-2004, 11:39 AM

Proud to report ... SUCCESS!

Last night kstylianos and I managed to get the old hose out and install the new hose with the engine in the car. We would up dropping the rear of the motor about 5 inches to gain additional clearance and that did the trick.

Dont' get me wrong, it was no picnic. Took about 4 hours and involved a lot of twisting, contorting, cussing, knuckle bashing and bleeding but it eventually happened.

Using a factory hose is a MUST as the with the bends and curves it almost slides right one.

The lesson learned after all this is that if my engine is ever out again I'm going to replace every hose so I don't have to mess with them once it is back in the car