5/8" heater hose as PCV Hose

ET16 · Jan 19, 2011

I just put together a fix for a leaking pcv hose, and now I'm wondering about the longevity of the repair. I used about 18" of 5/8" heater hose to replace the ribbed plastic pcv hose on my '03 Mazda MPV. I'm thinking now that the heater hose may collapse over time, restricting flow. I went this route to save money. The hose, copper elbow and clamps cost about $12; the Mazda part is about $70. Any opinions?

Thanks!

Steve S · Jan 19, 2011

There are more oil resistant hoses . Go a place that makes hydraulic hoses and talk to them. Some napa stores have the hoses you need.

Spazdog · Jan 19, 2011

heater hose is okay as a makeshift repair but not a longterm solution.

Depending on the situation, it'll either become hard and brittle or soft, oil soaked and easily torn or collapsed.

A good parts store should have some emission hose that will provide a much longer service life for roughly the same price.

Kaie · Jan 19, 2011

Originally Posted By: Spazdog
heater hose is okay as a makeshift repair but not a longterm solution.

Depending on the situation, it'll either become hard and brittle or soft, oil soaked and easily torn or collapsed.

A good parts store should have some emission hose that will provide a much longer service life for roughly the same price.

This is what i have done on my Jetta. It came with an actually very common missing hose. Most people break it as its a ridged plastic. I replaced it with an emission bulk hose cut to size and then used a spring looking thing to bend it without kinking it.

Beats the [censored] out of the 45 dollar replacement as it cost me under 5 bucks total. Plus i dont have to worry about breaking it.

ET16 · Jan 19, 2011

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll pick up some of the emission hose. I wish I had known about it earlier.

BigCahuna · Jan 19, 2011

Back in the day they used long lengths of heater hoses on cars all the time. My '66 Chevy had about 8 ft of heater hose in the motor compartment. I wouldn't give it a second thought.,,

rslifkin · Jan 19, 2011

If you can't find emissions hose, hydraulic hose or trans / oil cooler hose will work too. I'm currently using some 3/8" trans cooler line for my PCV hose, seems to be holding up fine, and it's oil resistant anyway.

Mr Nice · Jan 19, 2011

I would also use the heater hose as a low cost fix.

ET16 · Jan 19, 2011

I smelled oil this evening and checked the hose I put on. It collapsed. Do you think that the emission hose will hold up under vacuum? Is there another type of hose that I could get? I need about 18" of 5/8" ID hose.

bdcardinal · Jan 20, 2011

Using heater hose for PCV can cause a car to fail the smog check in CA.

hooligan24 · Jan 20, 2011

I use reinforced rubber fuel line for my PCV system

defektes · Jan 20, 2011

I tried with my jeep, started leaking after 1 year, I used goodyear heater hose. It was just a temp fix anyways since Chrysler discountinued the hose for the pcv elbow on the older 2.5 and 4.0 jeeps.

ET16 · Jan 20, 2011

I replaced the heater hose I originally used with emission hose. I'm not sure it will work, but I want to see.

ffhdriver · Jan 20, 2011

Seems to me that if you have enough vacuum to collapse a PCV hose you have an engine problem somewhere.

mechtech2 · Jan 20, 2011

5/8 or 3/8? 3/8 is much more common.
I use fuel/vapor hose all the time as a substitute for factory lines.

ET16 · Jan 21, 2011

Originally Posted By: ffhdriver
Seems to me that if you have enough vacuum to collapse a PCV hose you have an engine problem somewhere.

I wondered about that, too. I was thinking that the pcv valve itself might be clogged, but it was supposedly replaced about 25K miles ago.

ET16 · Jan 21, 2011

Originally Posted By: mechtech2
5/8 or 3/8? 3/8 is much more common.
I use fuel/vapor hose all the time as a substitute for factory lines.

It's 5/8. I think that's part of the problem. 3/8 would be stronger. I was thinking of necking things down to 3/8, as I could then get fuel injection hose, but I was worried about changing the flow to the valve.

mechtech2 · Jan 22, 2011

Use the 5/8.
Get fuel injection rated line. It'll take it.
You can also use metal piping and use the rubber on the ends only.

ponderosaTX · Jan 25, 2011

Quote:
Seems to me that if you have enough vacuum to collapse a PCV hose you have an engine problem somewhere.

Not with a 2002-2003 Mazda MPV. They were recalled because the OE PCV hose invariably collapsed. I had mine replaced at the 27K mark. The replacement failed 3.5 years later and I replaced it with Mazda's 3rd generation (!) part, which now costs $70-80. See

http://www.mazdaparts.org/mazda-mpv-pcv-hose.html

5/8" heater hose as PCV Hose

Similar threads