Cracked Oil Filler Tube
 

Well, after a routine oil change my mechanic told me that the middle part of my oil filler tube was cracked, as shown in the picture below as #19.

I now have 99k on the car and expected to have some original parts go out on it.

He's quoting 2 hours labor plus a lot of cussing and a bloody knuckle to get it out and the new one in... he said it's a bear of a job for a little plastic tube!

If you have a high mileage boxster like mine, you may want to remove the engine cover and find the 2 inch pipe that comes from the firewall (on the passenger side) near the oil filler cap in the trunk. Put your hand under the braided heat shield cloth that surrounds it and see if it's saturated with oil. If so, you need one or more filler tube parts replaced as well.

I never had a CE light with this problem and only smelled a little burning oil from time to time in the garage, thinking it was a cam cover leak. However, my mechanic said it can throw a CE light and provide poor performace because it can cause a loss in oil pressure.

So, it's off to Sunset to order the part and get it to Hans before I drive it again. I guess this is a great find on his part so I don't get stranded on the way to or the way back from the TOD trip in May!

Hey Randall,

That's also a sign of a failed oil/air separator. When it fails, it creates a big vacuum on that tube so it pinches down when the engine is revved and eventually cracks it.

Also, if you can get him to replace your clamps on the oil filler tube with good, stainless screw downs, you can remove the clamp from the top in the future. That makes the oil filler tube a 30 minute job from above rather than a 2 hr job from below. :cheers:

I paid 369.00 for parts and labor, I think. I broke mine on accident.

Tried that,didn't work for me. I don't know why but the screw type clamp kept loosening. I assume it was from engine heat. Oh well,I got tired of the same CEL codes(P1124/1126) and decided to fight and squirm underneath the car for a couple of hours to put the OEM clamp back on. 50+ miles later,the idle is little more steady and no CEL.

sunset is a great place and prices for anything.
i emailed them about the AOS and this is what i got:
The separator is 996-107-023-04 for 76.48 in stock. J
tube new version for use with this updated separator is 996-107-145-06
for 24.22.

cant find then anywhere for that cheap, if anyone is looking around for those parts :)

Great news... my mechanic only charged me $80 to replace the tube... Total repair cost, $106. Yeah!

I cannot beleive how much plastic is used in our cars. It's bound to crack and need replacing sooner than later.

My tube cracked right along the bendy accordian part, and my mechanic used the factory clamp because it was in good shape. He said he thought it has been cracked for a while considering the burning oil smell I've been complaining about for the last year or so.

John, while these do crack due to the separator going out, my mechanic said he thought it was just because it was an original 1997 part and was ten years old. The engine was replaced 20k miles ago, and the tube was probably damaged a little back then and heat and age did the rest of the damage. Fingers crossed that it's not the oil separator as well!

Man, that looks like a PITA job!

Any skin left on his knuckles?

Why cant you just replace it with silicone tube or stainless steel? Its just a tube right? Whats so special about it?

Richard, he said it wasn't a bloody knuckle affair this time around. He was surprised too!

Boggtown, I am sure it could be replaced with something far more sturdy... I just didn't have the time and desire to mess with it. Replacing it once every ten years with "high performace plastic" is fine with me.

What makes it special is that there is a 6 inch flexible part that you'd have to get real creative to make out of another substance other than plastic.

Randall,
Thats a great deal, I wonder if he had to take the intake off. Mine had pipe #15 broken at the block and they took the intake off to replace it.