I read the instructions about cleaning the part load breather with a drill bit every time you change the oil and I have done so for all of my DIY oil changes.

There is a caution in the instructions to be careful and to not DROP THE DRILL BIT INTO THE CAM COVER!

Well, today I dropped it.

After I stopped screaming, which took a while, I started getting ready to pull the cam cover and retrieve the bit, hoping it had not fallen into the timing chain "grotto."

I noticed my shop vac sitting next to the car, I had vacuumed the interior while the car was running on the jack stands to check for oil leaks.

I thought, "Might as well try." So I taped a piece of 1/2" hose to the crevice tool of the vac, put it over the part load breather in the cam cover, said a short prayer, and turned the vacuum on.

IT WORKED! Sucked the drill bit right back out the hole! I couldn't believe my initial fumbling stupidity and luck with this one. LOL!
Vector

 

My valve cover has a guard under the part load breather orifice to prevent oil from being splashed into the vent and drill bits from being dropped into the valve area.

 

Well, aren't you special, lol!

Mine does too, IIRC from when I did my tensioners, but you would still have to remove the cam cover to extricate the drill bit from the hole, otherwise your part load breather would be clogged with the drill bit and it would run poorly and/or throw a code.
Vector

 

Not necessarily, mine fell all the way in and is rattling round in the oil trap. I left it in there: I can't see any way it can fall out, and the oil trap doesn't look dismantleable. Of course I had to get the cam cover off to find that out.....

 

OMG! I guess this is more common than I thought, lol!

What is the "oil trap?" The oil pan, sump?

Aren't you worried about it "rattling around" in there?
Vector

 

Just out of curiosity -- what are you guys using to hold (or not hold, as the case may be!) the drill bit while sticking it in the hole? I haven't done this "procedure" just yet for fear that I, too will be dropping the damn thing and creating a serious problem (or is it serious?).

If the drill bit is long enough, why not bend it so it can't fit into the hole?

Although not flawless, using a vise grip would seem to be the way to go if you're not able to bend the bit.

 

First I have heard of this: what is it we are cleaning and why? Please.

 

It's the part-load breather orifice. It needs to be done periodically. I haven't dropped a drill bit down there yet, but I can recall many times telling myself not to drop this bolt or that nut and a second later, it's gone into the black hole.

 

Quick, don't think of the energizer bunny wearing a polkadot bikini.

This is why we should visualize what we do want, instead of what we do not want. The mind has a way of manifesting what we think. Thoughts ARE things.

Maybe a good idea for everyone (me included) in the future would be to wrap some electical tape around the drill bit with some sort of cross bar, so that "when" our fingers slip, it cannot fall into the valve cover.

The vacuum was a brilliant idea

 

Is "part-load breather orifice" another name for CCV?

Is that the part towards the front of the motor on the same side as the oil fill cap? Mine looked a little wet, but I wasn't sure if it was from sloppy oil fills from the PO.

Is there a write-up on this maintenance procedure?

 

Yes, that is it. You simply remove the fitting with an appropriate tool and then clean the orifice with a 3/32" or 2.5mm drill bit or something of similar size. Replace the fitting and you are good to go.

Some pics here:PART-LOAD BREATHER CLEANING Photo Gallery by Max Heazlewood at pbase.com

Jaguar write up below.

+1 on wrapping something around the drill bit so it can't go all the way into the hole, that is what I will be doing the next time I clean the breather.

BTW, the rest of the story is: I felt the bit slipping from my grasp and called out to my wife to bring me some needle nose pliers so I could grasp it before it slipped all the way in the hole. 5 minutes later, after a lot of hollering and finally screaming, she came running into the garage, certain that I was trapped under the car or something equally horrible. She did hand me the pliers and I dropped the bit anyway. ARRRGGG!

Vector

 

I agree that the vacuum idea was brilliant -- could it be that this might be THE way to clean the orifice, too? If it's strong enough to suck out the drill bit...

Just a thought.

 

Jim -- check out the link in post #4 of this thread -> https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...reather-31920/

My main concern (second only to dropping the drill bit!) is breaking the connector. I've had nothing but bad luck lately with disconnecting old, plastic connectors. My car runs ok, just my luck I'd break the connector and then have hell to pay! LOL

Let me ask those who did this WITHOUT breaking the connector -- what's the secret to getting it off and back on again? Does the connector come off by squeezing it and pulling? Do you have to squeeze it to put it back on? And finally, should I order a new hose with connectors just in case?

Wait a minute... I just had my part load breather tube replaced -- shouldn't be brittle at all! Wonder if the mechanic cleaned it out for me? I'll have to go take a look....

 

There is a special tool to remove the connector, but I duplicated the action of the tool (clip) with some snap ring pliers, pushing the tips on each side like the illustration below.

I have also read that the tool (clip) is mounted somewhere near the connector in the engine compartment????

Some folks have reportedly used small nails on each side of the connector and squeezed them together with pliers.
Vector

 

So, the secret is in using the tool to push out rather than squeeze in. Thanks. I'll look for the tool in my car.

 

Is this cleaning suggested on MY 2001 and later cars? The Jaguar bulletin was for '98-MY '01.

 

There's a metal tray about 3"sq x 1/2" deep fixed to the inside of the cam cover just under the breather. It's full of steel wool. I guess it's there to trap as much oil as possible from the air being sucked out of the breather.

The only gaps round the edge of the tray big enough for a 2.5mm drill to come out of are on the top of the tray. I tried turning the cam cover upside down and shaking it but couldn't persuade the drill bit to come out, though I could hear it moving a bit. I guess it's trapped in the wool. In the end I just decided that if the car's being turned upside down and shaken, drill bits coming out will be the least of my worries!

 

On supercharged cars its clipped into a joint in one of the plastic bleed hoses which come forward from the radiator overflow bottle. Look on top of the left side of the engine, between the supercharger and the water pump.

Dunno where it lives on N/A cars.

 

I thought I was being ever so clever using the little hand chuck from a set of thread taps to prevent exactly this happening. Unfortunately not, it slipped out! Vise grips are probably the answer. Or use a long bit of wire instead of a drill. 10AWG wire is pretty close to 2.5mm.

 

Ok, so I cleaned the orifice today; didn't see any gunk, but idle seemed smoother (does the placebo effect work on cars or just the owner?) .

While under the hood, removed the throttle cable retainer and turned it in one turn clockwise to remove some slack; took care of a tenth of a second hesitation.

Still undecided about the rear shock replacement . . .