[cole1179]

I was replacing my valve cover gasket and broke a hose at the back of the engine. Not sure what it is, or what the wires around it do. Any information on how to fix it, or where to buy a replacement, and what exactly it does would be greatly appreciated.

[smass]

That is probably the crankcase vent hose. The wires go to a heater to keep condensation from freezing. https://www.ecstuning.com/Search/Sit...h/11157522931/

[C4maro]

Good old JB weld?

[Efthreeoh]

You opened a can of worms and this is a common issue that occurs when you try to remove the valve cover. The hose is the CCV vent hose that sends crank case fumes back into the combustion chambers. CCV stands for Crank Case Ventilation. What the CCV does is separate heavy oil droplets from the oil vapor that comes out of the valve cover. The hose you broke connects to an oil separating chamber that sends liquid oil condensate back to the oil sump via a hose connected to the oil pan and sends crank case ventilation vapor into the intake manifold to be burned by the combustion process.

Now the can of worms part. It's nearly impossible to replace the hose you broke without removing the intake manifold. And on top of that, depending on the age and mileage of the car, replacing most of the CCV system is a prudent measure to set everything anew. The wires you see are nichrome heating elements that heat the plastic tubes to prevent the oil vapor from condensing inside the various tubes that make up the CCV. The CCV separator also has heating elements wrapped around it.

There is a DIY in the DIY section to replace the CCV. If you were successful replacing the valve cover, the intake removal and CCV replacement is not out of your skill set, just tedious and time consuming. Now, I broke the very same part. I field repaired it using a 1/2" copper pipe joint (for household plumbing) and JB Welding it into the hose. It held for a good 3 years until I replaced the entire CCV system.

The parts of the CCV are below, you broke item 3.

[bureau13]

I'm in the middle (well, the beginning) of the valve cover job...any tips on how to avoid breaking this, if at all possible? I'd rather not deal with the intake manifold just yet.

[cole1179]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

You opened a can of worms and this is a common issue that occurs when you try to remove the valve cover. The hose is the CCV vent hose that sends crank case fumes back into the combustion chambers. CCV stands for Crank Case Ventilation. What the CCV does is separate heavy oil droplets from the oil vapor that comes out of the valve cover. The hose you broke connects to an oil separating chamber that sends liquid oil condensate back to the oil sump via a hose connected to the oil pan and sends crank case ventilation vapor into the intake manifold to be burned by the combustion process.

Now the can of worms part. It's nearly impossible to replace the hose you broke without removing the intake manifold. And on top of that, depending on the age and mileage of the car, replacing most of the CCV system is a prudent measure to set everything anew. The wires you see are nichrome heating elements that heat the plastic tubes to prevent the oil vapor from condensing inside the various tubes that make up the CCV. The CCV separator also has heating elements wrapped around it.

There is a DIY in the DIY section to replace the CCV. If you were successful replacing the valve cover, the intake removal and CCV replacement is not out of your skill set, just tedious and time consuming. Now, I broke the very same part. I field repaired it using a 1/2" copper pipe joint (for household plumbing) and JB Welding it into the hose. It held for a good 3 years until I replaced the entire CCV system.

The parts of the CCV are below, you broke item 3.

Thank you. I appreciate it. I want to avoid taking the intake manifold off if i can, but I ended up breaking the hose on both ends so that may not be an option. What I am contemplating doing is just putting a new pipe on without the wires for heating as I can’t get the oem pipe with the wires and everything quickly and I want this done asap. Most other cars don’t have any form of heating on that pipe, especially older cars, so i would imagine that the likeliness of problems being caused from the lack of heat would be low. Any concerns with this? Or do you think it’d be a safer choice to just wait longer and get the correct pipe.

Also, how do I get to where those wires connect? I havent been able to see or feel the end of the wire

[b1aze]

Originally Posted by bureau13

I'm in the middle (well, the beginning) of the valve cover job...any tips on how to avoid breaking this, if at all possible? I'd rather not deal with the intake manifold just yet.

