please help fast...

[expo5.0]

i was testing out some ideas for trimming so that my tires wouldn't rub at full lock and i accidentally brushed (and i mean brushed) up against a very skinny hose and it snapped. it is one of the two hoses located directly under the air box and right behind the wheel well on the passenger side of the 5.0, it goes to a circular thing of some kind that i can't quite see hidden down there i have no idea what it is. i started it and didn't get any dummy lights, but the hose seems to be sucking air. what did i break? how big of a deal is it? can i drive it? do i need to fix it immediately? what is that thing?

 

[expo5.0]

come on, some one has to know or have some way to figure it out. i'm an hour from home on crappy dial up service and i don't have my haynes manual... help me out

 

[Crankcase]

Obvioulsy it is a vaccum line of some sort for the air intake. I don't know what it is for exactly, but if you can drive it home without the CEL coming on, then do it. Then check the Haynes manual.

 

[danniexp]

could be one of the lines to the fuel evap canister... or just a random vacuum line... this is where a small roll of duct tape would be good....
if you can find some way to keep them together, but if you cant and the truck seems fine without it... just drive it.

 

[expo5.0]

i guess i'm gonna try and drive it, if no one stops me in the next couple of minutes. i mean, how important can something so small and flimsy that doesn't even attach to the engine in any way be? (those could become famous last words)

hopefully, it is what you said, but what is the circular shaped plastic box that it goes into (that box is located directly under the air box, and with my fipk it is not connected to it in any way) so how is this thing sucking in air if it has to do with the air box and isn't connected? what else could it be?

 

[Alec]

It might be a vacuum reservoir bulb. You say it's a box and not a sphere? Mine is spherical, but in the same location. When you drive it see if you can detect irregular vacuum pressure. If you can, you just need to reattach the hose.

 

[expo5.0]

well i haven't even left yet, but i taped it really well and i'll let you guys know how it goes when i get there. its like a 50 mile drive.

thanks for your responses. -drew

 

[expo5.0]

everything went perfectly normally during the drive. Alec, it is a sphere. I'm sure it is that vacuum bulb as you suggested.

now the question becomes do i need to fix it? what happens if the ducktape fails? how important is that thing?

 

[Alec]

i'd fix it and forget about it, i'm sure you can figure out how to do it.

 

[kps36]

May not be the same thing, but sounds just like it.
When I last changed the plugs, my son comes back and says no matter what setting the cabin fan is on, it blows though defrost/winshield mode only...checked it out, saw the skinny line had come off during plug change..that fixed it !
unhook it and check that out.

 

[Robert]

The plastic shere is as Alec said, the vacuum reservoir. It stores the needed vacuum to operate your A/C doors. With it having a big leak, your air will come out the defrost vents only since that is the default position. It may have a slight affect on the engine with is sucking in unmetered air, but it won't be anything major. You might set off your CEL in a couple days depending on how much air is getting sucked in. Your O2 sensors will compensate for the additional air and adjust accordingly so your engine should continue to run fine. I just wouldn't leave it that way though.

 

[expo5.0]

alright, its working fine now then (the heat is working properly) but i'll be sure to figure out how to get it fixed soon. hopefully i can find a new piece at the junkyard.

 

[yob_yeknom]

Cheap-o easy fix.
Find a piece of rubber hose that will fit snugly around the plastic tube. Cut a piece a couple of inches long and slide it hose onto one broken end of the tube and up away from the break. Hold the tube together and super-glue it back together. (be careful to only glue the outside and not let the glue go inside the tube and close it) Carefully slide the hose over the break after the super glue dries. The glue should hold the tube together, the hose should help keep it from flexing and breaking again.
If you're really **** about it being perfect, a little black silicone dabbed around the break to seal it to the hose will work. Just slide the hose all the way past the break and past the silicone, put some more on, then slide the hose back into place. That should seal both ends.

Ghetto rigging it, but it'll work.

 

[expo5.0]

yeah, i was planning on trying to find something just bigger than it and glue/patching it in like your saying. too bad i won't be able to do that until this weekend... hope it holds together for the 40 or 50 miles until then.