'99 S70 - Driving with a broken oil trap?

Post by **dongafish** » 11 Jan 2010, 22:17

I was moving some hoses/vacuum lines around looking for a disconnect and I snapped two plastic tubes/hoses (they were extremely brittle).

One is the size of a vacuum hose, the other is much larger (about 1/2" internal). I'm pretty sure they vent the oil trap back to the air intake accordion. Can I drive the car with these tube/hoses disconnected... just to get to the mechanic about 25 miles away? Or is it going to blow oil all over the engine?

Post by **JRL** » 12 Jan 2010, 05:58

Not a good idea
FIX!

Post by **jblackburn** » 12 Jan 2010, 07:18

Duct tape! That'll keep it from blowing oil all over, then you can drive it there and get it fixed

FCPEURO · Post by **FCPEURO** » 12 Jan 2010, 09:12

+1

Don't drive it hard or anything, but you will be fine with a 25 mile trip to the mechanic.

Post by **dongafish** » 12 Jan 2010, 15:58

If I duct tape it, what happens to the air that used to flow from the trap to the intake? Will it build up and damage something else?

If it won't damage anything else, could I just "close off" the oil trap?

larryh · Post by **larryh** » 12 Jan 2010, 16:26

if it's the hose i'm thinking it is....you might be able to splice it back together with a piece of rubber vaccum or fuel line hose. just find the size that the plastic hose will fit into. I've got about 70K on a repair just like it.

Post by **jblackburn** » 12 Jan 2010, 16:59

Don't close it off...that WILL build up pressure inside your engine and blow oil out the seals. I was suggesting to tape the big line back together, since it's not a high-pressure line, and you could do as larry said for the smaller one. I fixed a vacuum line on an older car for many years with a similar fix.

Post by **dongafish** » 12 Jan 2010, 18:06

Great idea.
I tried to splice them (larger and smaller one) back together with some temp resistant engine hose, but they're so brittle they just keep snapping like a pretzel.

So the final note is DO NOT close them off.

Thanks. What a great help.

Post by **renns** » 12 Jan 2010, 21:26

The large line that runs along the front of the fuel rail, and down to the flame trap broke in half on my 850 non-turbo a while back. I drove for a few weeks with it broken. Other than the occasional whiff of hot oil smell in the cabin, there was no issue. There was no oil build-up under the hood. I suspect if the rest of your oil trap system is plugged, you may have problems doing as I did above, but it's worth a try. I've since patched mine up with a piece of 1/2" ID vinyl tubing.

The vacuum line you mentioned breaking may cause other issues depending on its purpose.