2.5 CCV Refresh

[colb]

Set about replacing the CCV hoses and separator unit that lives under the inlet manifold, armed with my replacement kit purchased on ebay for £24 I set about stripping out the old hoses, what a pain those turned out to be getting them unclipped and pulled off. Managed to disconnect all the hoses top side after much faffing about. I did manage to strip out the throttle body and idle control valve after pulling the intake hoses off and out. Managed eventually to wiggle the separator unit out without breaking it but there was no way the replacement was going to go back in and connect the hoses to it. Bit the bullet and pulled the manifold off turned it over and managed after much more faffing about to get the hoses clipped into place. Manifold reinstalled as were the throttle body, noticed that the idle control valve wasn't rattling when shaken so gave that a good clean out with carb cleaner. That solved it and it now rattles nicely when shaken. Put everything back together and doubled checked all electrical connections were plugged back in. Started the car then reset the throttle just in case I had moved the butterfy when cleaning the throttle body. Car off sit in car depress throttle pedal to floor and hold it there, switch on ignition without starting the car and count to 15, switch off then release the throttle pedal.
Sprayed some carb cleaner around all the hose connections to check for leaks and didn't find any, once warmed up car idles fine. I will do a smoke test on it when I have time just to make sure there are no leaks.
Having watched all the Youtube videos on doing this job, I thought I was going to breeze through this, how wrong can you be? It was a right royal pain, wonder if oem hoses would have been an easier fit?

 

[Jfgoldfish]

Is that one of the no-name eBay units?
If so, you are very brave to have fitted that to your car; I have heard that they tend to last about 3-6 months before you need to do the job all over again.

I am not trying to be pesemistic here! I personally hope it gives you many years of service.
Let us know how you get on with it. That is certainly a very good price compared to something like the Febi Bilstein kit that I fitted recently.

 

[colb]

Yes it was a no name kit in an unmarked box, no doubt Chinese, all hoses and fittings looked same as oem it was just a pain getting them connected with the space available hence taking the intake manifold off to do it with it upside down, still a pain to get them pushed on securly. All air tight so far, will monitor, if they fail I would go for a known make next time maybe Meyle as others have used them.

 

[Jfgoldfish]

To be fair, all the kits likely make their way from chinese factories. You may have saved a good bit of cash there and actually received a reasonable part.
24 quid is a good price just for the hoses so, worst case, you could just purchase a branded valve without hoses. They are much cheaper as standalone parts.

Out of interest Colb, is your smoke tester a homemade piece of kit or something you purchased?

 

[Chris_D]

Was a total faff when mine failed and I had to replace it. The original hoses were so brittle they just crumbled when detaching!
I used the Febi cold climate kit for some 'peace of mind' as the hoses have thick insulation.
Still fine almost 3 years later.

 

[colb]

Home made smoker much the same as the ones you see on Youtube, made from a new five litre paint can some resistance wire and some airline fittings. Use a cyle pump to push the smoke or can plug it in to a compressor set low. Uses baby oil to produce the smoke.
Much the same as this one on Youtube here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIpMprjaitA
Also have a larger one as well like this heat generated by a sodering iron heating the oil soaked wick inside.

 

[Jfgoldfish]

Home made smoker

That is very clever. I might put one together.
It seem to be the only sure way of knowing that there are no small leaks in the intake.
With complex manifolds and crankcase vents like we have on our zeds it must be very handy.