O-360 A1A breather tube

albertaflyer · #1 10-27-2010, 06:35 PM

Just wondering what most people are running for a breather line. Rubber hose or aluminum tube or ? Also what size of aluminum tube or other? The guys at my field say I should remove the foam filled canister the previous owner had and just run the hose straight out the bottom or change it to aluminum tube. What are your thoughts?

Tony

gasman · #2 10-27-2010, 09:21 PM

I used 5/8" clear tubing from ACE Hardware. Ran it down to just above exhaust pipe. Square cut end.

N941WR · #3 10-28-2010, 05:17 AM

I picked up some THICK rubber blue oil hose from one of the local NASCAR supply houses and ran that from the case down to just above the exhaust where I used the top 3 or 4 inches of the aluminum tube supplied in the kit to drip the oil on the exhaust pipe.

Walt · #4 10-28-2010, 06:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gasman

I used 5/8" clear tubing from ACE Hardware. Ran it down to just above exhaust pipe. Square cut end.

This seemingly inconsequential hose is vital component of your engine, if it plugs or collapses (as in melts) then you can be sure you will blow an oil seal, dispense your fluids rather quickly and then be making an unplanned landing most likely with a siezed engine....

Do you really want to trust something this important to a piece of hose you grabbed at Ace Hardware that clearly is not designed for this task

Van's supplies a nice aluminum breather tube that should be used here for a reason.

David Z · #5 10-28-2010, 08:59 AM

When I was in flight school, there were two aircraft that had their breather tubes freeze up on the same day. [coincidence?] Front crank case seals blew out and one aircraft landed on an unplowed runway, and the other landed on a frozen lake. Both otherwise undamaged fortunatly.

On the breather tube, close to the engine, the school ended up adding 8" a piece of thick rubber tube with a clean 4" split to provide an alternate way of venting the crank case. They tested the amount of pressure required to open the split, and it was single didgit PSI. This keeps the inside of the cowling clean, and also provides another way for the crank case to breathe should the end of the tube freeze up.

gasman · #6 10-28-2010, 09:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt

This seemingly inconsequential hose is vital component of your engine, if it plugs or collapses (as in melts) then you can be sure you will blow an oil seal, dispense your fluids rather quickly and then be making an unplanned landing most likely with a siezed engine....

Do you really want to trust something this important to a piece of hose you grabbed at Ace Hardware that clearly is not designed for this task

Van's supplies a nice aluminum breather tube that should be used here for a reason.

Sure sounds bad when you look at it that way................... Too bad you didn't look at it.

cjensen · #7 10-28-2010, 10:49 AM

I have the same engine...used the AL tube from Van's.

The tube exits right over the exhaust (the red plug was there for dust/moisture and the zip ties were temporary).

Ron B. · #8 10-28-2010, 02:12 PM

I was told by someone to make a small slit up inside the cowl (where it's sure not to freeze) and dent the alum tubing in a little so oil running down will flow over the indentation and the drip will clear the opening and continue down to be discarded.
Ron

dpansier · #9 10-28-2010, 04:24 PM

Hello Ron,
The modification you mentioned to the breather tube is widely used on most models of Cessna aircraft, it was mandated to a large model group by AD back in 1982.
Link to the AD below which contains details of forming the tube and the hole.

http://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Gu...ocument&Click=

Noah · #10 10-29-2010, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt

This seemingly inconsequential hose is vital component of your engine, if it plugs or collapses (as in melts) then you can be sure you will blow an oil seal, dispense your fluids rather quickly and then be making an unplanned landing most likely with a siezed engine....

Do you really want to trust something this important to a piece of hose you grabbed at Ace Hardware that clearly is not designed for this task

Van's supplies a nice aluminum breather tube that should be used here for a reason.

Vans aluminum breather tube is fine but the rubber hose they supply that mates this tube to the accessory housing is radiator hose and is not compatible with oil and will prematurely fail. Do yourself a favor and check the P/N of the NAPA hose supplied with the kit and if it's radiator hose as mine was from the FF kit replace it with something which does not swell and choke off the airflow (something compatible with gas/oil).