Crankcase Vent Valve TSB

I'm having my engine rebuilt and my mechanic found that the Y-shaped corrugated plastic crankcase vent hoses connecting the two valve covers and the intake manifold was brittle cracked. Fortunately, BMW revised the hoses due to moisture freezing up in the tubes in colder climates (like Michigan here). The updated hoses are larger and have heat shielding. Unfortunately, per the TSB (http://www.xoutpost.com/attachments/...b-11-01-07.pdf) released the instructions say you have to replace one of the valve covers which is pretty expensive considering how much money I've spent already. The new valve cover is without the pressure regulating valve because it has now moved over to be built into the new hose. I did some research, and it seems people are replacing the hoses without the valve cover: http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/arc.../t-402669.html (search crankcase or hoses). It seems to me that this would cause problems with the pressure not being enough because now there is an extra pressure regulating valve in the system? I'm hoping I can just update the hoses so it doesn't happen again. If not, I will try to repair the hose. I don't know what to use because it's corrugated and gets super hot near the engine. Really don't want it failing again!

I hope someone could verify cause i had the ccv replaced last year and my sound i was hearing didnt go away and tech did say there was a revised valve cover but wanted 800 i think. Can someone confirm if you get new hoses you need new cover

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Hi, Mine had the same issue, both diaphragms in the CCV's had split and the hoses cracked in two places, this was causing excessive oil consumption and blue smoke at take off if left idling.

I replaced the CCV valves and repaired the hoses using adhesive lined heatshrink, it works ok but probably not the best material to use as it goes soft when it gets hot! but its been going now for 10 months or so.

I do still have the occasional blue smoke when left idling but im not convinced its just the infamous stem seals!, every time I check the hoses going to the inlet manifold they are full of oil. I think the actual oil separator is 'built into' the valve cover and is possibly clogged and causing more oil vapour than intended to pass into the hoses and when accelerating it getting sucked into the inlet manifold.

Stuart

That hose has been superseded by two seperate hoses which have a soft spongy coating. I replace mine a couple of years ago due to the old brittle one splitting. It wasn't an expensive part and easy to DIY. I didn't have to replace the valve covers, the hoses fitted straight onto existing ports.

I'll take your word for it, but maybe you can help explain something that's got me scratching my head. The previous design was one hose from each of the two cylinder covers combining in a Y joint into the one opening at the bottom going to the intake manifold. If the new insulated design has two separated pipes, how do they share the one opening into the intake manifold??

There are two fittings for the pipes, the original design used both too, they are above and below the throttle body.

Stuart

Okay, that makes sense now. I am going to go ahead and replace the pipes. Thanks everyone for your help!

P.S. If anyone needs to repair their hoses, I recommend the orange putty-like stuff that sticks but is still flexible. (not sure what it's called, my mechanic put it on there), or something called Seal-All (very viscous clear bubbly fluid, it will spread around immediately to fill in the cracks), and finally wrapping it with gorilla tape as a secondary precaution (will shape itself and adhere again to the cracks). The parts store guy recommended a muffler tape kit but when I opened it up I found the tape is a permeable cloth that won't work for this purpose.

So there is no need to replace the cylinder cover like the dealer was telling me?

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Not sure, maybe someone that has done the replacement with no valve cover change can chime in. I will certainly pay attention when I do mine and let you know. With the new design parts the valve is now moved from the cover to the hose itself so if you don't change the cover there are two valves in the system now. I don't think it'll affect engine performance but if the system is designed without enough pressure to open both valves it MAY cause clogging...

where did you purchase the hoses? how much did they cost? You mentioned 2 separate hoses, do they connect to each other? Mine is exactly like the picture above that Jimmy W provided. Thanks

Shouldn't cause clogging with multiple valves because they will be open by default and the induction suction pulls them shut to regulate pressure. If BMW have changed to one valve only, it will still be set to regulate to the same pressure so I wouldn't worry.

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