Hello All,
I have a 99 VDP and the part-load orafice tube coming out of the valve cover on bank a has broken off flush. Is there a way to fix this without replacing the entire valve cover?

Thanks in adance!

 

Zayne
I am not sure if that fitting can be replaced, as the filter/screen baffle is below it. If you have the snapped off stub, I would try taking the cover off and clamping it down with something like JB Weld. You don't have much to lose by trying. Failing that, unless someone has a better workaround, a new, or used cover may be the next course of action.

 

It may be helpfull to know what, if anything, holds this tube in place from the bottom side of the valve cover. Has anyone taken a close look at it when the cover is off to know if there is anyway to pull it out of the top of the cover? Or, does it have a chance of falling in to the valve area?

I have not pulled the cover, and at this point am not too excited about doing so. If anyone can help I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks,
Z

 

Zayne

I don't know for sure, but I assume that the breather stub is molded into the cover or perhaps plastic welded. Taking the camshaft cover off is an easy job, especially on the left bank. I have done it many times and can do it in 15 or 20 minutes. Under the part load breather and built into the cover is a baffle that contains a mesh filter. If you look at it from inside, it appears to be welded or glued in place, so you can not access the tube from inside the cover. I doubt that it would fall in. If the breather is snapped off clean and the two parts will fit together nicely, why not try to glue it with a strong adhesive? I should mention that I fixed a small locating flange under the ingnition coil cover with a glue called "Gorilla Glue". That little piece is made from the same material as the breather and cam cover. It has held fast. My first suggestion was "JB Weld" which would also work I would think. To remove the cover, you just take off the coil cover, disconnect and remove the coils and then undo the cover fasteners, including the two inside the coil area. The rest are around the perimeter. The seal will probably be fine if you remove the cover with care. You also push the wiring harness fasteners out of the retaining holes on the cover. You need to clean the surfaces and put a couple of small dabs of silicone seal (sensor safe) where the timing cover joins the head. If you have a socket set with a small swivel and a small torque wrench for reassembly... it is easy. You might want to glue the seal into the cover with silicone to keep it in place on re-assembly. I use a dentist's mirror to look around the edges of the cover to make sure the seal is not out of place anywhere before torquing it back down, with the bolts more or less finger tight. If the seal is in place properly, just re torque to 9-11Nm. There is a proper sequence of course. The coil cover torques back on with 4-6 Nm... so not tight in other words. Do not over tighten that cover... or the cam cover for that matter. Oh yes... disconnect the negative battery terminal first, and don't close the trunk! If the glue does not work.... a new or used cover may be your remedy, but I think it could be glued, if it is not in pieces.

 

I repaired the part load breather tube when the actual tube broke off, slightly above your problem I believe. Took the broken plastic piece down to the local ACE hardware and found a brass thin wall 'hobby' tubing that fit well inside. A little JB Weld and it was stronger than new and didn't require any strange clamping.

 

That sounds like a better solution, as it would hold the tube while the JB Weld sets up, without clamps. I assume you may have done that with the cam cover still on the car, which removes that task. Zayne said he was not keen on cover removal. Hope there is enough tube on both ends of the break to support a tube. Good luck Zayne.

 

Thank you for the replies.

That is the exact problem I had, tube broke off of cover. I did not want to remove the cover if I can get away with it, spare the time and expense of getting new gaskets and all the other that goes with it. The repair is going to be very similar to what was mentioned with the tubing. I have fashioned a piece of 1/4" copper line to fit into the hole. The other issue I have now it’s that the tubing going back to the throttle body and vacuum pump is getting brittle along with being rather gunked-up. I am seriously considering replacing the entire assembly with 3/8" gas hose. The hoses Jaguar utilizes is definitely built-to fail. Nonetheless, I got to drive my baby today! My newly oiled air filter is drying in the wind and the throttle body is squeaky clean.

Now that I stand back and look, there are many hoses on this car made out of similar materials. There may be a roll of tubing in my immediate future!

 

I too was not a fan of that brittle tubing, and it is just now breaking at the part load breather. But, for being 11 years old, and around 130k miles, I think they've done pretty well considering. For the moment, I've used silicon to patch the tubing, but I am also looking at replacing it soon. My fear is that I will not be able to trace the new hose back to where it goes. Normally, I would tape the new hose to the old and pull it through, but in this case, I'm sure the old tubing would just break apart.

Any suggestions on the best way to do this?

 

Supersport,
That was my same feeling regarding the age. There are replacements for around $40 on the market. The hose is 3/8" ID, so a gas line hose could be an inexpensive option. The line has a tee at the throttle body base, may need small hands to disconnect it, and then continues to a suction pump near the firewall. Nothing impossible to do, just a tight fit. My plan is to replace the tubing with hose reusing the current connectors. Will repost with results when done.

 

seriously, JB Weld and plastic? anyone ever mix JB weld on a piece of plastic to use and then peel it right off when dry....It is not designed for plastic, use a 2 part plastic epoxy on totally clean pieces. If your tubing breaks on the PLB pipe,slip 2 long pieces of shrink tubing over it, Shrink the first 1 then slide the second over that and shrink it. It wil be tight and stong.
Now if your air intake tune bellows crack and are deteriorated. I like to clean well with brake clean, wrap first with duct tape, which useally being grey, I then go over that with black electrical tape. Works great for years and will save you about $120 over a new tube. But this is for the cheap non diserning Jaguar owner.
Also on the part load breather pipe, Jaguar no longer makes them and if you want one I would call a dealer and order on a dealer locate before theyre all gone.
As Dupont says "Welcome to the wonderfull world of plastics!"
yeah theylle be in our landfills for centuries, But last about 10 years on our cars

 

Brutal,
When you the part load tube, are you referring to the tube that pokes out of the valve cover? If so, how is it replaced? I did speak witha dealer parts department, they were pretty sure that the tube came with the cover and was not a replaceable part.

 

no Im talking about the plastic pipeing the connect to that nipple. I would try to repair with plastic epoxy, if that doesnt work buy a "preowned" cover

 

You are right Brutal... Just checked the JB Weld label & it does not mention plastic as a compatible material. I have used it successfully on a composite hockey stick blade where epoxy fails miserably. Those $300.00 sticks my son uses are carbon fibre. I used "Gorilla Glue" on the broken part on my cam cover. It worked well. 2 Part Epoxy is probably a good idea too for that material. I stand corrected.