This is probably a stupid question, however, I am going to ask it
anyway.
The hose directly connected to the air filter assembly (the mess of
plastic housing around the air filter) with the other end going into
the engine, does this hose pull filtered air in, or is this some sort
of recycling item that puts sort of gas back into the intake system?
The reason I am asking is that the 95 Neon I bought used, had a cold
air intake on it, and the hose attached to it, has an extension that is
kinked pritty badly.
If this hose is to aquire filtered air, I would simply put a breather
filter on it, instead of going through the hassle of replacing the
hose.

Mike
mlawrenc(at)gmail.com

that hose about 1" outer diameter is part of the P ostive C rankcase V acuum
system. when you step on gas pedal(positive) sucks (vacuum) engine blow by
(crank case) gases from the engine to the intake where they get burned so
that they don't become part of the air pollution problem in the world.
this system is required functional by law.


"mike" <mlawrenc (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote

Would this hose being blocked cause any affect on the operation of the
engine?

wraithyjeep wrote:

"mike" <mlawrenc (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote

Yes, it puts positive pressure in the crankcase as a result you get lots of
oil
leaks.

Ted

Well... There is nothing in the way of any leaks in this car. (garage
floor is spotless)

Ted Mittelstaedt wrote:

"mike" <mlawrenc (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote

Blowby leaks generally come out the valve cover gaskets first
since they are the weakest, and they don't leak enough to drip
all over espically since the
leak only happens when the engine is running (and I assume you
don't sit in the garage with the engine running for long periods)
What happens is the oil runs down the side of the engine where
the hot engine turns it into sludge, and after years your engine is
coated with black sticky greasy tar disgusting yech! Thats why
I wear rubber gloves when working on my cars. (and I think
most pro mechanics do)

However blowby leaks can also come out at crank seals too
and if that happens you can get really screwed over since over
time the seal will eventually fail then you get a big oil leak.
A blocked PCV system isn't anything to ignore.

What I don't understand is why this hose is kinked pretty badly.

These hoses are pre-formed from the factory, there should not be
any kinks on it at any of the bends. Usually what happens is as they
age they get hard at the valve cover, then eventually crack there and
start leaking.

I would suspect that if your not the original owner of this car,
that a former owner replaced a cracked breather hose with
a piece of scrap coolant hose that was too short. Since coolant
hose isn't resistant to oil vapors it will probably disintegrate
eventually.

If it were my car I would just go to the Dodge dealer and
buy a new hose for the car that was correctly pre-formed for
the configuration. They aren't that expensive, usually under
$10. Certainly not more expensive than whatever chromed
ricer breather your thinking of putting on there. (and that your
emissions people will flunk your car over if they see it)

If your too cheap for that then just go to the auto parts store
and buy a long enough length of the correct diameter hose
and replace it. Most likely you will get vacuum line hose which
isn't resistant to oil vapors and will disintegrate over time, but
will probably last at least 5 years or so before getting softened
up by the vapors and then you can buy another piece. It probably
will be about $2 for it. And frankly I'm not too sure that the
original factory hose was resistant to vapors either. The hoses
in the PCV system that are fresh air intake hoses don't need
to be - however if the PCV valve plugs then the system runs
backwards and those hoses will rot.

Ted

As I had mentioned before, there was a cold air intake installed in the
car before I bought it. The house comes off the engine and has an
adapter connecting an extention hose to the cold air. (who ever make
the cold air pipe put the PCV connection a bit too far away).
Unfortunatly I will have to go with the $2 solution as a formed hose
from the dealer will not fit this application anymore.

Mike

Well... It appears that the issue was the PCV valve and it's hosing,
hidden behind the intake manafold. (who ever decided on this design
should have been shot).
Had to take the manafold off to get at the hose to change it.

Thank you for all the help

Mike
mlawrenc(at)gmail.com