If you’re replacing the whole valve cover assembly and you have a multi-tool with a reasonably narrow cutting blade you can cut the connection off the back of the valve cover, leaving the male barb fitting still in the connector. Once the VC is out of the way, it’s SO much easier to get the GD thing to release.

Alternatively, you can break just 1 of the “webs” between the latches on the connector which allows the latching mechanism to flex a lot more. Mine have gone back together well and it’s a vacuum line so as long as it’s seated it’ll hold.

[bureau13]

Definitely not planning on replacing the valve cover, just the gasket, but I'll take a look at that connector...thanks.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by cole1179

Thank you. I appreciate it. I want to avoid taking the intake manifold off if i can, but I ended up breaking the hose on both ends so that may not be an option. What I am contemplating doing is just putting a new pipe on without the wires for heating as I can’t get the oem pipe with the wires and everything quickly and I want this done asap. Most other cars don’t have any form of heating on that pipe, especially older cars, so i would imagine that the likeliness of problems being caused from the lack of heat would be low. Any concerns with this? Or do you think it’d be a safer choice to just wait longer and get the correct pipe.

Also, how do I get to where those wires connect? I havent been able to see or feel the end of the wire

Okay, I told you, you opened a can of worms. Looking at my last post I decided to make sure there is a DIY for the removal and replacement of the CCV. There isn't a specific DIY that addresses just removal and replacement of the 2006 N52 CCV. I don't have time now to produce a DIY for you but I'll hit the highlights.

First off, there are basically 3 variations of the CCV for the N52. The CCV for the N52 is complicated because the N52 does not use a throttle plate to control airflow into the cylinders for combustion. The N52 uses Valvetronic in place of a throttle body (throttle plate). When an engine uses a throttle plate to control air flow, it creates a vacuum in the intake manifold, which allows for a simple positive crank case ventilation (PCV) system. Without a throttle to create vacuum, the N52 uses a vacuum pump (it's driven off the cam chain and sits underneath the alternator). So this complicates the PCV system. A PCV is the same function as BMWs CCV system, BMW just calls it the crank case ventilation system.

The N52 uses 3 variations of its CCV because the N52 has two different valve covers depending on what year the engine was built. The 2005 - 2006 N52 has a metal valve cover made out of magnesium. 2007 and up N52 use a plastic valve cover. The metal valve cover uses 2 different designs for the CCV. The metal valve cover has an external oil separator. The early metal cover engines have a single-port return line for the intake manifold and the later versions have a 2-port return line. The plastic valve cover N52 integrates the oil separator in the plastic valve cover, so there is no external oil separator, so the plumbing is a bit different between all 3 versions of the CCV.

Your engine has the metal valve cover. Not knowing the production date of your car, it has either the 1-port or 2-port CCV. You need to figure that out.

The vent line from the back of the valve cover to the oil separator is broken. The only way to remove and replace it is to remove the intake manifold. The firewall is just too close to the rear of the engine to get any purchase on the parts you need to replace. The quick-connect hose connectors on the CCV hoses are a pain in the ass to disconnect. You need really strong fingers, or pliers. Either way, without the intake removed you cant get to the hose connectors with either your hands or with tools.

The electrical wires that heat the hose elements are connected to an electrical junction box below the oil separator housing. Again, the junction box is right up against the fire wall and you can't get to it from the back side of the engine.

So the quick tips:

