PCV Hose Gone Bad - Advice Needed

[coloradotechie]

Hello All,

I just purchased a used MPV '03 with 54,000 miles from a VW dealership. Two days after I bought it the Check engine light comes on.

The local mazda dealership looked it at and said my PCV Hose has deteriorated around the connection near the intake manifold.

The dealer looked up my VIN number and the computer shows that the previous owner had the PCV Hose recall done in October 2004, so the hose that is on my car now is the new hose ( http://www.mpvclub.com/recalls.php?id=17 ).

Now, here is where I need help. The dealer wants $175 to replace the PCV hose. Is this worth it? (I've never really been a DIY type of guy, but I have buddies that are mechanics).

How much does just the part cost? (that recall page says $21.22, is that right? So if it is $21.22, and it really only takes .4 hours to replace, I'm being charged ~$300/hour for this fix?)

Does recall cover this part?

Thanks for your help!
--
Nathan

Keywords: PCV hose replace replacement cost price service help question

[bubba]

Would be well worth your while to replace the hose yourself nathangg. Mazda only paid 24 minutes to replace during the original recall and it takes considerably less time to do. Directions for replacement in the link to the recall is fairly self explanatory. The hose attaches at the backside of the intake manifold in the center area. Hose is very large in diameter (approx 1 inch ) you can't miss it. The other end attaches under the throttle body area. Make sure to be carefull when disconnecting the upper hose from lower hose at the joint connection. If you dislodge the other end of the lower hose from the PCV valve then you will be wishing you had paid the $300 to dealer as the valve is buried between the cylinder heads. Will see if can get some pics of the connection under the throttle body.

[bubba]

This is same view but only closer. The hose that will be replaced has the red mark on right and connection to lower hose has the yellow mark to the left side.

[2003MPV-LX]

Man they don't give you a lot of room. So far no issues with mine.

[bubba]

No, not a lot of room but more than enough to get to either end of the hose without removing anything else. During the recall we could get one replaced in under 5 minutes. The rest of the time was dedicated to paperwork!! There is actually a very nice hole thru all of the hoses to get to the buried end of the PCV hose. Picture a triangle hole with the EGR valve on one side, Throttle body or TP sensor on one side, and heater hoses on last side. Insert hand right down thru thiis "hole" and the hose connection is right down in there. Pretty much have to do the work by braille but not difficult at all.
Failed to also note that the PCV hose has since been further updated to hopefully prevent future problems with deterioration. The New part number is AJ51-13-89YB and retails for $65.55. Make sure you are getting this newer part when purchasing as most dealers will still have leftover stock of the outdated 89YA hose.

[coloradotechie]

Thanks all!

I got the updated version of the hose (AJ51-13-89YB) and everything is running great now!

You guys are AWESOME!

Thanks!
--
Nathan

[cpapashley]

This must be a fairly common issue, looking at the old type of hose used, and the location it is used in.

I am trying to think how different the 2.5l is as far as location, must have a look.

Another wonderful, concise and informative post Bubba, really appreciate your valued input.

[Dave]

Great pics and advice bubba!

[cmwitt03]

WOW, so glad I found this thread!! We have a 2003 MPV which we LOVE. We too have had trouble with rough idle. We thought it was from a problem that happened about 2 months ago where we took the car in for an oil change and the folks forgot to replace the radiator and oil cap. They ended up having to replace several items that messed up when oil got all in them.

Our real problem turned out to be the PCV hose as well. We took the car to our mechanic and he told us there was a recall so I called the dealer and they stated that our car had been fixed back in Nov. of '04. After seeing this thread, I decided my husband could surely fix this problem.

We worked on the car today and low and behold, our car still had the OLD part that had been recalled. The whole hose was being held together at the manifold intake with TAPE!! Has anyone ever had this happen and if so what did you do? Call the dealer? Call Mazda? I feel they should at least reimburse the money we paid for the newest part which was about $70.00.

[cpapashley]

[cmwitt03]

Yeah and a very poor repair at that.

I plan on calling Mazda and/or the dealer first thing Monday and finding out what the heck happened.

[bubba]

If you indeed do have the old OE part still installed and jury rigged with duct tape after recall has been reported completed then Mazda will am sure not only reimburuse for the cost of hose, any labor to diagnose and repair, as well as some gift money for the trouble. SAVE THAT HOSE and all of the tape, etc that was attached by all means!!!
The old OE hose is a soft rubber feel like a coolant hose from the intake manifold all the way down to where it should have been replaced (about 2.5 feet long ) The updated Recall hose is soft rubber at the manifold but then is a very hard corrugated plastic covered with a foam rubber type cover over the corrugated part for the rest of the hose. A picture of the hose that was removed would be invaluable in identification.

[Skeptical]

I also have a 2003 MPV and had the PCV hose replaced October 2004. Now the check engine light came on, we brought it to the dealer for a $44 "engine diagnostic" and now they are replacing the hose for $225. I spoke to a rep in the service department and was told that the .4 hour estimate in the recall notice was wrong and that the replacement procedure was an involved process and that the hose part cost $60. We live in Tampa, Florida.

I'm not comfortable repairing it myself, but I'm not dumb, and I want to know how to make sure I don't get jerked around here. Do you have any advice?

[cpapashley]

[saerandy]

I don't get the impression you want to attempt this on your own. It's not too bad a repair, but is definitely more involved than changing the oil, or even replacing your front brake pads, so i understand you perhaps wanting to have it done by a mechanic. For me, I was replacing my rear coil packs, so I while I wasn't after changing this particular part, I executed on most of the steps required to actually change out the pcv hose. I have a couple of thoughts -- Keep in mind that you and I have the same vehicle!

- Everyone knows this part was bad in the first place, an then the replacement part was also bad. This new part is yet another redesign, and saying you know that and raising a bit of a fuss around the fact that you now need to do this yet again might get you some consessions on the price.

- Who says you need to have this done at the dealer? A competent mechanic can do this. (If I can do it, any mechanic can do it). This may save you some scratch.

- Bubba has said that removing the intake body is the long way to go about this. He has indicated that they could get them done in 5 minutes at the peak of the recall activity. Maybe talk to the head of service and reinforce that you know this?

- Having actually touched and disconncted this part myself, I can't say that I wouldn't try and replace it without unbolting anything. I think I might be able to do it, but it might get messy. The only reason I say this is because when I had the throttle body out I traced the hose around and got a pretty good feel for how it's routed in there.

- If you've never had the rear plugs changed this is a good opportunity to do it. If you have the original coil packs in the rear, know that these too are prone to failure and you should consider changing them out since you'll have access to them if your mechanic 'goes the long route'.

- If you've got the throttle body out anyway, you should consider having it properly cleaned while it's out.

Here's what I'd do if you were me knowing what I know about my vehicle. Assuming you don't want to do it yourself, I'd go to my mechanic and tell him you want to supply the parts and have him:

a) Pull the intake and thouroughly clean it out.
b) Replace the PCV hose
c) replace the 3 rear coil packs (save them, because the front ones are cake-easy to replace so as they fail you can swap in the rear ones you know work)
d) replace all 6 plugs with NGK Irridiums (IX is fine)

You can get the NGK plugs from Advance Auto for a good price or online at http://www.ngk.com/results_app.asp?AAIA=1433131

You can get the PCV hose at an online dealer parts place like Med Center & save some cash.

Just my post-turkey ramblings. . .