PCV hoses, too hard?

[GeoRoss]

I am in the process of getting up to date on the PM of a new to me 94 FZJ. Before I left for a work trip, I flushed the rad., thermostat, changed the PHH and baselined all the fluids/oils. I also did a tune up (wires, plugs, cap/rotor) to address a ticking in the radio (FM only), which seems to have not worked. Any suggestions on this will be appreciated. I need a new ant. mast, but I doubt that is the cause.

I also changed the PCV valve. I noticed during the work that the PCV hoses are very hard. Should they be more pliable? I am putting together an order to Dan and I am just curious about how hard these hoses should be. I am sure they are not to pricey, but I'm just curious.

Dan's dogs are in for a nice treat, this list is getting a bit long.

Ross

 

[IdahoDoug]

I got my new PCV hose from Dan - good price.

DougM

 

[e9999]

cheap enough to change if you are not sure. Mine (surely original) are somewhat squishable. Not hard, not as soft as the coolant hoses.

 

[cruiserdan]

New hoses ave very pliable. Over time they harden into rocks.

 

[GeoRoss]

New hoses ave very pliable. Over time they harden into rocks.

I thought they would be cheap enough to change out either way. Mine are so hard that I didn't know if they are some sort of plastic/PVC or suppose to be rubber.

Thanks..

Ross

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

Just how cheap are these hoses?



Mine split the other day....

 

[flintknapper]

Just changed out my PCV and grommet the other day, and I noticed that the hose was slightly harder than the others but you could still squeeze it. The grommet on the other hand was very brittle and crumbled easily. Maybe Dan can create a "kit" that includes the PCV, Grommet, Hose and clamps. Like he needs something else to do!

He puts together an awesome birfield "kit" (standard and deluxe I believe).

Thanks Dan.

 

[Junk]

I thought they would be cheap enough to change out either way. Mine are so hard that I didn't know if they are some sort of plastic/PVC or suppose to be rubber.

Thanks..

Ross

Definitely time to change them Ross. As mentioned, they are cheap - remember to do the grommet too.

 

[santiagol]

If this hose is hard there is a good chance your vaccum hoses are also aging, they should all be flexible unless they are formed hoses and are supposed to hold their shape. Fuel hoses are not supposed to be hard either.

Heat and time will deteriorate any hose - except silicone which is great for some applications (think PHH) but probably excessive for vaccum hoses.

 

[GeoRoss]

Definitely time to change them Ross. As mentioned, they are cheap - remember to do the grommet too.

Hey Junk, I changed the grommet when I changed the PCV valve. Of course it was brittle and broke and fell in and required alot of swearing to remove the pieces with forceps. I didn't notice the hoses until I changed the valve.

Keep an eye on the mailbox, and no it will not be ticking.

Life in AZ is hard on hoses.

Ross

 

[flintknapper]

Hey Junk, I changed the grommet when I changed the PCV valve. Of course it was brittle and broke and fell in and required alot of swearing to remove the pieces with forceps.
Ross

I'm sure there are a million techniques for removing the grommet without having large pieces of it fall in the cover, but this is how I did it:

Taped two hacksaw blades together (no tape on the last 4-5") and positioned the blades so that the teeth were facing up when inserted into the grommet. This way you are using a "pull" stroke to cut the grommet and all of the shavings come up and out with the blade.

Cut one slot (all the way through) anywhere on the grommet and then another slot 180 deg. across from it. You can easily tell when you have gone through the grommet and reached the aluminum cover, so no need to worry about when to stop.

Unless your grommet is more "crumbly" than mine was, it should come out in two neat pieces by using a pick (or any small curved instrument) to reach down into the hole and pull up on the bottom of grommet. The bottom portion of my grommet was still fairly pliable.

Be sure to use two blades together... to create a wider slot than just one blade would. Otherwise, you won't be able to move (one half) of the grommet far enough to get it out.

Whole process took less than five minutes and NO grommet pieces missing in action. Getting the old PCV out is the fun part.

 

[e9999]

I made only one cut with a blade so that the thing could stay in one piece and I had better control of it without losing the other piece. IIRC I grabbed it on one side with visegrips before trying to pry it off and it came just fine after some convincing. I think I may also have had a shop vacuum going at the same time, but not sure. Anyway no rocket science.

 

[RavenTai]

My original PCV hoses were hard as a rock. the #2 hose (before the throttle plate) had a 2“ crack where it meets the valve cover, I replaced both of them with bulk hose but the non formed hose takes a wider arc and the #2 rubs bottom of the hood, I probably could have put in an elbow but got the OEM hoses instead, I don’t remember how much they were but it did not seam unreasonable. Besides these, a vacuum hose that ripped when I pulled the TB and the PHH the rest of my hoses are doing OK.

The new hoses were very soft and pliable when I first got them. They have already hardened considerably in the past few months. This may have something to do with being formed hoses? Maybe it is a hose that takes and retains a shape when heated? They are made differently from all the other hoses.

 

[santiagol]

I like the idea of having a shop vac nozzle pulling air out of the PCV opening as this is being done, any small crumbly pieces will get sucked up instead of falling down. Removing the oil filler cap will probably improve the air circulation out of the PCV opening.