My check engine light came on and a scan showed something about the secondary air valve. I took the engine cover off to poke around and soon spotted these broken plastic tubes that are supposed to go into the intake manifold. What are they and what is their function? Could this be related to my check engine light? (I can't imagine it's not)

 

Ron, please let us know which engine you have.
I'm guessing it's the NA 5.0 V8 but as yours is a 2009 maybe it's the 4.2 V8.

 

Quick answer ABSOLUTELY!

 

It would be the 4.2L NA for that year. Ran the intake manifold part number in the picture and it comes up as 4.2L.

 

Looks like the same tubing that broke on my 4.2 a few months ago. I was getting similar codes upon cold startup. Replacing the tubing did the trick in my case.

 

Wow, I can't believe I didn't specify - sorry. It is the 4.2. I did some research yesterday and it turns out it's the vacuum hose, part #21 in this pic: https://www.parts.com/media/images/o.../4/4750330.gif. Went to the dealer to confirm and I'll be getting the part tomorrow from them for ~$40.

 

Yeah it's a vacuum hose. I should have mentioned that in my prior post.

 

Now that sucks........

 

Ron,
While fitting the new part I would also try to figure out why the old one broke like it did, and maybe take some preventative measures.
Maybe it was chaffing or burning on something?
I know on my 5.0 SC there is a thin rubber tube which runs from the air induction piping to the S/C cover, and it sits right on top of the alloy cooling system crossover pipe, which gets extremely hot. The first time I looked at it I noticed definite wear/burn marks where it touched the crossover pipe, so I taped that spot up.
Same thing with the TCP intake, except the new rubber tube is longer and touches in two places now, so I have taped both of those spots.

 

For future reference for anyone with the same issue:

I picked up the part I originally specified at the dealer yesterday and it was actually NOT that part. The part I specified was separate from the part that broke on my car. The actual part I needed (and, fortunately, the dealer had in stock) was part number AJ88894, shown here: http://www.jiparts.expressweb.jp/con...8_aj88894.jpeg

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll keep an eye on the new part for excess wear/heat effects, but my theory is (I bought the car used) that some past repair work had compromised the tubing when they removed the engine cover. When I was replacing the cover after replacing the piece, I had to be really careful not to hit the tubing with some portions of the cover. It's in a terrible spot for something so fragile.