Should I delete this hose?

mscromer · mscromer's Garage

After reading the recent threads, I found out my car still has the hose from the filter box to the timing belt cover. What was Porsche's reason for deleting this hose so I will know if I need to remove it or not. Does it hurt to keep it? Seems like a good idea to have some fresh air in there, I don't know why, it just does.

CJFusco · CJFusco's Garage

Porsche deleted the hose because if water gets into the air box it can get inside the belt area. Not good.

mscromer · mscromer's Garage

Not saying it couldn't happen, any thing can happen. Porsche obviously deleted the hose for a reason, but I would think it would be very, very difficult to get water that far up into the filter box and into the timing belt cover. Anyone ever have water in the timing cover?

CJFusco · CJFusco's Garage

I think that Porsche weighed the options and realized that the extra cooling to the belts and pulleys wasn't worth the risk of a catastrophic cam/timing belt failure.

aribop · 05-05-2006, 06:49 AM

There are plenty of people running without the belt covers, me included. A little water on the belts will not hurt anything.

Eldorado · 05-05-2006, 06:56 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by aribop
There are plenty of people running without the belt covers, me included. A little water on the belts will not hurt anything.

you hope...
what happens when water gets into cv joints? wheel bearings? in your oil?

water on moving parts = bad... you'll kill the lifespan of your gears and rollers...

Tishabet · 05-05-2006, 07:00 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by CJFusco
Porsche deleted the hose because if water gets into the air box it can get inside the belt area. Not good.

Don't you mean the other way around? I thought the danger was that the belt cover has a low opening and could suck water up the hose and into the air box where it would be aspirated by the engine.... I don't see any problem with getting the belts wet.

aribop · 05-05-2006, 07:04 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Eldorado
you hope...
what happens when water gets into cv joints? wheel bearings? in your oil?

I think what you are talking about is quite a bit different than water on belts. Your PS and alternator belt gets wet all the time...any issues there? Hell, when the front seals of our cars let go, oil soaks all the belts and the cars keep going.

Eldorado · 05-05-2006, 07:09 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by aribop
I think what you are talking about is quite a bit different than water on belts.

right... I agree with you.
but it's not the belts that are a concern here... I mean, sure, water and heat from friction *could* potentially weaken a belt... but that's not what i was going at.. I think it's naive to have an opinion that it's 'ok' to do something when you only look at one possible case of fault... what i mean is, dont just focus on the belts because that's not the whole story...

Razorback1980 · Razorback1980's Garage

I'm not sure what reason Porsche decided to remove it, but they did. I make it a habit NEVER to try and outsmart the Porsche engineers...and I would recommend that policy to anyone. Those are some pretty smart guys and they see more situations than each of us do individually. I design computers all day and don't have the time to analyze whether it's best to have a hose on my car or not...it's the opposite for the Porsche team...that's what they do all day long.

I can see where water in either place is not a good issue. Anytime a bearing gets wet and sits... it rusts and when it rusts, it tends to lock up. Not a good situaton. If you drive your car every day, then the chances of this are less than if you don't but it's not a good situation in either case. What if you got moisture on the rollers and then parked it for the winter....when you cranked it up in the spring, you would probably be replacing some valves and maybe pistons because those rollers will not roll three months later if they were put away wet. Water in the breather box is another bad thing and something you don't want either. I am guessing the benefit of trying to cool the rollers with air flow didn't justify the damages that were caused with the pipe in place. Now, I'm not certain that water was the main factor but it may have been, I just don't know. The biggest problem I can see is that airflow is creating a draft into such a vital area as the timing belt zone and sucking dirt dust and other bad things around seals and bearings...and that is just asking for trouble. The number one reason a seal fails is dirt cutting away at the rubber seal and if the breather is creating a draft through that area, dirt will be funneled into and around those seals and bearings constantly. This is not an ideal situation.

Aribop...you can run yours without covers if you like and in your climate that may work out but I really doubt it. Your seal life will be seriously affected by leaving those covers off as well as the bearing life. If you like to change them often, then of course that doesn't matter but myself...I like to drive my car, not work on it. Ignoring the fact that the dust and dirt are not good things for seals and bearings...what would happen if a rock or something as simple as a plastic bag or some other foreign object bounces in the timing belt area and gets between the belt and a gear, serious damage could occur. Hasn't happened to you yet? That's good, I hope it never does, but it sure could. You also can't compare timing belts to alternator or power steering belts as there is no timing that needs to be kept with those, so if they slip it's no big deal really. Oil or water on timing belts...especially oil....can have disasterous effects. Not something I let happen on my car.

mscromer...you are correct...it does sound good to try and cool this area as it gets pretty hot, but it probably needs to be done with filtered air coming into the area and then carrying the dust away. There is no real easy way to do that.

I think I'm going with Eldorado and CJ and of course the Porsche engineers (always the safe bet there, isn't it?). Those of you that are smarter than the Porsche engineers really shouldn't be wasting your time on this forum....you should be designing formula one cars or something. Take it off and plug the holes.

Eldorado · 05-05-2006, 08:08 AM

amen!

SoCal Driver · SoCal Driver's Garage

The balance shaft belt makes a good water pump/transport when the front crank pulley is submerged. The top balance shaft pulley is right at the vent hose and will release/dump it's water into the hose. Add the suction of the engine and you can have a lot of water in the air box in a very short time. The main intake for the air box (snorkel) is higher than the engine pulley but can be submerged too. Porsche bulletins also suggest cutting this off about ten inches from the air box.

I would plug the vent hose if you experiance standing water to the depth of the front pulley. I've yet to drive through (intentionally or otherwise) standing water that would flood the snorkel.

Another consideration is having water flood the dist. There is a plastic shield that should be behind the rotor. If you don't have one you should get one. Also a foam gasket that the dist cap seats on.

CJFusco · CJFusco's Garage

okay, it's the other way around, then. Makes more sense.

Still doesn't sound like a good idea to keep it.