Intake Crossover pipe?
 

Hello fellow enthusiasts,


I´ve been lurking in this forum for a while now, but haven´t posted until now. Everything here has been a wealth of information.


Luckily...so far my 01 4.4 has had little problems, mostly for the preventative measures and keeping an eye on the major issues others had had here.


My X5 has returned from the dealership, after they have replaced my rear air suspension height sensor.
I do most of my repairs, unless it´s something like the suspension where it had to be re-programed.


So my SA informed me that my ¨intake crossover pipe and intake seals¨ were leaking air into the engine. So far my car has not thrown any codes regarding this. Even worse news was that the repair would cost 1200 dollars.


I declined the repair at the moment, for after trying to get a description from the SA I still could not understand what this part was.


So I´ve been looking at the x5 microfiche and can not find the part my SA was talking about, from his description, it was a pipe that transferred air from one side of the manifold from the other?


So I took a look under the hood and the only cracked/ leaking part was one of my oil separator hose.


Both were very soft, so I ordered a new set of hoses and oil separator valve.


But I´m still stumpped on this. Could my SA have mis-named the part that is damaged, or have I uncovered another ailment with the car?


My question for you guys is, do any of you know what the intake crossover pipe is? Or have had it replaced?


Thanks in advance.

Go back to the dealer and have them POINT to the problem(s).
if your intake MANIFOLD is leaking air, that is anywhere from a minor problem now to a MAJOR problem later. You need to go to an Indie Mechanic, have them test for vacuum leaks and repair accordingly. Simple tool, simple test.

If the intake pipe is leaking AFTER your air filter, that is a problem. It could allow dirt to get in and harm the engine.

The crossover pipe they are talking about is part of the crankcase breather system. It goes under the intake on the drivers side, and connects between the rear plate of the manifold to the front of the engine, right at the timing cover. It is a metal pipe, but has a small section of rubber hose at the front as a flex joint. And that is what fails as with any rubber hoses in the crankcase venting system.

are you speaking of:

Parts 6 and 4 in this diagram?

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/diagrams/w/c/33.png

No, it isn't in this picture... That is a vacuum hose. It would be in the parts pic with the crankcase vent valve etc.

From this image, the only metal pipe I see is part#7:

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/diagrams/j/f/79.png

Actually you might have a different setup than I am thinking... as it is a different setup from one model to another for some reason, even though it is the same engine. Go figure. Odds are that is the same misconception the SA had when looking at the techs estimate. I'd bet the deteriorated hoses to the separator valve you ordered is what the tech was talking about, but the SA was thinking of the more common setup used in the cars (5's, 7's, etc.) that don't have the room in the back for the separate valve like the X5's do.

Thats what I first thought when I got under the car.

I mean they would have had purposly done a leak down test to see if any of the pipes are cracked, especially if its hard to see ie under the manifold.

Assuming the tech just poped open the hood and took the engine cover off, he saw the oil separator hoses cracked.

He was just checking the fluid levels.

none the less still doing a leak down test to be safe.

WEEZ,

what's a new valve cost? hose piece???
Does the seperator valve operate essentially as the PCV valve?

Yes they are essentially the PCV valve, they just do a better job of separating the oil/vapor than conventional PCV valves which... just ventilate the crankcase gasses. As for the cost, I don't know off hand as I never deal with the prices, just the labor. realoem.com has prices on their site, guessing they're close to dealer retail.


http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r...Picture1-5.png