Advice required

[Ant]

During my overhaul of various issues in my engine bay, I have disconnected various things, everything I know I disconnected is back toghether, but I came across something that I didn't directly disconnect.

This is a Mk2 16v engine.

On the upper air filiter box there is a pipe that comes out perpendicular to the box, the pipe has a T connection on it about halfway along, the end of the pipe connects somewhere into the the right of the engine (this is from memory so might be a little off), the small T piece however is connected to anything, is this correct?

(A quick rushed look at my Haynes this morning, the right end of the pipe is by the arrow (24) saying Crankcase breather something of other)

Due to the oil leak problems in my engine bay, the T piece (and most of the pipe, have a lot of gunk in them (which implies to me that the T was never connected to anything) is this gunk likely to be affecting the performance of my car?

[Gambit]

this is just the cranckcase breather. ideally you dont want to vent it back into the intake as your basically venting warm oil vapour/fumes. but it is illegal to vent this into the atmosphere hence why it is recircultated back into the intake

the little t-piece in question connects in underneath the intake manifolid, and works as a warm air shroud & heats the injectors to help atomization. its located between (or around) injectors 1 & 2

[Veedubgt18v]

gambit can you change your sig to you know you really really really want a 16v?

[Judderi]

this is just the cranckcase breather. ideally you dont want to vent it back into the intake as your basically venting warm oil vapour/fumes. but it is illegal to vent this into the atmosphere hence why it is recircultated back into the intake

the little t-piece in question connects in underneath the intake manifolid, and works as a warm air shroud & heats the injectors to help atomization. its located between (or around) injectors 1 & 2

Go Gambit Mr knowledge base!

So from what you said would it be better if the breather hose didnt go to the airbox and maybe had its own little filter on the end?

[Gambit]

it'd be better if you vented it off via the little fliter, and caught the oil in a catch tank rather than it connecting to the airbox at all

[Judderi]

Will add that mod to my list then. Always found it strange why a dirtly oily pipe connected to the air box.

[Gambit]

on my old 16v i got a plastic little T-pipe connector from B&Q and split the pipe just in the gap between the airbox and the alternator. and put on a little vent filter there. cost me £6 for filter n T-piece

what i did think about trying was cutting the breather pipe off after the little T-piece for the injector shroud and putting a bung in the end. then puttin another plastic T-Piece just after the engine end of the pipe. and then attaching the piece you cut off to this, and then direct this into a catch tank which was a 500ml coke bottle tie wrapped to the oil fiter. might not look to pretty but it would have done the job perfectly!!

you also need to bung the hole on the air filter box as it lets in unfiltered air!

[Judderi]

How much oil drips out. If its not much i might just run the pipe to the bottom of the engine bay and let it drip out onto the ground. Not very eco friendly but better looking than a coke can in your engine bay as im going for the clean chromed look.

[Gambit]

the amount of oil on your air filter will give you a good idea on how heavy your car breathes. if you let it drip onto the road then it will also drip onto your driveway when parked up!!

[Ant]

This might well be my major oil leak!

As I said originally I don't remember disconnecting it, and if I didn't then the oil would have just been pouring out into the engine bay giving me the wierd oil leak diagnoses (well it's def wasn't the head gasket, but all the oil was down that way). Will be checking it out later.