-Go on realOEM.com, put in your VIN and figure out the parts you need.
-remove the intake manifold
-as you go, make note of all the electrical connections you disconnect by shape and pin-count of the connector, and by its function. There are 11 connections to keep track of.
-remove the power steering reservoir and set it aside.
-remove the power steering reservoir bracket from the fender wall
-remove the alternator. This means getting a new aluminum bolt set for the alternator. This is an extra step most people don't include in their videos, but trust me it makes reinstalling the intake manifold way easier.
-there is another electrical junction box under the intake manifold that is attached to a metal bracket on the bottom of the manifold. Most likely the junction box, even though it is plastic, will be rust-welded to the metal bracket. It's an absolute bitch to remove. Just pry up on the plastic slots and use penetrating oil to clear the rust away.
-the CCV has a return line for the separated oil that connects to a tube on the oil pan. This line is tough to disconnect from the oil pan. The best way is to use a large flat-blade screwdriver and ball-peen hammer to swiftly smack the hose connector off the end of the tube. This is done under the car on the intake side of the engine.
-reassembly: leave the CCV hoses electrically plugged into the small junction box but unconnected to the CCV oil separator. Specifically, connect the intake to CCV body hoses (the 1-port or 2-port hose). Connect valve cover the vent hose to the CCV body side of CCV; you will make the valve cover side last. Leave the oil return line disconnected on both sides until the intake manifold is reinstalled.

[mecheng77]

Originally Posted by bureau13

I'm in the middle (well, the beginning) of the valve cover job...any tips on how to avoid breaking this, if at all possible? I'd rather not deal with the intake manifold just yet.

Originally Posted by bureau13

I'm in the middle (well, the beginning) of the valve cover job...any tips on how to avoid breaking this, if at all possible? I'd rather not deal with the intake manifold just yet.

Spray the connection point liberally with silicone lube or wd40, allow it to penetrate and then pull and squeeze for life from the drivers side. The silicone and wd40 won't degrade the plastic or rubber and will help release it. If you are turning red in the face trying to remove it your doing well, stop when you are blue. I thought it would never come lose for me.

[smass]

Originally Posted by cole1179

Thank you. I appreciate it. I want to avoid taking the intake manifold off if i can, but I ended up breaking the hose on both ends so that may not be an option. What I am contemplating doing is just putting a new pipe on without the wires for heating as I can’t get the oem pipe with the wires and everything quickly and I want this done asap. Most other cars don’t have any form of heating on that pipe, especially older cars, so i would imagine that the likeliness of problems being caused from the lack of heat would be low. Any concerns with this? Or do you think it’d be a safer choice to just wait longer and get the correct pipe.

Also, how do I get to where those wires connect? I havent been able to see or feel the end of the wire

I replaced mine without removing the intake. Since a new hose is being installed, the old hose can be broken/pried off which speeds things up considerably.

I was also waiting for parts so I duct-taped it back together for a few weeks. When the new part arrived, I removed the cowl again, broke/pried off the remaining hose pieces, and plugged in the new hose from above. Installing a new hose from above is pretty easy. You will hear clicks as it locks into place on each end.

The wiring can be fun but only one connection needs to be unplugged. That can be removed with a mirror and pick. It plugs into a junction block on the backside of the intake manifold.

You can see the connector in Figure 3 here https://www.pelicanparts.com/BMW/tec...eplacement.htm

[lowrydr310]

This job is a real pain and reading about it makes me want to update to the plastic valve cover when the time comes. That external oil separator under the manifold is a nightmare to deal with.

When I replaced my valve cover gasket, I didn't feel like removing the intake and oil separator so I didn't buy a new vent hose. Sure enough it cracked despite taking every precaution to get it off carefully. My fix at the time was self-sealing silicone tape which worked great for over a year until I finally got around to replacing it (along with the oil separator and other CCV tubing).

Apparently the connectors that the corrugated plastic under the foam insulation attach to have barbed connectors, allowing you to carefully cut off the corrugated plastic tubing and replace with rubber tubing. You lose the heated hoses, but where I live that isn't an issue. If you choose to do this, make sure you don't use generic heater hose and instead use a hose capable of handling oil since there will be oil vapors present. If I remember corrently, someone on the forum here had done that and used hyrdaulic hoses.

Now this all reminded me of my CCV replacement experience. I'm still consuming oil after replacing the oil separator and now that I think about it, I struggled to get the drain tube from the bottom of the separator down to the oil pan to securely connect. There's a slight chance that I have a leak at that connection which could explain the continued oil consumption. When I removed the old separator it was plugged up and the membrane was torn, and my intake manifold had a lot of oil in it.